Chapter 7, Problem 1A

Attracting and retaining the best employees is crucial to operating a business. Employees will join a company based on opportunities for advancement, training, company culture, and salary and benefits provided.

One business that is often listed in Fortune magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” is Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI). REI is committed to inspiring, educating, and outfitting its customers for a lifetime of outdoor adventure. REI offers competitive salaries as well as benefits, including paid sabbaticals, an onsite fitness center, healthcare coverage, telecommuting, and a compressed workweek.

The accounting department at REI is responsible for determining salaries/wages and benefits for employees, calculating payroll deductions for taxes and other expenses, and ensuring that company payrolls are processed in a timely and accurate manner. In this chapter, you learned how companies such as REI complete the payroll records for their employees. Why do you think timely and accurate payroll information is so important to a company such as REI?