You might not know it, but National Payroll Week is upon us.

Beginning the week of September 2, 142 million wage-earning Americans and the "payroll professionals" who sign their checks will celebrate the accounting processes that bolster our bank accounts every two (or so) weeks.
(article continues below useful links)

Of course, for those working for small businesses at the cusp of a possible two-pronged recession, a less pronounced celebration occurs when the money actually transfers accounts.

Nevertheless, there is and likely will always be a market for the 98 percent of U.S. businesses that describe themselves as "small". Accordingly, Skokie-based SurePayroll wants in on that action.

"Payroll is one of those businesses that is slightly recession-proof," said SurePayroll executive vice president Michael Alter. "We get paid the same time that employees do. The only people a company can't pay late are their employees."

SurePayroll, which was founded in 1999 and has since raised approximately $10 million from the likes of Kettle Venture Partners, BlueStar Ventures and Mesirow Financial, allows small businesses (in SurePayroll's case, mostly companies with nine or fewer employees) to manage payroll processes exclusively via the Web.

SurePayroll's package runs $24.95 per payroll plus 99 cents for each employee. Since launching the service early in 2001, the company has acquired some 3,500 customers.

On August 12, the company announced an exclusive partnership with the Athens, Ohio-based National Business Incubator Association. As part of the deal, the NBIA will market SurePayroll's service to managers of its 1,200-member association, including the Technology Innovation Center at Northwestern University and the biotech-heavy Chicago Technology Park & Research Center.

"What entrepreneurs find is that as they grow, they have less time to spend on manual tasks and functions," said Linda Shafer, the NBIC's director of development and strategic alliances. "They can facilitate growth by eliminating that process."

While SurePayroll's service -- as well as those offered by competitors such as Paychex and ADP -- may alleviate administrative functions of small business owners, some entrepreneurs still prefer to manage payroll processes themselves.

"If you're so far removed from the payroll process that you don't know what's going on, that's a problem," said Alex Campbell, co-founder of six-person start-up Vibes Media, which is based in the Technology Innovation Center.

At the advice of its accountant, Vibes Media earlier this year discontinued Paychex in favor of managing its own payroll. Campbell said new features in the QuickBooks accounting software and occasional reminders from his accountant serve as a cheaper, more reliable alternative.

To each their own, said NBIA's Shafer: "It depends on the person's preference. Maybe they find that comfort is sitting down and writing their own checks."

Relevant Web Sites:

ADP (http://www.adp.com)
BlueStar Ventures (http://www.bluestarventures.com)
Chicago Technology Park & Research Center (http://www.techpark.com)
Kettle Venture Partners (http://www.kettlevc.com)
Mesirow Financial (http://www.mesirowfinancial.com)
National Business Incubator Association (http://www.nbia.com)
National Payroll Week (http://www.nationalpayrollweek.com)
Northwestern University (http://www.northwestern.edu)
Paychex (http://www.paychex.com)
QuickBooks (http://www.quickbooks.com)
SurePayroll (http://www.surepayroll.com)
Technology Innovation Center (http://www.theincubator.com)
Vibes Media (http://www.vibesmedia.com)

Copyright © 2002. ePrairie.