When payroll is rolling, all is right in the world. When it’s not… well, the message gets pretty angry, pretty quickly. An error-free payroll system is critical for any organization, and for an HR professional who is handling it all – well, it’s quite a load to carry.
A smart payroll software can:
- Cut down on errors
- Save time
- Save money
- Create a better relationship between workers and HR
- Move your company into the 21st century
Still using an antiqued system (ahem, paper, anyone?) but not sure you’re ready to move up in the world? Well, we think you deserve to, but here are some signs it’s time for a payroll software:
1. You Work All Day But Don’t Seem To Get Anything Done
It takes a lot of knowledge to run payroll without a payroll software, but the human brain isn’t as fast as a computer’s. Does it seem like you spend the day:
- Crunching numbers
- Inputting data
- Deciphering handwriting
- Chasing down changes in contact information, financial institutions and job codes
- Looking for information on payees
- Shredding
If yes, it’s time to give yourself a break. Managing payroll without a software system allows for wasted labor hours that you could spend completing more strategic initiatives.
2. You’re Making Payroll Mistakes
Whether big or small, mistakes in payroll can snowball into a huge deal. After all, it’s money, and when that’s the case, it’s personal. Common payroll mistakes like confusion on employee status or getting the right checks out the door are less likely to happen when your payroll is automated.
We like to remind payroll specialists that if you’re writing an employee’s name more than zero times, it’s too many. A robust payroll system can decrease the number of human-introduced errors and consequently, eliminate a lot of hurry-up-and-fix-it-work.
3. You’re Having Tax Nightmares
Incorrect tax filings, filing past deadline, exposure to fees or IRS penalties…If the thought of tax season haunts your dreams, an employee payroll software can help alleviate those worries. The ease-of-use of a smart payroll system should include things like:
- No-hassle updates to federal, state and local tax data syncing
- Detailed payroll entry capabilities across applicable deductions
- Earnings and tax codes with the ability to process payroll for lots of EINs
- Automated generation of paystubs, W2s and other reports
- The ability to view tax frequencies
4. Your Employees/Co-Workers Won’t Stop Emailing You
New address? Email payroll.
New bank? Email payroll.
New pay grade? Everyone email payroll.
Or worse – are paper notes dropped off at your desk?
A smart payroll management system is going to shut down that nonsense, and consequently, free up hours of time for you to dedicate to more pressing things. A great payroll system will include things like:
- An employee portal where employees can update their own personal information (bonus: everyone doesn’t need to share their banking information with payroll)
- Anytime, anywhere access to the portal via the cloud
- Real-time data-syncing, including employee records like compensation rates, transactions, direct deposit, deductions and local, state and federal taxes
- Employee check previews
- Time import capabilities
5. Your Employee Data Isn’t Safe
In an age when data security is a top concern, having a trustworthy employee payroll system needs to be a top priority. When evaluating a third-party software supplier, remember to vet them for this important aspect of your data. Some things to look for:
- A team of network and security engineers who are dedicated to monitoring and supporting the system infrastructure
- 24/7 monitoring and intrusion detection
- Entire online infrastructure redundancy
- Top-tier disaster recovery plans
Ready to take your payroll system to the next level? Receive a free HR assessment today.
