Payroll processing is probably the most complex task for any organisation, with complications to the tune of tax compliance and regulations, and worker benefits which can ruin the accuracy and timing of your payroll system. Payroll plays a pivotal role in keeping your employees’ satisfaction in check.
Since employees are the most significant resource in a company, paying them promptly is not a choice but an obligation. Happy employees improve the productivity of the organisation and are less likely to leave.
However, it is impossible not to face challenges when an outsourced payroll process or an in-house payroll process hits the rocks. Most organisations prefer outsourcing their payroll while others have an in-house payroll process. Both ways work efficiently, but they can be improved to ensure that your employees will never complain of late payments.
Here are seven ways to help you out!
#1 Understand the Tax Policies
Any miscalculated payroll can result in penalties. There is only one sure way to avoid penalties; understanding tax laws and incorporating them into your payroll process. Also, ensure that you have verified your payroll to make sure that it is compliant with the Indian tax laws. Naturally, this should be done during every pay cycle.
If you implement outsourced payroll process, you are less likely to get headaches over the constant change in regulations. However, if you run an in-house payroll system, then you must remain vigilant on any tax laws adjustments to keep yourself updated.
#2 Create a Monthly Payroll Schedule
Payroll is a recurring comprehensive process, and therefore, should be treated and prepared in a way that is regular and frequent. It is quite crucial for businesses to have a clearly-defined calendar with guidelines and deadlines.
Working with deadlines ensure that the staff are prepared and focused and payroll specialists do not have to rush working with confusion and stress which could quickly translate into incorrect data filling.
The best way to avoid this is by creating adequate time to have the job done; a calendar can be of great help in this regard. Be sure to include all steps of the process and allow a realistic time frame.
#3 Conduct Regular Audits
If your payroll department is susceptible to constant employee complaints, then that means that it is past time for an audit of the whole process. The most sure-fire way is by identifying and handling issues through a comprehensive workflow analysis.
An effective audit should include seeing to it that all operations are working efficiently, testing payroll software for proper integration and determining whether or not employee time management is a snag that is tripping the process.
#4 Policy Transparency
Ensure that there are clear transparent payroll policies to prevent mistakes that come from employee misunderstanding of the payroll system. Such misunderstandings occur particularly in organisations where pay policies are not presented adequately, or the pay policies are not made available to employees.
When you focus on payroll challenges such as employee misclassification or underpaid taxes, your staff members can help you commit the task as part of your daily operations. Your business should set clear policies which are clear to every employee and will ensure that all workers understand how payroll process works, how salaries are determined and how employees are classified.
#5 Provide Online Access
Consider giving your workers online access. Upload the whole information about your organization, employees’ current and past pay information.
This way, they can learn about the entire process which may significantly reduce the amount of time used to educate them and answering payroll enquiries by your payroll staff. You can also go ahead and integrate the online payroll system with your accounting system to create accurate payroll results.
#6 Outsource Your Payroll Process
If you run a small business, chances are that you do not have enough resources to invest in building an in-house payroll office or have time to continually update the older one. Hence, a professional full-service payroll management company can be a cost-effective and a strategic option.
Look for veteran payroll service providers like PaySquare and outsource the work to them to allow you to focus on other money-making and business-growing opportunities. You are more likely to save money, efforts, energy, and time from outsourcing payroll than performing the task by yourself.
#7 Upgrade Your Payroll Software
Sometimes, all you need is to upgrade your payroll software. Upgrading can quickly minimise time wastage and streamline the processing of payroll for your business. Your older version may be taking time to perform tasks thus delaying the payroll process.
The new state-of-the-art payroll technology is faster, accurate, and efficient in data entry and processing. You may actually find that the software cuts off your payroll workload into a half. Keep in mind, however, that you cannot entirely rely on a computer program alone as it will not solve all the process issues.
Final Say
Upgrading your payroll process and hiring experts will prove to be cost-effective and also help improve transparency in the organization. Do ensure that your workers have online access to payroll policies and implementation for a seamless payroll processing.
