In 2014 payroll fraud comprised 10.2 percent of global occupational fraud cases, with organizations suffering a median loss of $50,000 per year.

Social Security numbers, addresses, wages, and bank account numbers are just some of the sensitive data you will find in a payroll department. Breaches in this data can be detrimental to your company’s reputation and financial standing; small businesses, especially, may never recover.

While you cannot stop criminals from attempting to steal your data, you can thwart their efforts by following these best practices for payroll data security.

Whether you own a small business with one employee or a growing company with dozens, mistakes are bound to happen. Unfortunately when it comes to payroll, those mistakes can end up costing you a pretty penny.

Did you know that in 2014 U.S. businesses were fined roughly $5 billion in payroll tax penalties? That’s a good chunk of funds to give up for unintentional mishaps. But don’t add a payroll penalty line item to your budget yet! We have compiled a list of eight common payroll mistakes that businesses make so you can avoid them…and the penalties that follow.