Human resources in companies have to deal with a wide range of tasks today. One of these essential tasks is payroll management. It seems obvious and simple that the employees are primarily working for the money so that they can get their salaries. But these simple tasks of the monthly salaries have various complicated calculations that must go through first. And to the surprise of many, payroll management is the function that often keeps the HR department on its toes and consumes most of its time when done manually.
Payroll management refers to the management of the compensation the employees receive. Along with the monthly salaries, payroll management includes incentives, deductions, houses, benefits, various reimbursements and much more.
The payroll processing also includes the taxes and other mandatory deductions the employer should make before handing employees their salaries. This makes it essential to do the entire process accurately, as any mistakes can attract penalties and legal actions.
Importance of payroll management System
HR in every company today needs good payroll management software as the processing can get complicated. Human resources today have to manage performance and various productive strategies in the company. Doing payroll manually means investing a major chunk of productive time in a repetitive task that can easily be automated.
Payroll management software ensures accuracy and speed in processing. That way, the employees will always get the correct salaries on the promised date.And on the other hand, HR getsan additional chunk of free time, which they can invest in tasks that can directly contribute to the productivity of the company.
1. Accuracy
Payroll processing is one of the most time-consuming and complicated processes. It’s the process where the salaries of the employees get calculated. No one likes to receive the wrong amount in the salary, irrespective of how low or high it is.
Once someone receives the wrong amount, they have to wait for the correction and go through this entire process which is often unpleasant. In addition to the correct payroll, it also has to be timely. Most salaried workers have their expenses and bills planned month to month. Any delays in the salary are likely to attract penalties to the employees as they get penalties. It is observed that when a delay in the salary happens a second time, employees are more likely to start looking for other opportunities.
2. Saves Time
Payroll management is one of the tasks that is dreaded by the HR department as it takes a lot of time and effort. Having payroll management software automates payroll calculation. It fetches all the necessary data, such as attendance and leave details and calculates the payroll according to the formulae and criteria set by the company.
This excludes the need to copy-paste the data from different sources or manually do the data entry, which has the possibility of errors and duplication, often leading to wrong calculations. In contrast, payroll management software auto-fetches the data and minimises errors and human intervention.
3. Simplify Compliance
Compliance is an essential part of payroll management. There are multiple deductions governed by various state and central laws, in addition to the multiple regulatory bodies that keep watch on the processing of these deductions.
All deductions, such as various mandatory employer and employee contribution, has to be done before giving the salaries, which further adds to the complication of the payroll. Keeping up with all the rules, plus the amendments that happen, can be tiring.
The payroll management software automates all these deductions and ensures that the company doesn’t have to pay any penalties. In addition to that, most cloud-based HR software regularly gets automated updates about any changes in compliance. That way human resource department doesn’t have to worry about compliance.They also don’t need to keep watch on all the different regulations that they are supposed to follow or do manual updates about the same.
4. Cost Saving
Most start-ups and small companies have to work on a limited budget with a small team in the HR department. It often happens that companies put a single HR personnel in charge of everything that falls under the roof of human resources.
As mentioned above, payroll management is a time-consuming task. Those companies that operate with limited HR staff often need more time in salary processing. Salary software can cut down all the calculation and data processing and reduce the need for extra staff, and saves cost.
Only some of the best payroll software is based on the cloud. Having online payroll software improves accessibility but also allows users to pay for what they use. You can choose the feature you need and pay for only the function that your human resource uses. That way, HR can experience faster and more efficient payroll management and reduced costs at the same time.
5. Transparency
Having salary software or payroll software is a huge step towards increasing transparency in the company. There is no doubt that every organisation need to be transparent with their employees as much as possible. It’s crucial for building trust in the company.
Most online payroll software provides a self-service portal to the employees where they can view all the payroll-related data such as attendance, leave used, and overtime hours, as well as policies related to the payroll. That excludes the possibility of any disputes related to overtime pay calculation or attendance. In addition to that, payroll management software also provides employee payslips that they can easily download. That transparency not only increases trust but also improves the employer’s brand.
Summary
Payroll management is one of the most complicated and time-consuming HR processes. It takes a lot of productive time that an HR rather can invest in more strategic work. There is a need for additional staff as well as the possibility of errors, delay and loss of trust when payroll is done manually. On the other hand, payroll management software saves time and effort through correct and automated calculations. It also helps to gain trust through compliance and keeps companies out of trouble.
