Whether you’re calculating payroll yourself or using a third party, many miss a crucial fact: Your time is worth something. How much does it cost for you to run payroll?

As the key decision-maker, your time, focus, and energy are extremely valuable to your business’s success. The upfront cost of a payroll service can tempt business owners to save money by bearing all of the payroll responsibility themselves. Yet, no matter how many responsibilities you have, payroll must be accurate and on-time always, and many rules and regulations must be followed exactly (as well as variations to those!). How do you keep up with it all?

Here’s what you could be missing out by not taking advantage of payroll processing services.

No. 1: Missing out on time to narrow your focus to other projects. Although it’s tempting to believe it’s cheaper for you to do payroll yourself, you can miss out on opportunities by not keeping a razor-sharp focus on your business.

No. 2: Have fully automated W-2 and 1099 statements, deposits, and possibly integration with accounting software (and more) while staying on top of new or updated requirements. You won’t have to think about it when the government updates forms; many payroll systems will take that into account for you.

No. 3: Never ever miss a payday. Not only will these services save you time and money, but they’ll also save you trouble. Legal trouble, especially.

For AFEUSA members, you have even more options for affordable payroll services, too. Gusto, designed for small businesses, offers three months free to AFEUSA members! Don’t miss your chance to save yourself time and money if you haven’t made the switch yet.