Expanding your business south of the border is a big endeavor for a Canadian business owner like you. You have to investigate how business structure and business taxes will affect you, and you also need to know about infrastructure like bank accounts and worker’s compensation. Marketing, sales, and more are on your mind.

One of the biggest aspects of any expansion effort is managing employees. You’ll need to hire in order to staff your new American locations. Once the hiring decisions are made, you must look to managing your relationships with employees.

One of the smartest choices you can make is consider outsourcing payroll and HR to an employer of record service. Here’s why.

Payroll and HR Missteps Are Common

While Canada and the United States have many similarities, there are also huge gulfs in culture. Employment is one area where those differences are quite pronounced. American labor law is often wildly different than what you can find on this side of the border.

Even small American business owners often have difficulty managing their compliance with federal labor law. There are thousands of laws governing employee-employer relations in the US, so it’s little wonder business owners spend so much time evaluating their compliance.

It’s also not much of a surprise to learn that it’s relatively common for American business owners to make missteps with payroll and HR. The IRS estimates the average business pays around $845 per year in penalties for their payroll taxes. More serious issues with HR could have you facing a lawsuit.

Your Team Needs Help

One of the reasons payroll and HR missteps are so common is the sheer number of laws governing them in the US. On top of the federal legislation, there’s also state and even local laws you must consider.

Then add in the fact these laws are almost always in flux. The payroll and HR landscape is designed to keep you on your toes.

If even American HR teams have trouble keeping up, is your Canadian team ready to take on the demands of payroll and HR in the United States?

In many cases, the answer is no. Whether your team doesn’t have the expertise or is on the smaller side, chances are your HR department could use a few helping hands, especially when it comes to payroll and other ongoing HR tasks.

An Employer of Record Can Take a Load off

So why work with an employer of record (EOR) when you decide to outsource payroll and HR services? You have plenty of options, and all of them come with their own unique advantages.

Outsourcing payroll and HR to an EOR service is often the most robust solution an employer can find. The EOR takes over payroll administration, talent development, monitoring compliance, and more.

In turn, you don’t lose time being bogged down in the details or worrying about which American labor laws will affect your business. The EOR’s expert team has the experience you can rely on. Working with an EOR is often the easiest way to manage HR in the United States.

An EOR Does More

EOR services go beyond HR though. An EOR may be able to offer you access to infrastructure, like banking or workers’ compensation. In short, the EOR could help you solve some of the other tangles presented by US expansion.

Is an EOR Right for You?

The next question most you have is whether or not outsourcing payroll and HR to an EOR service is right for you.

As mentioned, an EOR service is often the most robust solution for payroll and HR. Some businesses find an all-encompassing solution provides the most streamlined service.

To find out if an EOR service is right for you, get in touch with the experts. They can help you learn more about how an EOR service might fit your business’s needs.