Keep Your Payroll On Time, All the Time
There's a lot that goes into paying people on time and I’m certain that it's not something your company, or any company for that matter, would dare to risk!
Paying people on time every time is not a skill so easily learned, nor something that everyone possesses. And if those skills lie in just one person, you could be in some real trouble.
Avoid a payroll catastrophe by asking yourself these questions:
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- How many payroll officer/s do you have?
- Do you know if your company is prone to suffer from key-person risk?
- Is your payroll process dependent on one person?
- Are any of your other staff trained to process payroll, run critical payroll reports, pay taxes, and report to ATO?
Tips to Keep Payroll On-Time
Here are 6 simple tips to keep your payroll on time every month:
- Set a Reminder - Use your phone or calendar to remind you when payroll is due.
- Keep Employee Info Updated - Make sure addresses, hours worked, and pay rates are correct.
- Organize Your Paperwork - Keep all time sheets, tax forms, and employee records in one place.
- Double-Check Calculations - Always review hours, deductions, and totals before paying.
- Use Payroll Software - A payroll tool can save time and reduce errors.
- Stick to a Schedule - Process payroll on the same day every month to avoid delays.
Payroll Integrations for Timely Processing
Pro tip! Payroll integrations help keep payroll processes on time by automating data flow and reducing manual tasks. Here's how:
- Consistent Schedules. With fewer delays from manual bottlenecks, payroll runs smoothly and on time every cycle.
- Streamlined Data Transfer. Integrations connect systems like HR and time tracking directly to payroll, ensuring accurate data is always available.
- Error Reduction. Automated data syncing reduces mistakes caused by manual input, saving time on corrections.
- Faster Processing. With all necessary data in one place, payroll can be calculated quickly and efficiently.
- Compliance Automation. Integrations ensure tax calculations and deductions are updated automatically, avoiding delays caused by outdated rules.
Real-Time Updates. Changes to employee details, hours, or rates sync instantly, keeping everything current and ready for processing.
How to Avoid Key-Person Risk
As a remuneration and benefits manager, HR manager, or CHRO responsible for remunerating and rewarding people, here are a few things you want to make sure you have in place:
- Get your payroll officer/manager to document everything they know. By documenting everything they know about processing payroll, the order of performing payroll tasks, payroll checklists, reporting requirements, and their stakeholder interaction maps, you're one step closer to avoiding key-person risk in your payroll department. Seem excessive? Well, you’ll thank me when the payroll officer falls ill, leaves unexpectedly, or needs time-off during payroll!
- Understand the pay periods and timelines, especially noting cutoff periods for data submission and updates, leave processing, determining leave liabilities, allowances, periods for opening and closing self–service systems, banking timings, and related funds release processes. Every person who knows, and hopefully masters, these details instantly becomes invaluable.
- If you haven’t already, upskill someone internally to be a payroll backup. Now that you’ve got everything documented, it is as simple as organizing a training regime. With another person in the department who knows the entire process, you lower your key-person risk to almost zero.
- Talk to your payroll system/service provider; they will most likely offer a payroll business continuity and disaster recovery service, though it may increase your overall payroll costs. Conduct a cost-benefit analysis to subscribe to such a service vs. training someone internally vs. other options. These services are offered at both % of payrolled employees as well as fixed cost models. If you already outsource your payroll, make sure you ask them about their business continuity and disaster recovery processes.
- Lastly, remember that the complexity of the backup solution will depend on the number of people you pay. The greater the number, the higher degree of risk and hence the higher requirements for a backup and disaster recovery process. So you will want to look into solutions that will allow you to get more done for more people to allow you to stay on time.
Related Read: 10 Best Employer Of Record (EOR) To Consider For HR Outsourcing
Online Payroll Software
If having the work done manually is too costly, there are payroll software solutions that will get the job done. We also have two helpful lists of the 10 Best Online Payroll Software and the 10 Best Payroll Software Reviewed and Compared you can explore to find the best match for your company's size, needs, and any specific features you might be looking for.
But what if your business isn't quite as big but still has the same concerning issues? Read our guide on How To Manage Payroll For Small Business.
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Need More Help?
As always, for any advice on payroll process documentation, mapping of payroll processes, or discussing how to go about setting backup and disaster recovery processes please feel free to leave your comments below.
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