How Cloud Software Helps With Managing Payroll And HR Processes When Business Is Disrupted

In tougher business climates, many companies’ processes are put to the test. It’s difficult to know who will turn out to be the companies best positioned to cope. But it seems likely the ones who’ve adopted a more digital approach, and are taking advantage of the many benefits technology offers, will be in a better position to achieve a level of stability and keep operations running in a shorter timescale than those that don’t.

Digital technology allows businesses and their employees to work remotely and more flexibly, enabling real time data to be captured and shared between everyone that needs it. That helps them be more responsive to sudden changes and better supported with making well informed decisions – all while keeping day to day activity functioning as necessary.

Digital technology allows businesses and their employees to work remotely and more flexibly, enabling real time data to be captured and shared between everyone that needs it. That helps them be more responsive to sudden changes and better supported with making well informed decisions – all while keeping day to day activity functioning as necessary.

When deciding between cloud-based payroll and standard payroll software, it’s vital that you  understand the key differences and benefits of each option:

• Accessibility:
  • Cloud-Based Payroll: Accessible from any location with an internet connection, allowing employees and HR teams to manage payroll tasks remotely.
  • Standard Payroll Software: Typically requires installation on local servers and can only be accessed from specific devices within the office.
• Updates and Maintenance:
  • Cloud-Based Payroll: Regularly updated by the service provider, ensuring the latest features and compliance with current legislation without manual intervention.
  • Standard Payroll Software: Requires manual updates and maintenance by the IT department, which can be time-consuming and prone to delays.
• Scalability:
  • Cloud-Based Payroll: Easily scalable to accommodate business growth or seasonal workforce changes without significant additional investment in infrastructure.
  • Standard Payroll Software: Scaling may require additional licences and hardware, thus  increasing costs and complexity.
• Data Security:
  • Cloud-Based Payroll: Generally includes robust security measures and regular backups managed by the provider, reducing the risk of data loss.
  • Standard Payroll Software: The business is responsible for security and backup, which requires dedicated IT resources to ensure data protection.
• Cost Efficiency:
  • Cloud-Based Payroll: Often operates on a subscription model, providing predictable monthly costs and reducing the need for upfront capital expenditure.
  • Standard Payroll Software: Typically involves higher initial costs for licenses and hardware, with ongoing expenses for maintenance and upgrades.
• Integration:
  • Cloud-Based Payroll: Easily integrates with other cloud-based applications, such as HR management systems, time-tracking software, and accounting platforms.
  • Standard Payroll Software: Integration may be more complex and require custom development to connect with other on-premises or cloud-based systems.

Understanding these key differences can help you decide which type of payroll software best suits your business’ needs. Particularly in a climate where flexibility and remote access are increasingly important.

It’s crucial that employees are paid accurately and on time. Fail to run payroll properly for whatever reason, and a business risks seriously damaging its relationship with employees.

From an HR perspective, key data needs to be available for a whole range of reasons but for many that requirement has never been felt as acutely as now. It’s essential for facilitating the decisions that need to be made to keep businesses going. HR must be set up to deal with issues like employee illness, and associated cover requirements, on an accelerated scale. It needs to address how people can be best and most safely deployed.

Many companies must also balance immediate short term priorities and financial considerations with the recognition that letting people go now could ultimately hurt the business more in the longer term. It’s vital that good data is behind the analysis so decisions are made on as rational a basis as possible.

In a “business as we once knew it” world, payroll and HR software offer greater efficiency, accuracy and productivity. And when a crisis hits, a strong digital cloud-based foundation can prove to be a lifeline.  As long as there’s an internet connection, physical location doesn’t matter at all.

Companies set up with remotely accessible cloud-based payroll and HR software are able to give the appropriate employees access to real time information as and when needed.  They’re able to create the reports they want, and run the systems as required.

Depending on the configuration, it can be enabled to allow employees to utilise self-service options relating to their personal information too. As well as taking some input burden off HR, it can lead to greater transparency, giving all employees instant access to their own payroll and HR data.

The analytical capacity of cloud-based systems is impressive. It allows users to carve up the information by whatever parameters and fields they need and get immediate, real-time reporting. As soon as the data is in the system, it’s ready to be reported on in moments. The information that businesses are relying on to make the best possible decisions is as relevant as it can be.

On-site systems must be kept updated which is often a time consuming manual task for IT and it’s possible for data to be lost or disappear during the process.

Cloud-based HR and payroll software is instead maintained through regular software updates. The updates maintain the integrity of the security and are typically also designed to incorporate the most recent legislative changes, ensuring software remains compliant with the latest payroll and HR regulations. Such updates also ensure software can be quickly adapted to handle new payroll and HR arrangements and terminology.

Challenging business climates can force companies to scrutinise how they work, however, it also helps them reflect on alternative approaches that’ll enable their workplace to thrive to a greater extent, both now and in the future.

Companies may not only begin to consider if the time is right to introduce cloud-based payroll and HR software, but also whether they could benefit even more by having a cloud-based outsourced payroll.  Such providers are clearly well placed to deal effectively with the ‘business as usual’ payroll.

If you ever face times of unprecedented business disruption, outsourced payroll providers are invaluable in guiding “extraordinary” payroll activity as new requirements rapidly materialise too.

If your business is reviewing its processes and would like to learn more about what would be involved in introducing cloud-based HR and payroll software, or outsourcing payroll, please do get in contact with us.