The Payroll Pulse Check: Why July Is the Time to Tune Up

 We’re officially halfway through the year—and if you’re like most business owners, that mid-year mark sneaks up fast. Amid summer schedules, tax deadlines, and everything else on your plate, one crucial area often gets overlooked: payroll.

That’s why July is the perfect time to perform what we call the Payroll Pulse Check—a mid-year review to make sure your payroll is accurate, compliant, and aligned with your business goals heading into Q3.

At TEL Staffing & HR, we help businesses all over Florida catch costly errors and streamline their payroll processes. And we’ve seen it time and time again: the businesses that pause to do a checkup in July avoid the biggest headaches later in the year.

Why July Is Payroll’s Sweet Spot

1. You're six months into your payroll cycle.
   That means you have enough data to identify trends—but still enough time to course-correct. Whether you’ve onboarded new employees, given raises, or adjusted benefits, now’s your chance to make sure everything is being tracked and taxed properly.
2. Summer brings unique payroll stressors.
   With PTO, temporary staffing, and fluctuating schedules, July and August can stress-test your timekeeping system. Missed clock-ins, overtime miscalculations, and incorrect accruals are common—especially if your payroll system isn’t synced with your HR practices.
3. Compliance isn’t just a January task.
   Many state and federal payroll regulations update mid-year. For example, some wage thresholds or tax rates shift on July 1st. If your system isn’t catching those changes automatically, you could be out of compliance and not even know it.
4. You still have two quarters to improve efficiency.
   A mid-year payroll tune-up isn’t just about fixing errors—it’s about optimizing your processes before the busier fall and end-of-year seasons. That’s when bonus payments, tax prep, ACA reporting, and year-end reconciliations start piling up.

What to include in Your Payroll Pulse Check

Not sure where to start? Here’s a quick breakdown of what to review:

• Employee Classifications

Are your team members properly labeled as W-2 employees or 1099 contractors? Have any roles changed? Misclassification is one of the most common (and expensive) payroll errors small businesses make.

• Tax Withholdings & Rates

Double-check your federal, state, and local tax withholdings. If your business operates in multiple jurisdictions—or if employees have moved—you’ll want to verify everything is up to date.

• PTO & Leave Balances

With half the year gone and lots of summer PTO happening, now’s the time to reconcile leave balances. Make sure accruals and redemptions are being tracked correctly in your payroll system.

• Pay Adjustments & Bonuses

Have you issued any raises, bonuses, or retroactive pay since January? It’s easy for those to be miscalculated or improperly taxed. Now’s your chance to audit for accuracy.

• Benefit Deductions

Ensure that health, dental, retirement, and other benefits are being deducted correctly from employee paychecks. Missing or misapplied deductions can throw off your year-end reporting.

What Can Go Wrong If You Skip It?

A lot. We've seen businesses get hit with:

• IRS notices due to incorrect withholdings
• Unhappy employees because of pay errors or missed hours
• Late payments on benefits or taxes
• Fines from labor departments due to misclassification or recordkeeping issues
• Year-end panic when it’s too late to fix anything without penalty

The best payroll is the one you don’t have to think about—but it takes smart mid-year maintenance to get there.

Want to Cover More Than Just Payroll

Download our free Mid-Year HR Compliance Checklist to make sure your business is ready for Q3 across payroll, compliance, documentation, and more.

It’s quick, actionable, and built to help Florida businesses avoid costly HR missteps.
Download the checklist now or visit telstaffing.com/resources to get started.