One of the most essential aspects of running a business is having an organized Payroll Software. Some small business owners wouldn’t find it necessary to have one, but that’s not advisable. It doesn’t matter if you have between 10-20 staff, what matters is being able to pay them correctly and on time.
Truth be told, your business wouldn’t be a small business or medium-sized business forever. One day, it will grow and call for expansion. Hence, small business owners need to drop the mentality of not needing one.
Now, in an organization, everyone has their designated duties. For payroll organization and handling, the duty usually belongs to the HR manager. Organizing employee information and matching them with their salaries is not an easy task. The HR manager already does so much in coordinating the administrative functions of the business.
What if I tell you that there is a solution to reduce your payroll stress for the HR manager? Well, there is and the solution is Payroll Software.
What is Payroll Software?
Payroll software can either be a SAAS-based or cloud-based platform. Notwithstanding, it always performs the same tasks that involve; organizing, managing, and integrating employee payments. There are several payroll apps on the web today. So, how do you recognize the best software that would offer complete payroll services?
Here, we list seven factors you must look out for before selecting a payroll application for your business.
Essential features for a Payroll Software:
1. Direct Deposit:
This is a very important feature that every business owner must look forward to. Efficient payroll software should be able to make direct deposits into the bank accounts of your employees. This feature saves you the stress of spending huge sums on annual supplies and processing.
Apart from saving costs, it also makes the detection of fraudulent activities easy. All payments made directly from your business’s account, hence, there’s no need of leaving in fear of being robbed.
2. Automation of Paychecks:
With paycheck automation, the generation of gross and net payments becomes easy. Firstly, the inputs made need to be approved, and then pay computations would be generated.
Secondly, the HR manager or business accounting manager is expected to compile a list of the net payments of all employees. Then proceed to create a bank file containing that information.
Lastly, the system should be able to generate an automated transfer file protocol to integrate with the bank’s database to automatically transfer data. This must be done without any manual input.
3. Reports:
The reports can be weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, or yearly; whichever works for your business. But, one thing is for sure, the routine reports given by the payroll software will help improve your business’s functionality.
It does so by providing you with a summary of your business’s tax, expenditure, cash inflow, cash in hand, worker’s benefits and compensation, and so on.
4. System Reminders:
Reminders basically just alerted that notify you of your payment routine. It enables you to pay your employees on time and this, in turn, improves their efficiency. It might not seem like an important feature but don’t overlook it.
5. Accurate Calculation:
The accuracy rating of a good payroll software must be above par. It must be able to efficiently carry out all calculations without error. As we all know any little mistake can be detrimental to either your business account or employees.
6. Payroll tax Management:
With this feature, you need not worry about tax computation as the software would automatically compute it for you. This feature helps in filling up taxes of both employers and employees before the specified deadline. Hence, any form of penalty that comes with erring is avoided.
7. Customization:
Any good payroll software should come with customizable features. These features may include; PF contribution, salary and benefits, professional tax, and so on. Any of the features can be changed at any point in time to suit the business’s purpose.
Conclusion:
If as a small business owner, you’ve still not considered using payroll software for your business, then I think you should have a rethink. Payroll software is one of the best things that has happened to corporate businesses in the 21st century. Today, purchase any good software that offers payroll services and stand a chance of benefitting streamlined payment operations.
Also read Common Business Payroll Mistakes and How to avoid them?
