Should you outsource your payroll?
Payroll. Whether you have one employee in your business, or a thousand, you need payroll. Payroll is a specialist skill but there are so many wonderful payroll software programs which make life SO MUCH easier. These wonderful systems enable the small and medium business owner to pay their employees correctly, confidently and compliantly.
When considering how to run your payroll, you have three options:
1. Process payroll yourself
This is obviously the cheapest option for a growing business, but it is also the most time consuming and the riskiest (especially if you aren’t 100% confident in your ability to interpret the employment legislation).
2. Hire an internal payroll resource
An internal payroll resource is more expensive, but minimises the risk of paying your staff incorrectly by having an expert in the relevant payroll legislation. For many businesses, it’s difficult to justify a dedicated payroll resource so unless it is a larger business, this person will also manage other areas (like Finance or HR). An additional benefit of an internal payroll resource is that they are the ‘go to’ for anything payroll (chasing timesheets, following up enquiries etc) which lessens the admin load on business owners and Managers.
3. Outsource your payroll to an external provider
Often seen as the most expensive option (it’s not – we are often cheaper than an internal resource), the major downfall people have when deciding to outsource payroll is the business often still has to do most of the work, gathering information for payroll and answering queries. Choosing the right provider should prevent this. The provider should be able to work directly with your employees and managers on anything payroll and act as the ‘go to’ you would otherwise have had with an internal resource.
If you are considering outsourcing your payroll, ask yourself:
How confident am I in the payroll expertise I have in my business?
How much time am I spending researching and looking up answers I don’t know?
How much time are people in my business spending on payroll related tasks?
Could this time be better spent elsewhere?
Could this be quicker and with less cost if done by someone else?
Is there a way to improve or automate my processes? And if so, do I have the time and knowledge to do this myself?
Whether it’s a company who is a specialist in outsourced payroll (hint: that’s us! www.corehr.co.nz/core-payroll) or an accountant or bookkeeper, you will find they will be able to take away the time consuming ‘headache’ of payroll and are likely to introduce new systems and processes to streamline payroll activity for your employees and managers.
If you don’t feel confident in your payroll or if you are time poor (what business owner isn’t?!) then outsourcing is something you should definitely investigate.
If you would like to find out more about Core HR’s payroll options, book a no-obligation consult HERE
Need help with your payroll?
Core Payroll is the full outsourcing of payroll. Our model is set up to act as an inhouse payroll function, which means we are knowledgeable in your business operations and cover the full remit of payroll duties including:
Processing weekly / fortnightly / monthly payroll
Liaise with your staff and managers on timesheets, leave and approvals
Respond to all payroll enquiries
Monitor leave balances
Administer Starters, Changes and Finishers, including calculating final pays
Process Payday Filing and all Employer Deductions
Provide costing, leave liability and other reports
Our Core Payroll service can also include provision of a compliant and cloud-based payroll system, as well as electronic leave applications and timesheets.
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