Payroll is one of the most sensitive and important departments within a business. It requires a considerable amount of time and understanding, so as to avoid potentially costly mistakes. Not only to employees rely upon regular payments but external services do too, all while your business is simultaneously under regular scrutiny from HMRC. There are a number of opportunities for mistakes to be made and each one damaging.
Often, businesses place the responsibility of payroll upon a single member of staff, equipping them with modest payroll software that may quickly become outdated or overwhelmed. This is a risky practice for a number of reasons, namely the pressure placed upon an individual. It is also a time-consuming job that, without the most appropriate and efficient tools, is made more costly. To enable an effective internal payroll department, a business needs robust software and the training for staff to remain aware and compliant to governmental tax regulations, which is a huge cost.
Additionally, payroll is a significant source of data, one that needs security, especially in the wake of GPDR regulation. It is easy for a business to remain confident about their financial data storage until it is breached by an attack or leaked by human error.
For these reasons, more companies are seeing the benefit of outsourced payroll services.
It is far more logical to hand over the responsibility to expert and reputable payroll companies, such as People Group Services, who are equipped to deliver a service far superior to internal payroll management while eliminating the risk of error.
Software
External payroll companies operate with tested, high-end payroll software that would typically be an unjustifiable expense for a single member of staff to use. Certain software also requires staff training for it to be used safely and to its full extent. External payroll companies offer such training to their staff, ensuring its efficient and cost-effective operation.
Security
External payroll services work with multiple clients and, as such, must ensure that all data is correctly stored and handled with the utmost care, compliant with all applicable data protection regulations.
Compliance
Staff within external payroll companies are able to dedicate more time to individual clients, ensuring that all statutory and legislative requirements are met, meaning that you can rest assured that there will be no surprise costs at a later date.
Reliability
Prompt and trustworthy payments are important for employee morale and reputation among contracted staff. Human or software error can result in disruption for payments, causing issues for individuals who rely on your business. Outsourcing your payroll means eliminating this margin of error.
When compared with the potential cost of an HMRC fine, data compromise, or unhappy staff, choosing an external payroll system is far preferable than an internal alternative. Outsourced payroll is becoming a more popular and cost-effective solution for businesses around the UK. As such, it is becoming an increasingly competitive market, driving up the standards for each company, which benefits the clients. If you haven’t already outsourced, it may be time to assess your situation and see if you could better protect your business and employees.