A fully managed payroll can help you save time and money.
For most businesses, running payroll is not regarded as a core activity. That’s understandable yet it’s absolutely essential that it is done well. Fortunately, there are other options available besides having to do it all yourself.
Some companies might decide that on balance keeping their payroll in-house is the right thing to do. But an increasing number of organisations are taking advantage of the many benefits a managed payroll service has to offer for taking care of this crucial aspect of running a business.
What are managed payroll services?
There are variations when it comes to exactly what managed payroll services can provide you with but essentially they can offer either a payroll bureau service or a fully managed payroll service.
A payroll bureau service is typically a blended approach which keeps the employer company involved to some extent, therefore there may still need to be a level of payroll processing knowledge retained in-house.
Within the payroll bureau option, there is often flexibility over how many payroll processing tasks are outsourced and therefore there can be variation in how involved the employer company chooses to be.
Usually, there will be a point of contact within the employer company and they will be responsible for working with the payroll software, overseeing the collation of the data (although the actual information could be entered by several people in the business) and for dealing with employee queries.
A fully managed payroll service, however, refers to when your entire payroll is outsourced to a payroll provider. That provider will deal with every aspect of your company’s payroll including all of the necessary calculations, all of the processing, issuing payslips, completing the end of year activity and reporting. A managed payroll provider will also deal with HMRC on the company’s behalf.
Of course, the specific features of fully managed payroll services can vary but essentially a managed payroll provider is taking on the role of a full payroll department for your company.
How can managed payroll services help your business?
- Compliance with legislation
The legislation and regulations around payroll can be complicated and keeping up with changes can be very time-consuming.
By using a managed payroll services, you lift a lot of that burden off your business. You will always retain ultimate responsibility for ensuring you are complying with everything required of you. But a good payroll provider will be able to deliver services that are fully compliant with all aspects of payroll regulations, including workplace pension provision.
- A cost-effective and accurate service
For many companies, it’s less time consuming and more cost-effective to outsource a payroll than to employ payroll specialists to run it in-house. Or payroll might be an activity that’s currently managed by members of your HR team; by enabling them to spend less time dealing with transactional activity like payroll, you free them up to have time for involvement in more strategic activities that add value.
It’s not simply the up-front costs that need to be considered. You can expect a high degree of accuracy thanks to the quality of the software being used and the expertise of your payroll provider. That reduces the risk of errors and ultimately gives a better service to your employees.
- A robust and reliable way to run payroll
When you run payroll in-house, there are all kinds of issues that could potentially cause you disruption.
From sudden sickness absence to an IT failure, there is always a risk you could hit problems. All it takes is for a key member of your payroll department to become unwell, or to need to take time off for another reason, and it could suddenly leave you and your business vulnerable.
When you opt for a managed payroll service, you are taking a lot of that risk away. You don’t have to deal with the repercussions of losing a member of your payroll team and having to find and retrain a replacement.
Instead, a managed payroll gives you the peace of mind that it will always be processed properly, accurately and on time.
- Remote and highly flexible payroll management
A managed payroll will be precisely configured to meet the exact needs of your organisation, giving you plenty of flexibility no matter how complex your payroll requirements are. Data can be sent through in a variety of formats. With managed payroll services utilising cloud-based software, payroll can be set up to run remotely within a few hours and at absolutely any time that suits you. Cloud-based payroll software is regularly updated too, ensuring it remains highly secure.
Having a managed payroll certainly doesn’t mean you lose any visibility of what’s going within it. Bespoke access to information can be given to anyone in your company in accordance with your instructions, enabling you and them to interrogate the system and run any real-time reports that are needed. Self-service options can also be made available through a managed payroll, giving employees the ability to view their own payroll information too.
Managed payroll services in action: Facilicom
Facilicom provides cleaning services, along with security solutions delivered via its sister company Trigion, to a wide range of sectors within the UK including manufacturing, retail, housing, shopping centres, sports stadia and blue-chip commercial. It currently employs around 1850 staff throughout its UK operations.
Facilicom has fairly complex payroll requirements to allow it to cater for all of its direct employees across the two companies. Corporate Payroll Solutions processes 6 different payrolls to cover all of the various permutations and patterns which also have varying payment cycle requirements.
As needs have changed over the years, including as a result of the company evolving to become part of the global Facilicom Group brand, CPS has carried out bespoke work to ensure the software and the managed payroll services as a whole continues to meet requirements.
HR Director Lesley Coates has personally had a long-standing relationship with Corporate Payroll Solutions. She comments:
“Over the years, I’ve developed an excellent relationship with Nick and the rest of the team who have consistently been brilliant! We have very open and honest communication with everyone there. Given the fact we’ve used their managed payroll services for more than 20 years, it’s a testament to both the quality of the payroll software and the level of customer service that there have been very few problems cropping up. Even on rare occasions, there have been any issues or queries, they’ve been minor and have been sorted out straight away.”
Other positive feedback from Lesley relates to the innovative approach CPS has taken to software development and updates over the years. “The rigour and effectiveness of the software updates have been meticulous,” she explains.
“Without exception, every legislative change has been taken care of. The programming is outstanding; you can rely on efficient and accurate uploading of information and good quality report provision too. The pension auto-enrolment management has been a really good aspect of the managed payroll service as well – I trust CPS completely to deal directly with our pension providers and get it spot on.”
Managed payroll services enable you to focus on your core business and have the reassurance that your employees will always be paid correctly. Corporate Payroll Solutions offers a flexible approach to its cloud-based managed payroll services, ensuring you will always get the most suitable level of support for your company.
You’ll be provided with a dedicated CIPP qualified member of the CPS team who will work with you to import and manage information and offer support and advice with every aspect of your payroll. Please do get in touch with us to find out more.