Managing Employees for SMEs

Employee admin can be time-consuming, but with the technological and outsourcing options available today, you can focus on what really matters, writes JOSH SMITHURST from our accounts department.

It's a great accomplishment when your business gets to the stage you can start hiring staff to help you grow. Although, as I am sure a lot of SME owners will agree, it is a whole new ball game in terms of keeping those employees, managing them effectively and doing all the admin work that comes with it. In this article I will cover a few ways Page Kirk can help take that administrative burden off your shoulders. So that you can keep your free time to spend on your business.

Expense Management

Unless your employees are based in the office, or working from home, all of time, there is a likelihood they will incur expenses that will need reclaiming. Gone are the days when they have to drop off an envelope of receipts and wait for you to dig around in the petty cash box to hand over their money.

With software like Pleo, each employee will receive either a virtual, or physical card which can be preloaded with an amount, set by you. They will then have an application on their phone which will encourage them to take a picture of the receipt of any transaction, so no more lost receipts.

Pleo also integrates with Quickbooks, Xero and Sage, so no matter which software you are on, you can also save hours of time by automatically syncing the expenses into your software so that they can be recorded efficiently.

Payroll

Payroll can be added on as part of your subscription to either QuickBooks, Xero or Sage. All of these pieces of software have the tools to be compliant with HMRC and are able to access all of the relevant information you and your accountants need throughout the year. As a result, they can help with the preparation of either monthly or quarterly management accounts and also the statutory accounts at the year end.

If this is an area you don't have time for – or lack confidence in – then please get in touch for a quote to outsource this function.

Timesheets

Depending on the industry you operate in, timesheets for employees are a must. Finding the right software to fit in with your processes internally can be tricky though. There are many, many different solutions out there, depending on the number of employees you have, or the industry you operate in.

With timesheet technology working on your behalf, you avoid the risk of losing out on revenue from hours you could have billed. You will have more accountability from employees on the jobs they work on and improved ability to plan workload in the future, because you know how long jobs are actually taking for each staff member.

If you want some expert guidance on how to make the best use of technology or take advantage of outsourcing, please call us on 0115 955 5500 or email enquiries@pagekirk.co.uk