How Outsourcing Your Payroll Can Save You Time
How many hours a week do you spend on your payroll? Probably more than you like to admit, right?
It is one of those jobs that can’t be missed, or there will be hell to pay! However, it can be so fiddly and time-consuming.
AND, it becomes infinitely more time-consuming the more employees you have.
So, what can you do about it?
Your team need to be paid, so payroll has to be completed.
The good news is, you don’t have to be the one to complete it! Outsourcing your payroll function is both time and cost-saving, plus a huge weight off your mind.
Here’s how you can do it.
What Is Payroll Outsourcing?
The concept of payroll outsourcing is a simple one. A payroll expert will take the entire job off your hands. Your staff get paid without you having to dedicate the hours to make it happen.
When you outsource your payroll, the provider you choose can do everything from entering data, calculating pay, working out deductions, transferring the funds into the bank accounts of your team, filing the associated taxes, and keeping the appropriate records.
Having said that, you may only choose to outsource some of those tasks depending on your business needs. Your payroll provider will be able to work with your payroll software (if you have an existing programme) so that everyone has access to the relevant information as and when they need it.
Why Should You Outsource Your Payroll?
The thing about payroll is that it’s an important job. If you don’t pay your staff, then things are not going to end well - both socially and legally!
In saying that, payroll is not a job that you need to complete personally. In fact, it is often better that you don’t. Here’s why:
Save Money: How long would you spend on payroll every week? At least an hour? Let’s say that you charge your time out at $100 an hour (for easy math’s sake!). So in a month, you dedicate $450 of billable hours to payroll. It isn’t going to cost anywhere near that much to outsource your payroll to a professional provider. Plus, you get to use that time to earn, instead of being frustrated.
Save Time: By outsourcing, you are already saving yourself money, and you are also saving yourself time. Imagine what you could do with an extra 4.5 hours a month or 54 hours a year. That is an extra week and a half of work time that you could gain, every year.
Compliance: How much do you know about employment law and employee entitlements? Probably enough to get by, but potentially not the full intricacies of the regulations. However, you are responsible for any transactions made by your company. That puts you at risk for penalties (or worse) if you get it wrong. Luckily, payroll professionals make it their business to know all those regulations, safeguarding your company and employees.
Expertise: You probably didn’t get into business to pay people’s wages. It is more likely that you love what you do and are very skilled at it. Along the way, you have learnt to do the things necessary to run a successful business. Payroll is one of those things, no doubt. But, a payroll professional processes payroll day in and day out. That is their skill and where their expertise lies. Capitalising on their skill allows you to focus on what you do best.
How Can You Choose The Right Provider?
As payroll is a critical part of your business, you want to make sure that you are outsourcing it to the right provider. Consider these points when choosing:
Understand what you need: Certain payroll providers offer different levels of service. You want to make sure you are only paying for what you need, AND that everything you require is covered in their service.
Level of communication: Even though your provider will handle the heavy lifting for you, there will still be some level of communication to ensure everything is processed correctly and that changes in employment are taken into account. Scope out their level of communication and what access you will have to your own records.
Trust: Trust is a key component in any relationship, so make sure you feel comfortable with your provider. Meet up with them or have a chat via Zoom to check that you connect with them well.
Take referrals: The best people to ask are the ones who already use this service. Take recommendations on who they use and how it works for their business.
Here at Core HR we love helping business owners streamline their processes and get the most out of their business. One of the best ways of doing that is outsourcing the jobs that are time consuming and repetitive.
If you would like to know more about how outsourcing your payroll could be beneficial for your business, then get in touch with us today.