Every company has to deal with payroll. It may be to a few full-time employees, many part-time employees, or sometimes contract workers. With payroll being such an integral part of a business, it’s important to get it right. Luckily, since payroll is a key facet of operations, many companies have developed great tools, products and consulting services to make it as painless as possible.
Direct Deposit
The world is becoming digital and so is money. It’s much easier to manage paychecks from a computer. Not only does it reduce the amount of time writing up the checks, but there is no chance of losing or misplacing them as well. The process is easier for employees as well since they do not have to deposit the check themselves. Chances are your company already does this since 94% of people receive their pay through direct deposit, but if it doesn’t, it will make a huge difference.
Payroll Software
Payroll software takes all the hassle out of managing payroll. You can set a schedule, maintain a profile for each employee, look at all previous records, and even gather employee feedback all from one place. Better yet, this software will automatically generate all the tax documents for your company and its employees come tax season.
Stick to a Calendar
Adhering to a strict payroll calendar will pay off in multiple ways. First, it lets employees know exactly what day they can expect to be paid. This means they don’t have to waste time communicating with HR to figure out when their next paycheck is coming. Second, it allows you to bunch all the payroll work together in one day. By not scattering the payroll around, you become much less likely to miss an employee.
Maintain Payroll Database
There will come a time when an employee or an outside entity will request past payroll data. Things will become messy if this data isn’t ready and easy to retrieve. Whenever you distribute payroll, you should retain all crucial data in a queryable database.
Audit Your Payroll Process
Don’t become content with your payroll process. It might be working well now, but it can always become more efficient. It’s possible as employee numbers grow, new cracks will start to emerge. Every once in a while, take a detailed look at the process. Check out this great article on Business Process Testing (BPT) to learn more about auditing business processes.
If you have any questions about tuning your payroll service, or if you’re interested in working with a payroll partner, contact us.
