Successfully running a business is a tough balancing act that requires managing many different moving parts. The needs of your company are certainly important, but the needs of your employees play a crucial part as well. Fortunately, you can address the needs of both parties using payroll software for small business; specifically, financial needs. Read on to learn how to make this ongoing balancing act a little bit easier!
Managing Overhead Costs
Different types of businesses will have different overhead costs, so in this article, we’ll only be addressing payroll department overhead costs. When it comes to payroll, many companies rely on a team of specialists (either in-house or external) to manage their payroll. Both systems have similar shortcomings: they’re time-consuming and expensive! If you’re paying top-dollar then you would probably assume that your payroll would be processed in no time, but unfortunately, this is rarely the case. Processing payroll by hand takes time, something that even a vast amount of money is unable to solve. Fortunately, the cheaper alternative is actually more efficient! paystubs is a simple way to make check stubs online.
Ensuring Payroll Accuracy
By nature, humans are prone to making errors, so although your payroll specialists may be the best around, they are likely to make mistakes eventually. Small payroll mistakes can easily lead to large fines later on so it’s best to prevent these if at all possible. That’s where payroll software comes in! Since the entire payroll is automated, the system isn’t prone to making errors like people are, and since it’s self-sufficient, switching to an automated payroll system provides instant savings. You’ll be able to down-size your payroll department, paying for only a few payroll specialists and the software subscription each month, as opposed to paying for an entire staff of payroll specialists. Some companies may charge you a setup fee to switch over to software solutions, but many companies won’t, meaning you can start saving right away!
Accurately Compensate Employees With Precise Time-tracking
Overpaying employees is certainly something you’ll want to avoid, especially if it’s because of time card fraud. Unfortunately, using physical timesheets leaves your company extremely vulnerable to time card fraud, as these can be easily altered after the fact to reflect more favorable hours for untrustworthy employees. However, if you’re using T&A (Time & Attendance) software alongside payroll software, this won’t be an issue, since hours recorded are instantly imported over to the payroll system. Time tracking solutions often allow for remote clock ins/clock outs, which is perfect if you employ remote workers.
Providing Paychecks On Time
If you’re hiring specialists to manage your payroll, then they most likely struggle each week to complete payroll calculations by payday. This can be very stressful, which can easily result in mistakes being overlooked. Even if mistakes aren’t overlooked, there are times when payroll might not be completed in time, which is likely to upset your employees. If this becomes a recurring issue, you might even run into employee retention issues! However, if you decide to use payroll processing software, this will never be an issue since payroll is calculated near-instantly. As long as employees report their hours on time you will always have a completed payroll generated by payday!
Paying Competitive Wages
The best part about switching to software solutions is saving money, but you don’t need to keep these savings all to yourself. In fact, if your current pay rates are lower than the local average, it would be a mistake to do so! Instead, repurpose these savings in the form of pay increases to your current employees. Paying them competitive wages will make them much less likely to jump ship, and will also help attract new talent to your company. It may also be worth considering expanding your current benefits offerings (or starting to offer them if you’re not already!).
Summary
Achieving the perfect balance between the needs of your business and the needs of your employees may take a few different strategies and some refinement, but armed with the knowledge contained in the article above, you’re sure to accomplish it in no time. While switching to a software-based payroll solution will surely help you, it’s important to analyze your business as a whole—not just the payroll department—if you want to truly optimize your operations. Once you do, your business will practically run itself!
