As a new business owner, you may have very few employees. Maybe your business’ only employee right now is you.

However, odds are you want your business to grow. You can help promote its growth by preparing now for challenges you might face in the future.

For example, as a company’s workforce expands, the potential for payroll errors to occur also increases. Such errors can cost anywhere from a few hundred dollars a year to tens of thousands of dollars due to a single error.

That’s why, regardless of how small your business may currently be, you need to take steps to guard against these errors. The following tips will help:

Choose the Right Tool

Payroll management doesn’t need to be difficult or overwhelming. Many useful and intuitive payroll management tools are now available to business owners, boasting features designed to guard against costly errors.

Take the time now to look into your options. Even if you don’t need to start using a payroll management tool at this instant, when the time comes to do so, you want to already know which solution you’re going to adopt instead of rushing to find one that serves your needs.

Do Some Reading

Ideally, the payroll management software you decide to use will have features designed to ensure you comply with all applicable payroll laws and regulations in your state. However, it’s still important that you understand the essentials of these laws yourself.

Look up the payroll, wage, and labor laws in your state, and review them thoroughly in your free time. Make notes you can refer to later summarizing the basics. Otherwise, you’re likely to forget a lot of what you’ve read. You might also want to consult with an expert who can explain the relevant laws to you in clear terms.

Also keep in mind that these laws change from year to year. As your business continues to grow, make a point of reviewing the changes every year within the first week weeks of January.

Know Your Tax Forms and Employee Classifications

This is another instance in which doing a little research now can save you a lot of money and frustration in the long run. Essentially, one of the primary causes of payroll errors is using the wrong tax forms. Review the various forms you may use when paying employees, and make sure you understand them thoroughly.

Misclassifying employees is another common cause of payroll mistakes. In the future, you may employ part-time workers, full-time employees, and independent contractors. The manner in which you pay each will differ in several ways. Do some preliminary research to familiarize yourself with the key differences.

Consider Payroll Scheduling Options

You have a few options from which to choose when deciding how often you’ll process payroll. No option is universally “better” than another. For example, independent contractors may be satisfied with a monthly payment schedule, while full-time employees would prefer to be paid weekly or biweekly.

Consider which types of employees you think will make up the majority of your workforce as your company grows, and assess payroll scheduling options accordingly. Again, this may not be relevant to your business operations right now, but it likely will be in the future.

The main point to remember is that payroll errors can take a big toll on a business. This may not currently seem to be an issue you need to worry about, but if your goal is to expand, that could change sooner than you expect. Prepare accordingly!