If you’re in charge of payroll in your company, it’s important to make sure that the process goes as smoothly as possible. Payroll mistakes can lead to loss of productivity, unhappy employees, and even lawsuits if benefits are improperly distributed or misclassified. While you may have heard it all before, there are some things about payroll that you may not have known – especially if you just started using the software yourself. Here are seven things that you didn’t know about payroll software that will help your business run more smoothly every day.
1) Reliable
If you’re looking for payroll software to use, reliability is paramount. The last thing you want is to do all your bookkeeping and reporting and then find out that your payroll software doesn’t accurately capture everything—even worse, that it loses or screws up your data. It’s important to look for a company that has proven its expertise in providing reliable payroll services and has been around long enough to prove its reliability (and customer satisfaction). Reputable: Any company providing HR solutions should be reputable. The first step is making sure they have a solid reputation among clients; if not, ask what others who have used their services say about them.
2) Cost-Effective
One of the biggest expenses a business has is payroll. And, while it’s important to ensure that employees are getting paid on time and in full, there are lots of other things to consider when setting up a payroll system. One of these is efficiency. A streamlined system makes it easier for your HR team to work together—and makes sure payroll doesn’t get bogged down with extraneous tasks.
3) Easy To Use
It seems like a no-brainer, but consider what kind of time and effort you’re going to be able to dedicate to your new payroll software. Are you an HR professional who’s buried in work and other responsibilities? Are you a payroll services firm that’s trying to keep up with clients? Make sure your HR management solution is user-friendly so it doesn’t add to your burdensome workload.
4) Comprehensive
Comprehensive payroll software not only allows you to manage your company’s payroll but also every aspect of HR management. From automatic time-tracking to employee self-service, there are so many features packed into these solutions that will save you both time and money. But it’s not all about taking on less work. These tools help ensure compliance with internal HR policies and regulatory requirements, providing a valuable layer of protection should any issues arise. They will also assist in managing tasks like employee onboarding and offboarding, benefits enrollment, time tracking, expensing reimbursement—all while offering real-time access to essential data at your fingertips for easy decision making.
5) Accurate
Getting your payroll calculations wrong is a surefire way to get in trouble with authorities. If you have an employee in California making $21 per hour, you’ll have to pay time-and-half if they work more than 8 hours in a day or 40 hours in a week. Make one calculation error and it could be months before you realize that hundreds of dollars are being withheld from employees each paycheck. While large companies can probably afford to hire an accountant just for payroll, most businesses are wise to use software that gets it right by default. Many tools let you see your tax liability up front, so there’s no guesswork involved when setting up employee compensation packages or compensation consulting firms.
6) Streamlines payroll
Having a payroll system that is easy to use will save your HR team time and stress. It’s important to ensure that your payroll software is streamlining payroll, not making it more difficult. Take some time to figure out exactly what you want your payroll software to do. What features are most important? Are there any security concerns? How much space does it need on each computer? Having clear answers to these questions means you’ll have an easier time finding software that meets your needs. Another benefit of getting your HR department involved in choosing a payroll solution is that it ensures everyone is on board with all decisions, which can help minimize problems down the road.
7) Robust Reporting Tools
The real beauty of a good payroll system is that it makes accounting a breeze. Whether you’re tracking hours, managing projects, or gathering data for payroll taxes, most companies today make their reporting tools available to their employees through cloud-based software—meaning they can access their information from anywhere. In addition to reporting features, most HR software has robust features for calculating taxes and tracking labor costs. Cloud-based payroll solutions usually have templates for automating many of these processes as well. That means less time spent on repetitive tasks and more time spent running your business.
