Looking for a new payroll service? Choosing a new payroll service can help the business save money and time so you can focus on your growing business, but it can be difficult to choose the best service for you when the technology that the service is delivering is old and antiquated or payroll is an add-on to the core delivery of the technology. Here are some guidelines to look for in your next payroll service;
– Compliance
Payroll legislation and responsibilities are forever changing and difficult to keep up with….and very time consuming. Your payroll service and provider and should comply with the minimum standards
– Online Benefits – leave, timesheets, recruiting (to a point), paperless
Access to systems via computer/ mobiles and ESS access to submit leave and/or timesheets and view payslips/summaries have shown great benefits for businesses
– Training & Support
In any service you acquire, you require support you can count on should expect support from real people via email, phone and in person as well as guidelines
– Security
You need to ensure that your sensitive employee and business information are safe, and the data centres where your technology is being delivered are secure.
– Integration with accounting platforms.
If a payroll system does not offer integration to accounting platforms this decreases efficiency and control. If not integrated company will need to manually enter or reconcile the payroll again accounting platform, or pay further costs for the integration
– Third Party Liaising
Quite often a payroll service won’t include chatting to other government organisations or companies that may need to liaise with payroll. Things like child support and salary packaging arrangements. If you don’t want to be the middleman between the agencies and your payroll supplier look for these inclusions
– Ease of use
The user interface shouldn’t be over complicated and should be easy to learn and use for both administrators and employees.
Often, critical decisions are left to the HR and Finance department, which makes sense as this is commonly the intersection of payroll. HR could be influenced by HR systems with performance management or recruitment with the add-on of payroll and similarly, Finance could be influenced by accounting systems with payroll as an add-on. These additional items can be great although should not be a decider when shopping for a new payroll system. If you have serious payroll problems make your payroll choice an individual choice.
By: Charisse Armstrong Payroll HQ Client Services
