Payroll can be a real headache for businesses at the best of times. 2020 has posed significant challenges to business operations, especially the Furlough scheme, making in-house payroll a weighty administrative burden.
If that wasn’t difficult enough, employers must keep on top of things such as furlough, maternity and paternity pay, sick pay, auto-enrolment into pension schemes, raising P45’s for leavers etc.
It’s a lot to manage, and the more employees you have, the tougher things become. This is why many businesses opt to outsource their payroll function. Nine times out of ten, the answer to should I outsource payroll? is yes, probably. The time it saves and the benefits it provides greatly outweigh the cost.
There are several good reasons to outsource payroll. In this blog, we focus on the top 5:
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Cost
This may surprise you, but outsourcing payroll can work out cheaper for your business. Large businesses may be able to afford to have an in-house payroll function, but most smaller businesses cannot. If you add up all the hours you (or your employees) spend on payroll-related activities, along with the costs of payroll software, training, printing, distributing payslips etc. outsourcing very quickly becomes the more cost-effective option.
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Experience
When it comes to payroll, it pays to have a wealth of experience at your disposal. A good payroll service provider does payroll day-in-day-out and therefore knows all ins and outs of payroll-related tax laws and the latest government legislation.
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Accuracy
The importance of accuracy cannot be overstated. Mistakes can cause a great deal of problems for your business, from disgruntled employees to the stress involved with trying to correct such errors. A competent payroll team will have rigorous and finely-tuned checking procedures in place that make mistakes highly unlikely.
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Speed
The speed in which a payroll professional can complete even the most complex of jobs makes for a quick turnaround time on payroll, which is important, because generally, people like to get paid on time!
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Reliability
If you manage your payroll in-house, the output, speed and quality will undoubtedly vary if the staff who usually deal with this function are off sick or on holiday. Also, if that person leaves the company, all their knowledge goes with them, causing a logistical nightmare come payday.
Summary
What we as payroll professionals offer above all else is peace of mind. No headaches, no stress and no worries: you can rest assured that your payroll obligations are dealt with correctly, efficiently and lawfully, allowing you to focus your attention on running your business.
If you would like to have a free, informal chat with us about outsourcing your payroll, simply get in touch.
