Is it time to turn payroll inside out?
If you think that payroll is best handled in-house, this blog from Page Kirk's Payroll Manager, Jo Poulter, may change your perspective. Outsourcing payroll is becoming much more common these days.
Historically, many businesses have kept their payroll operation in-house, perhaps feeling that it's likely to be more cost-effective and liking the idea that they're in complete control of the process. In recent years, however, outsourcing has become much more common. There are a number of potential advantages to asking a third party to do the work on your behalf. Here are half a dozen that you might want to bear in mind:
CUTTING COSTS
It may seem counterintuitive, but there's every reason to suppose that paying a business to handle payroll on your behalf can produce savings. That's because you may not need to carry the same overheads in-house in terms of staff salaries, on-costs and training. Your supplier will have a team that works efficiently and can offer economies of scale by managing payroll on behalf of a number of businesses and organisations.
SAVING TIME
Another way of looking at the outsourcing process might be the ability to free up staff who currently spent a lot of time working on payroll. Could they be better employed in other areas of the accounting process? Or maybe redeployed to an area of your business where they could help to generate additional revenue?
KEEPING IN LINE WITH REGULATIONS
Regulations keep on changing and you want to make sure you're properly complying. By outsourcing your payroll operation and putting it in the hands of specialists, you can avoid costly slip-ups or oversights. Your expert supplier should keep a close eye on any developments in the regulatory landscape and adapt as required.
DRAWING ON SPECIALIST EXPERTISE
It's likely that your outsourced provider will have a detailed understanding of the complexities that can arise in the payroll operation. Whether it's knowledge of allowances, the decoding of timesheet data or an understanding of software, it's useful to have the process overseen by people who are dealing with the issues day in and day out.
TAKING ADVANTAGE OF TECH
It's not easy to justify investment in state-of-the-art payroll software unless it's your specialist business. An outsourced provider is likely to be working with the latest tech, making calculations and deductions much more seamless. They will also be able to provide the kind of detailed data analysis and reporting information that can prove very useful to you and meet the compliance standards expected by HMRC.
SECURING DATA
Payroll information is understandably sensitive. Any good provider of outsourced payroll processes should have robust security and encryption in place, reducing the possibility of a data breach – which could prove embarrassing and costly.
If you're interested in exploring the options for outsourcing payroll, why not speak to one of our experts here at Page Kirk? You can contact us by email at enquiries@pagekirk.co.uk or by phone on 0115 955 5500.
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The Page Kirk team is committed to providing content that adheres the highest standards for accuracy. We evaluate how the content of each article aligns with current financial procedures and standards. Therefore, the information presented in this article is accurate and up-to-date.