With the complexities of payroll and payroll tax regulations, laws and the frequent changes they bring to business over time, there are notable critical aspects of your payroll process that should be kept top of mind. Let’s examine the major benefits of moving from a manual payroll process to a payroll application.
Time saving and error avoidance
When manually done, payroll processes are prone to errors, not to mention are time-consuming. Oversight on proper payroll regulatory compliance, data integrity is managed easily thorough using payroll software to avoid inaccurate financial statements and the penalties they would bring to your business. With synchronization to bank systems and automated processing, payroll software leaves no room for missteps.
Employees are paid properly
Paycheck mistakes build mistrust and can do harm to employee morale. Even if the mistakes are harmless, it still does damage to your reputation. Payroll software will keep calculations consistent and accurate. They will automatically factor in such key items such as salary grades, benefits, expenses, deductions, and other payroll functions required locally or by state or federal agencies.
Payment of taxes
If you have employees in another city or state, staying in compliance with tax regulations can bog you down. There are nearly 10,000 tax jurisdictions in the U.S. alone. Most payroll software has built-in location-based tax calculations and reporting that can be preset. Automation of these requirements makes it easier to compute taxes owed with each transaction completed. Additionally, payroll software vendors will have their systems auto-update to current regulatory requirements.
Transparency
As noted above, any disputes to payroll can be addressed quickly with the ability to drill down on a payroll account down to the timesheet, benefits or other related data. This breakdown can be granular to pinpoint with accuracy the points of dispute (leaves, expenses, adjustments, collective labor benefits etc.).
Accessing employee data quickly
Payroll automation can be applied to contracts, CBAs, performance records and even conversations of note. Any user with the proper permissions can quickly bring up the information from an account and access it from various devices or platforms. The employee data is held in a centralized repository with secure access granted.
Report customization
Whether an independent system or integrated as a bundle, payroll automation has the ability to build reports based on a variety of custom rules. You have the option to define the parameters of the report (current vs historical data, payslips delivered, etc.). If the reports will be reoccurring, they can be easily programmed and saved for frequent use.
The customized reports also have the ability to run on a schedule automatically and generate a notification when completed.
Security
As noted above, payroll information is secure and allowed access only to those who have permission to view or edit. This works for all users as managers will be able to access their teams’ payroll information (depending on their level of permission) in order to respond to their departmental employee quickly.
