GM. This is RollCall by Rollfi...

Today we're getting a little nerdy with benefits.

• Is bi-weekly payroll dying? ⛑

• Head of the SEC can't get his story straight 💰

• Is Bitcoin mining going extinct? ⛏

The Payroll Stat of the Week

The Pros and Cons of Each Pay Period

Payroll periods are like subway rides. I know how they're going to end, I just don't know when they're going to end.

Today we're going to discuss the pros and cons of each payroll period.

Before we dive in, what is a pay period? A pay period is a recurring time frame an employee's work hours are tracked and paid.

The most common period is bi-weekly, but there are other options like monthly, weekly, and daily. Some companies prefer weekly or monthly pay periods because of their cash flow schedules or employee preferences.

Today, we’re going to go through the pros and cons of every pay period.

Daily Pay Period

Daily pay periods are rare, yet they can be an interesting way to stand out from the crowd.

Pros:

• Recruiting tool, because few companies do this

• Entice temporary and part time workers who prefer quicker pay days

Cons:

• Company needs to have a lot of cash on hand

• Adds complexity to payroll and taxes

• 365 pay periods is crazy and your accounting department may kill you

Weekly

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics ⅓ of workplaces choose a weekly pay period. It’s most popular for companies with fewer than 50 employees and oddly enough, construction company (75% of construction companies do this).

Pros: Weekly pay periods work well with overtime laws. They also are quicker bi-weekly pay periods (we'll get to them), which may be attractive to employees.

Cons: Quicker turnaround for the accounting department.

Bi-Weekly

Most common pay period with 42% of companies choosing this pay period. Companies with fewer than 9 employees are least likely to choose bi-weekly.

Pros:

• Consistent, large pay days twice a month (and sometimes 3x)

• Accounting is less cumbersome than weekly pay periods

• Your pay period is on the same schedule as most other people, which could make it easier to pay back loans and friends

Cons: This is the safest option, so they aren't many downsides other than it's longer than weekly pay periods.

Semi-Weekly

Similar to bi-weekly, except there will never be a month where you receive 3 paychecks instead of 2. Semi-monthly pay periods are most popular in mining and logging, financial services, and tech.

Pros: Similar to bi-weekly, except there is more certainty when you will get paid over the course of the year (1st and 15th or the 15th and 30th of the month).

Cons: Similar to bi-weekly.

Monthly

Good choice if you want to be an unpopular employer.

I’m not going through the pros and cons on monthly pay periods. I guess it’s good for employees with a spending problem (can’t save for rent) and employers with long product turnover. Other than that, it's too long for most normal people to wait on a paycheck.

Fixed Length

The best examples of a fixed pay period is a teacher who doesn’t work in the summer months. Instead of paying the teacher over a course of a full year, some school districts pay their teachers and administrators over the school year and prep period.

Professional athletes get paid similarly since they are paid out per game during the season (which is also why they get taxed depending on the state they play in, not the state the team resides in).

Some other things you should know:

• The 27th check: If you are running a bi-weekly payroll period, you may have to pay a 27th check. The 27th check is weird, because it can affect annual pay expectations, amount of employer contributions, and tax and benefit implications.

• Hourly vs. Salaried employees. Hourly and salaried employees have different needs, so make sure you are adjusting your payroll strategy depending on who you employ.

• Payroll mistakes are common. In 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor recovered $322 million in back wages owed to workers.

There is additional accounting complexity when employees are requesting different pay periods and you have to factor in compensation details like benefits and retirement.

Rollfi is working with employers so their employees can choose whatever pay period they want. Rollfi doesn’t want companies to take on any additional accounting complexity, that usually comes with offering multiple pay periods to employees.

BONUS: Does crypto change a pay period?

Crypto increases tax and income complexity, but it doesn’t change the way you treat an employee's pay period.

SEC Chair Caught in a lie

Gary Gensler is the Head of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The President of the financial police.

And, the doppelganger of Mr. Smithers from Family Guy.

We’re talking about Mr. Smithers Gary today, because he used to be an MIT professor. No, he didn't solve an impossible math proof, or take bribes from students.

We're talking about Gary's days as a professor because he taught a course called Blockchain and Money.

You can watch the first class on YouTube.

In the course Gary says, "The Securities and Exchange Commission has said regardless of what it might have been in 2014, [ETH] is now sufficiently decentralized that we’ll consider it not a security.”

Why is this important?

Two weeks ago in a congressional testimony, Gary couldn’t answer whether ETH was a security. He also said the crypto industry was rife with noncompliance and SEC jurisdiction extended to decentralized firms.

The same guy breaking regulation over the head of every US crypto company can't even decide on the rules. Until Gary and US regulators figure this out, we may see more companies, like Coinbase, leave the US.

Bitcoin Mining: Thing of the Past?

Bitcoin mining used to be a lucrative business. Set up a rig, pay your electricity bill, and bang, thousands in profits.

But things have changed.

The average cost to mine one Bitcoin (~$28k) went from $5k in 2022 to $17k this year. I

That means the average American only makes $11k in profit by mining one Bitcoin, which doesn’t even account for the costs of setting up a rig.

Why is this happening?

Between January 2022 and January 2023, the commercial electricity tariff surged at an average of 10.71% per U.S. state.

Plus, Bitcoin is more expensive in 2023, which means the hash price (the price you pay to mine Bitcoin) is pricier.

While it may be more expensive to mine Bitcoin, the Bitcoin price surge is pumping Bitcoin mining stocks. (Bitcoin up ⬆️ = Bitcoin mining stocks ⬆️ )

You may have felt smart investing in Bitcoin this year (it's up 69% YTD), but you would have looked even smarter had you believed in Bitcoin stocks.

Make sure your employees get to choose how they want to get paid.

Rollfi allows you to pay employees in crypto anytime, anywhere, and anyway they want.

If you let Rollfi handle your benefits WE do your payroll for free.

Request a demo today👇

Rollfi Inc does not guarantee and is in no way responsible for the accuracy of information provided in this message. All information is provided “AS IS” and with all faults. Data presented here may not reflect all activity in the market.