Do it yourself with software

There are a number of software solutions to compute your payroll. At least these relieve you of the drudgery of calculating and looking up things in tables. There are hidden costs in using payroll software yourself:

• You still must learn lots of rules and keep track of due various dates
• You have to install and maintain the software; moving to a different computer is generally a bit of work
• Some software does not prepare certain state forms (e.g., new hire form, deposit coupon)
• Software costs can be non-trivial. For instance, the yearly update to the Quickbooks payroll software costs more than having EPS do it (for one employee, monthly payroll).
• This way is cheapest if your time has no value, but can be expensive if mistakes or not knowing a rule causes penalties