Monday, December 14, 2009

Payroll Software - 6 Things to Consider When Choosing Payroll Software

When your business grows, you definitely need to consider buying payroll software for your company. In this article, let me share with you 6 things to consider when choosing payroll software.

1. The cost of using a payroll service. When your business grows, you will have more employees. This will greatly increase the cost of using a payroll service. So when you realize that the cost of using a payroll service starts to outweigh the convenience, then it is time to use payroll software.

2. Online tax filing. Good payroll software will allow you to submit your tax electronically. Although a professional payroll firm can ensure that they will file your taxes on time, payroll software allows you to file tax electronically, which makes the processing easier.

3. You need to assign a staff to handle the payroll processing. Whether you are using a payroll service or software, you need to have someone to collect employee payroll data and information. The staff will be responsible to enter the data manually into the payroll system.

4. Flexibility and control. If you want to have more control, you should consider getting your own payroll software. Some companies have a lot of departments and a payroll service cannot provide the flexibility to track by different departments. Payroll software gives you this flexibility and changes can be made instantly.

5. Sensitivity and security. Payroll data is very sensitive. If you want to keep your payroll data private, you should get payroll software for your company. In house software can ensure that all data are kept confidential and only personnel with permission are allow to view it. Good payroll system has permission settings where employees can see certain screens or data.

6. Good reporting tool. A good payroll system should be able to generate important reports for you. It should have the flexibility to generate reports on different data combination of your choice. A payroll service does not have enough flexibility when it comes to reporting. An in-house program allows you to customize the reporting to your needs.

Payroll system is definitely a great investment and tool for your company. As your company grows, the cost and time you spend on payroll service will increase. So spend some time now to source out a good payroll system and use it in your company. By doing this, you can save money in the long run and have more time to do the things that you do best.



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The Fun of Pay and Bill

Pay and Bill is not the most exciting procedure in the day to day life of any business man or woman, but is something that needs to be done and it is getting more and more difficult as its not directly paying salary anymore. Every other employee has a different taxation rate as they are of different age, on a different wage rate, or have a student loan that needs to be included within the payroll data. And on top of that there is sick pay, pension pay and vacation allowance so it is not a very simple procedure anymore and is extremely time consuming. So it may be worth considering outsourcing your company pay and bill to reduce costs, save time for the finance and accounting departments and in essence you are outsourcing all of the complexities of payroll and billing and eliminating the chance of making any miscalculations.

As a manager, making decisions is part and parcel of the job description and one of the major decisions that managers have to weigh up each and every day is whether an employee's time is worth more than the cost of outsourcing payroll and other finance and accounting duties. Another option would be to invest in some in-house HR and payroll software however, that would all depend on how the HR department's time is valued and whether technology is required for a more efficiently ran team. Another factor for relinquishing the burden of payroll is that taxation rates are ever fluctuating and it is difficult to get it 100% correct every month and by passing over the responsibility to payroll specialists then the probable errors would be eradicated.

Payroll is usually entrusted to a particular employee that has had many years experience in bookkeeping, but if the occasion rises when he or she is temporarily ill or away on vacation then there is a void where a payroll outsourcing agency can come in and offer a professional service with second-ton-non knowledge of taxation, pay and bill and other finance and accounting services.

There are many companies that offer payroll services at different rates on different contracts but it is important to remember that you are outsourcing to maximise the skills and knowledge of key personnel in your company and so they can do other duties rather than the monotonous chore that pay and bill can be. Companies can offer technology that can monitor the internal pay and bill, credit control management process for a lower cost than you as a company can actually do it for, thus a saving that can go directly to a company's bottom line. The technology that could be bought could enable you as a company to easily talk to clients and prospects about web portals, e-time, e-billing, consolidating on-line statements with you as a company not actually having to deliver it.

If you do decide to go with a payroll outsourcing agency, then do be sure to research the company fully, making sure then comply to all of legislator requirements and have a wealth of experience with recommendations in your chosen field.


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Helping to Take the Pain Out of Payroll

We all know that running a payroll is a time consuming operation, staff queries can literally tie up the payroll team for hours on end making sure that employees are paid correctly and ultimately happy with their reward. Which is why, in this age of global economic downturn, organisations need to make sure they have the right payroll software to manage this critical function while saving valuable time and resource.

Safe Computing have been designing leading edge Payroll systems since the early 70's and their latest Payroll Software helps to make sure that payroll staff can answer queries faster and the department can become, leaner, meaner without losing any of its professionalism and most importantly accuracy.

Safe's payroll systems are used by many organisations processing in excess of 1.4 million payee payments per annum and they are market leader in the Recruitment Agency Software market. Their payroll solutions also integrate seamlessly into their powerful Finance and Accounting software and Credit Control offerings.

By investing in HR and Payroll software, a company will not only be saving the time of the business administrators but will be saving money in the process. Sure, the investment of such complex software won't be cheap, but by taking all of the complexities out of payroll will be of benefit in the future.

It may be worth considering payroll outsourcing as with the complexities of fluctuating taxation rates, each employee having different rates and the sheer number of employees that need payment that mistakes may even be inevitable. Outsourcing the payroll to a payroll solutions specialist may be a more expensive procedure, yet the time being saved and the guarantee that the payroll is being handled by payroll specialists will offer reassurance to those concerned and could increase efficiency and productivity of the firm.

There are many payroll software agencies and getting a price is not as simple as it should be. As every company is different, by having a different number of employees and freelancers then the software package require may differ. Other factors need to be considered, as some software packages include HR and Payroll together as a combined software, and also as earlier mentioned, credit control and finance and accounting software can be integrated. Do some research and make some enquiries, prices will differentiate, but it is important to remember that you are trying to find the software that integrates best with your company, by meeting all of the needs and saving time and money, in the long term, in the process.

You should see that any software you invest in for you business will give you a competitive advantage, as during tough economic times, many companies are cutting back on technology investment. By increasing productivity and efficiency of the workload will give your company an advantage over other firms that have dated procedures, less productive and have higher rates. Whether you decide to invest in payroll software or entrust to an outsourcing agency, then it must be remembered, that with a bit of research and a strategic mind, that investment will be of long term gain.



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How to Pick the Right Certified Payroll Software

Certified payroll software automates much of the record-keeping required to comply with Federal regulations for certain construction projects. The Form WH-347 is the document that lays out the way the payroll must be done.

The Copeland Act (40 U.S.C. § 3145) requires contractors and subcontractors performing work on certain Federal contracts to "furnish weekly a statement with respect to the wages paid each employee during the preceding week."

That statement must be signed (That's the certifying part!) that the payrolls are correct and complete and that each laborer or mechanic has been paid not less than the Davis-Bacon prevailing wage rate for the work performed. That wage is pre-determined based on specific guidelines.

The form shows wages and benefit amounts paid to each and every worker. For each worker the form shows a breakdown of all payments made.

By using certified payroll software the reporting requirements can be easily met.

Look out though. You can add a lot of work if you pick the wrong system. Here's how...

Make sure that your payroll software is compatible with your main accounting software. Otherwise, you really have trouble. You certainly don't want to be entering data twice or reconciling two different systems!

Many payroll software packages will take input data from QuickBooks software as well as other major accounting packages.

The required Form WH-347 isn't complex to complete, but keeping track of the payroll data without the right software can be a real pain. The right payroll software can remove a real obstacle to timely reporting of payroll costs.



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