It’s no secret that payroll compliance requirements can be complicated, and that managing payroll using an in-house team can be demanding at the best of times. Even for businesses with a smaller workforce, payroll must still be accurate, and always processed in a timely and efficient manner; get it wrong and your employees will soon let you know about it!
Involving a variety of tasks, from account setup and payment methods, to withholding relevant income and payroll taxes, payroll is the lifeline of any business that values its employees, and let’s face it, few businesses can survive, let alone succeed, without them.
With this in mind, you might be wondering how you can take the stress out of payroll while still ensuring that it’s taken care of efficiently every month. One popular and cost-effective solution is to outsource: outsourcing your payroll functions has a number of benefits, but below are 4 of the most common:
- You can slash payroll costs
For the majority of small businesses, managing payroll in-house is simply not affordable, as there are significant costs associated with employee training, payroll software, salaries and more. Outsourcing payroll, on the other hand, has none of those added costs; all you have to do as the business owner, is pay a fixed, monthly fee to your outsourcing partner, enabling you to cut costs by as much as 50%.
- Outsourced payroll gives you better productivity
Freeing you from the time consuming and stressful tasks associated with in-house payroll, outsourced payroll enables you and your employees to shift your focus to other areas of the business that may require more attention, such as marketing or product enhancement.
- There are plenty of flexible, customizable plans available
Provided you work with a reputable payroll provider when outsourcing, you should find a number of packages and schedules that can be matched to your budget, with the option to select only those services that you use each month. Such flexibility not only enables you to be more efficient when it comes to payroll as a whole, but helps you to make big savings, too.
- Outsourcing payroll is a reliable option
When it comes to individual employees in a small in-house team, there’s always the chance that they may leave – either for good, or temporarily at short notice – leaving you in the lurch, and your employees at risk of not getting paid properly, and on time. When you outsource your payroll requirements, on the other hand, this risk is mitigated, since you can be certain that their large, experienced team will make provisions to ensure that your work always get completed on time.
Choosing to outsource some, or all of your payroll requirements, is a big decision, but compare it to the stress and time involved with recruiting candidates for an in-house payroll team, and the choice pales into insignificance. Some payroll providers offer introductory packages to enable you to try their services before you sign up, and if payroll functions are taking up too much of your time, and too many of your resources, this could be a viable option.