Is your payroll department functioning correctly? If it isn’t then how would you know without comparing it to others? Thankfully there are some common, well known signs of a payroll system in crisis and they are much the same in medium and large companies. So if you are witnessing at least one or more of the below, then your payroll system could very well be in a state of crisis. So what are these signs?
1. Your Payroll Staff Have Entered The Vicious Payroll Cycle.
The cycle works like this; employees are chasing your payroll staff with the latest errors which is taking up a notable amount of their time, which is especially problematic as the payroll staff are likely still trying to clear the previous months errors, and all while trying to set up the next month’s payroll. This creates a constant cycle of errors and mistakes due to payroll staff being constantly stressed and under pressure which contributes to, you guessed it, more errors.
2. Payroll Staff Failing To Keep Up With Legislative Changes.
Another big sign that your payroll system could be in crisis is if you have payroll staff that are failing to keep up with the latest legislative changes and implementation deadlines that relate to your company size and structure. A relevant recent example of this is the thousands of small businesses that either widely or narrowly missed the SHA-2 Bacs deadline. Payroll staff that are not up to date with legislation are payroll staff that are falling behind and could be responsible for calamitous fines and expensive backtracking in the near future.
3. Inefficient, Outdated Payroll Software, Systems And Processes.
If the payroll software, systems and processes your payroll staff are using are not fast and accurate then this shows that it is likely that your payroll staff are apathetic and do not care deeply enough to suggest improvements. This is a huge sign of a crisis just waiting to happen and shows a big lack of forward thinking and care from your payroll staff. Of course, it can be argued that management has a role and large responsibility when it comes to maintaining and updating payroll software, systems and processes, however no one knows better than the payroll staff themselves what needs improving, fixing and replacing.
A major and increasingly popular way small to medium companies are preventing payroll crises is by outsourcing their payroll to an experienced, dependable, third party payroll company like CPS. We live and breathe payroll so are always up to date with legislative changes and implementation deadlines and invest heavily in having the most efficient and up to date software, systems and processes.
So, if deciding to outsource your payroll, remember, not all payroll companies are made equally. We have a long history of helping small to medium businesses and can demonstrate this knowledge and expertise to you before you sign up.