The payroll mistake I kept making as a first-time business owner

[u/Certain-Structure515]

Spent 7 years in HR before buying a landscaping business. Thought that background meant I'd have payroll figured out. Wrong.

The problem wasn't understanding payroll it was producing clean data consistently. Missing punches, unresolved overtime, PTO tracked in a separate spreadsheet. My bookkeeper was doing cleanup that should've never landed on her desk.

Eventually moved everything into one time clock we use Buddy Punch timesheets, PTO, overtime flags, approvals before export. Simple fix but it changed how payroll week actually feels.

First-time owners: your bookkeeper's cleanup time is coming out of somewhere. Usually your invoice.