Payroll and HR go beyond just issuing paychecks. As an employer, you need to track hours, calculate deductions, file taxes, stay compliant with changing regulations and keep detailed records.
Many small businesses manage these tasks with spreadsheets or manual processes. Whether you’re just starting out or running a growing business, doing payroll manually can be time-consuming and prone to error.
Payroll and HR options built for small businesses of one to five employees, such as the RUN Powered by ADP® solution, combine automation, compliance resources and access to real human support within flexible pricing models that grow with your team.
Whether you’re hiring your first employees or managing a growing workforce, these six considerations can help you decide if a payroll and HR platform is the right next step.
1. Time and Energy Spent on Payroll Tasks
Payroll can often take more time than expected. Collecting hours, fixing missed punches, calculating overtime, processing withholdings, scheduling direct deposits and correcting errors may seem small, but together they can quickly spill into evenings or weekends.
Payroll software can help by automating much of this work, turning hours of effort into a quick review-and-approve process. Payroll platforms can help by:
- Automating pay runs
- Applying built-in tax calculations
- Sending direct deposits
A platform like the RUN Powered by ADP solution (RUN) is designed with this in mind. Features like RUN & Done® automate routine pay cycles, while Payroll Inspector flags common payroll errors before submission. According to ADP’s small business survey, three out of four RUN users finish payroll in 15 minutes or less once workflows are set.1
If payroll still consumes hours of your week or requires frequent fixes, it may be a sign your current process or system can’t keep pace. A payroll platform can help you reclaim time and focus on what matters most: serving customers, supporting employees and growing your business.
2. Custom Pricing Models That Fit Your Business
Many small business owners assume robust payroll and HR platforms are only built for large companies with big budgets. In reality, some platforms now offer flexible pricing built for smaller teams. Configurable plans let you pay only for the features you need, so a business with three employees isn’t stuck with the same package as one with 300 employees.
For instance, rather than imposing a single flat rate, RUN Powered by ADP tailors quotes based on factors like headcount, pay frequency and selected features. This means you can start with payroll basics and add HR and compliance tools as your business needs evolve.
When comparing payroll platforms, consider these two questions to help guide your decision:
- Which features are standard, and which require an upgrade or add-on?
- How will pricing change as the business evolves, whether through new hires or more complex payroll needs?
Clear answers upfront can help you see if a platform fits your budget today and whether it will stay affordable as your business grows.
3. Managing Tax Compliance
Even the smallest businesses can run into payroll tax trouble. Federal, state and local rules change often, and what might seem like a minor oversight—like applying an outdated rate or making a late deposit—can lead to penalties or audits. The question is whether your current payroll process is good enough to keep up.
A simple system or outside bookkeeper may work for a single location with a straightforward payroll. But once you add multiple states, seasonal staff, tipped employees or overtime, complexity can quickly rise. That’s when it helps to decide how much risk you’re willing to manage yourself and how much you want technology to handle.
Payroll platforms like the RUN Powered by ADP platform take on the heavy lifting of routine payroll tax calculations, withholdings and filings while keeping pace with changing rates and regulations. Each payroll run includes a preview for added visibility, and Payroll Inspector applies AI-driven checkpoints to catch common payroll mistakes.
4. Access to Professional Support
When you’re the only “HR department,” every payroll adjustment, tax filing question or onboarding issue lands on your desk. Some small companies scrape by with limited support or by searching for answers themselves, but others quickly find those gaps stressful and time-consuming.
Not every payroll platform offers the same kind of help. Some limit their hours or rely on automated chatbots. This may be fine for straightforward questions but can be less helpful when the issue is urgent or complicated. Other platforms, like the RUN Powered by ADP platform, offer direct access to trained payroll and HR professionals who understand small business challenges and can help guide you through regulations, pay adjustments and tricky compliance situations with best practices.
RUN offers 24/7 access to payroll specialists along with optional HR tools and compliance support. For small business owners who already wear multiple hats, knowing that you can call for help at any hour is often less about efficiency and more about peace of mind.
5. Planning for Growth and Increasing Payroll Complexity
Hiring your first employee is exciting, but by the time you add a second or third, you may be managing different pay rates, part-time schedules, benefit deductions or even multistate tax rules for remote staff. A small step up in headcount can bring more complexity than expected, and spreadsheets or basic tools may struggle to keep up with the shift.
A scalable platform should adapt as your business grows. Tools like the RUN Powered by ADP solution support multiple pay types, benefit deductions and state wage rules, while letting you layer in HR or compliance tools without switching systems. Employees also get access to self-service features like pay statements, direct deposit updates and tax forms, helping you cut down on the administrative back-and-forth that often falls on the owner.
Payroll is easy to overlook until growth forces it into focus. Treating it as part of your business infrastructure from the start can help you avoid costly interruptions and help keep your operations running smoothly as the business evolves.
6. Time Tracking and Organization
For businesses just getting started, time tracking often relies on shared spreadsheets or basic scheduling apps. That may work with just a few employees, but once overtime, rotating shifts or remote staff enter the picture, cracks can start to show. Hours get misreported, breaks go uncounted and payroll disputes start to chip away at trust. Linking time tracking directly to a payroll solution can help reduce those risks by minimizing duplicate entries and making sure the hours you approve are the ones employees are getting paid for.
With the RUN Powered by ADP solution, hours can be imported directly from spreadsheets into payroll, eliminating the need for manual re-entry. For teams with more complex needs, time and attendance add-ons offer scheduling dashboards, automated overtime and break rules, anomaly detection and mobile or geofenced clock-ins. These tools can give owners better visibility into patterns like creeping overtime or chronic understaffing—issues that are hard to spot when time tracking is separate from payroll.
Payroll Can Be Simpler Than You Think
Rethinking how you handle payroll and HR can be easy to put off. It’s a big change, and it’s natural to wonder if the effort will be worth it. But if your current setup is draining valuable time or creating costly errors, the bigger risk may be sticking with what you currently have.
Not every business needs every feature. The right platform lets you choose only what you need today, with custom pricing that adjusts as your team grows. This might mean automating payroll basics now and adding compliance tools or professional support later.
Platforms like the RUN Powered by ADP platform are built to give small businesses this kind of flexibility. With more than 900,000 small business clients, ADP can support each company’s path as it evolves and grows.
Sources
- Internal Survey of 3,099 RUN Powered by ADP® customers in 2025.