Play It Safe

Just because they're your beans, that doesn't mean you have to count them.

If the thought of doing payroll gives you a headache, Staples may spell relief. The Framingham, Massachusetts-based office-supply giant recently teamed up with InterPay Inc. of Mansfield, Massachusetts, one of the country's largest payroll-processing companies, to offer low-cost payroll services to small businesses.

For businesses with fewer than 50 employees, Staples InterPay will take over all your payroll-processing tasks for a base charge of $13 per week plus $1 for every check cut. The service includes issuing paychecks, deducting employee benefits, calculating and paying your employees' taxes--the works. And should you get called on the carpet by the taxman, Staples will even go to bat for you. "As the payroll provider, we take on the liability for regulatory compliance," says Gregg Chalk, Staples' project director for new business development. That could come in handy: Chalk says the IRS fines one-third of all small businesses each year.

In researching the market, Staples found that entrepreneurs spend an average of eight hours per month wrestling with payroll. That's one entire business day away from doing what you do best--running your business.

For more information, contact Staples at http://www.staples.com or (888) 208-7996.

Contact Sources

Camstar Systems Inc., (408) 559-5700, http://www.camstar.com

Staples, (888) 208-7996, http://www.staples.com

TEC Worldwide, (800) 274-2367, http://www.teconline.com

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This article was originally published in the October 1999 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Play It Safe.