Processing payroll can be a minefield for small businesses. You have to ensure your employees have the correct tax codes and are up-to-date with the deductions and employers’ contributions. The accuracy of your computations can also make or break your business. For instance, disbursing the wrong salaries to employees or delaying the paychecks can lower staff morale and reduce productivity in your business. Fortunately, a payroll bureau service can help you solve your payroll headaches and keep your workers happy.
When you have a small or medium-scale business, you hire a payroll expert to handle employee payments. However, you can avoid all the trouble by using a payroll bureau. Snow Technology helps small businesses keep up with the legal requirements in payroll processing, reduce fines from non-compliance and eliminate errors in employees’ payroll systems. Let’s explore how a payroll bureau service works and the benefits to your business.
How Does a Payroll Bureau Work?
A payroll bureau specialises in outsourced payroll services. Unlike other human resource management software, the bureau only focuses on payroll information. The bureau handles payment processing, from computing the salaries due and sending checks to employees to preparing payroll accounting reports. Apart from dealing with internal payroll issues, the bureau also processes tax deductions and supplies Her Majesty Revenue and Customs (HMRC) with relevant tax information. With payroll bureau software, businesses receive expertise on payroll issues without hiring a payroll specialist. Some of the activities performed by the payroll bureau include:
Payment Processing
A payroll bureau speeds up the processing of staff payments and allows employers to run multiple payment schedules. For instance, if you have casual workers paid weekly and full-time employees with monthly salaries, you can process their payments using different schedules and add the necessary deductions. You can also separate payment processing schedules for different departments.
Payslips
When using payroll bureau services, you don’t have to waste time preparing payslips and printing them to accompany the checks. They simplify the process by emailing them to respective recipients. Employees can access the payslips anytime from the portal. Small business owners can also customise the payslips by adding or removing some information. For instance, you can add a company logo or remove information on payment methods.
Payroll Journals
A payroll bureau generates relevant accounting journals that accountants can import to the company’s software. You can download the journal or print it for filling. Batch payroll processing is also available with payroll bureau software. For instance, an accounting firm can simultaneously process payments for multiple clients and generate the relevant journals to prepare financial reports.
Self-Service Portal for Employees
Employees can access their payslips and relevant information from any device. This is handy for remote workers who need to access their payment information from home. It also eliminates unnecessary paperwork needed to print payslips and post them to each employee. Users can also reprint past salary figures from the self-service portal to review deductions or compare earnings.
Automated Data Recording
Accountants usually review employee schedules and attendance sheets to calculate hours worked throughout the month. This is a tedious process marred with errors and inaccuracies since you have to go through multiple timesheets and attendance records. Instead of relying on manual data collection, payroll bureaus rely on automated data capture systems based on various employees’ punch in and punch out times. After generating the hours worked, the software can process the salaries with the approval of the human resource managers.
Payroll Returns
Statutory legislation requires business owners to submit tax deductions from employee salaries every month and file them with the HMRC. With a payroll bureau service, you can automate the calculation of monthly, quarterly and annual taxable income from employee tax liability. Once you feed the necessary deductions into the system, the software makes the appropriate deductions in stipulated intervals. This saves your business from fines and penalties by ensuring compliance with statutory deductions. You also avoid mistakes in computing payroll tax returns since the calculations are accurate.
Data Storage
Payroll software keeps a record of all employee files and makes it easy to share, transfer and store data files. You don’t have to locate employees’ information and pay bracket manually since the software stores the information when you feed in the first time. Apart from speeding up the payment process, it creates an audit trail that records every time information is accessed. Businesses don’t have to worry about privacy policy since bureau services comply with GDPR. Managers can also receive notifications when someone accesses the payroll documents.
What Are the Advantages of a Payroll Bureau Service?
Small business and medium-scale companies are the major beneficiaries of payroll bureau services. They can use tech-savvy and efficient payroll systems without denting their operational budget. Only large companies with the resources to hire expert payroll specialists managed an efficient payroll plan in the past. Nowadays, everyone can keep up with the changing labour laws without stretching their budget. Other additional benefits of payroll services include:
Promotes Compliance with Legislations
New deductions are introduced constantly, and your company need to be conversant with the legislative changes. Keeping up with the statutory requirements is challenging when you don’t have a dedicated payroll team, which is the case for most SMEs. Unfortunately, non-compliance often leads to penalties and fines, not to mention lawsuits that can cost your business a fortune. You can avoid the trouble of keeping up with new regulations by using a payroll bureau. It provides specialised payroll advice and ensures your payroll deductions are up-to-date and meet the new regulations.
Minimises Inaccurate Paycheck Calculations
Everyone knows how tedious it is to process accounting information. If you have to repeat the same transaction for many employees, you will miscalculate some numbers or make the wrong deductions. A payroll bureau helps you maintain the consistency and accuracy of payroll records. You are assured that tax filling is correct with accurate data entry since the software automatically updates the necessary deductions.
Saves Business Time and Resources
Completing payroll functions manually is a time-consuming process. That means you have to neglect your duties for at least two days every month to process the payroll and ensure your employees receive their pay on time. As the company grows, you will need more time and resources to perform payroll functions. For instance, you have to hire a payroll expert to handle the human resource functions. Outsourcing your payroll functions reduces repetitive administrative tasks, and you don’t need to hire a payroll specialist. This reduces the expenses of hiring a payroll expert or printing and postage charges since employees access payslips from the portal. You also save many hours you would have spent going through timesheets and manually calculating the salaries and benefits of each employee.
Payroll Bureau Takes Care of Direct Deposits
Sometimes, it is challenging for small businesses to set up a direct deposit payment method for employees unless they have high bookkeeping standards and an expert payroll specialist. Banks can set up direct deposit services for you if you use an external payroll bureau service. Using direct deposits for salary payments reduces the hassle of dealing with incorrect cheques and reduces transaction costs.
Conclusion
When looking for reliable payroll bureau services, you need to find the perfect fit for your company. Quantum Bureau provides flexible and reliable payroll services to suit your business needs. You can scale your payroll operations as your company grows and ensure you are up-to-date with the statutory laws.