Frederick Jace
If you’re still using manual processes to manage your payroll, you might think you’re saving yourself money. Unfortunately, you’re actually shooting yourself in the foot! Payroll software offers faster processing times, more accurate calculations, and even automatic distribution! If you’re worried that the payroll processing costs will go up, not to worry: they won’t! In fact, using software will likely lower your payroll costs, giving you all the more reason to switch. You won’t need to hire more employees or expand your payroll department. In most cases, employers can actually downsize without needing to sacrifice processing speed. Read on to learn how to go through this efficiency-increasing, cost-saving process!
Ensure That All Workers Are Categorized Correctly
Prior to switching to a cloud-based payroll management system, it’s vital that you take care of all the odds and ends. One of the most important details to check is worker categorization. As you likely already know, you (as the employer) are responsible for withholding deductions from employees, but not for contractors. Unfortunately, miscategorizing workers is an easy mistake to make so it’s best to double-check. If you skip this step, you may find yourself needing to reissue paychecks, catch up on withholdings, and facing a very unhappy workforce. Avoid these issues and double-check now!
Double-Check That Form W-4 Information Is Up-to-date
After you’ve checked worker categorization, the next thing to check is Form W-4 information. If the information on these forms is outdated, deductions may not be calculated correctly, which (like improper categorization) could result in reissued paychecks and unhappy employees. Fortunately, this is an issue that’s very easy to address! When you announce your plan to switch over to a new payroll processing system, let your employees know that they will need to complete a new W-4 form. We recommend setting aside an hour or two solely for this purpose. This will ensure that all employee information is up to date, and avoids you needing to hunt employees down to gather information.
Select Your Payroll Management System
You can do this step alongside the preparations, or afterwards: either way works! What’s important is identifying the specific needs of your company and choosing a platform that can accommodate them. For businesses that only need payroll solutions, there are plenty of providers available that offer stand-alone services. However, if your business has an HR department, complete payroll solutions might be a better option. These solutions allow you to automate the majority of HR and payroll tasks, which, in turn, allows you to downsize the staff of these departments, providing instant savings! Different payroll providers will offer different services at various prices, so it’s worthwhile to compare your options.
Add Employee Information to the Payroll Platform
This step will either be easy or time-consuming, depending on the payroll provider you choose. Providers like UZIO will include employee information importation as part of the initial setup process, but other providers may require you to do this yourself. Either way, it’s best to have this information on hand should you need it. If you opted for complete solutions rather than a stand-alone one, you will be happy to know that the information entered will be integrated across the entire system, eliminating the need for separate entries in payroll & HR.
Enjoy the Benefits of Automation
Welcome to your new, automated, cloud-based payroll system! Unlike before, you’ll now be able to process the entire payroll (including calculations, deductions, and distribution) in a matter of minutes, rather than hours. Those who chose complete solutions can even have employee hours automatically entered into the system if they are using T&A (Time & Attendance) software, making the entire process run by itself! Of course, changes can be made at any time simply by accessing the software portal from any device with an internet connection, which allows you to view information, alter entries, submit bonuses, and handle all of the routine payroll tasks you’re used to doing by hand.
Summary
The advantages of using payroll software are obvious: it’s automated, accurate, and highly efficient. Furthermore, it can also help you downsize your current staff, providing instant savings without sacrificing overall efficiency. If you haven’t implemented payroll management software into your business yet, then what are you waiting for?
