When I was fresh out of college, I worked at a travel and lifestyle TV channel. The pay was so-so, but I was in it for the experience more than the money — I had been paying my way through college, so I cut a deal with my parents to have them augment whatever I’ll be earning for the first two years after I graduate so I can launch my promising career in marketing.

That’s how an ex-deal works, thank you. Anyway, it was mostly a pleasant and meaningful experience until I realized that, even though I was receiving my salary regularly, I haven’t seen a shadow of my paycheck. I mean, I had to know how much I am getting for the work I’m putting in, right? When I asked the HR department, the best answer they could muster was something about the payroll officer getting fired. It went on for another five months even though they had hired a new payroll guy. Something wasn’t right, so I resigned after the sixth month. I wasn’t a very idealistic person. I just knew my rights.

Save for some poor guys like Mr. Zuckerberg, Mr. Musk, and Mr. Brin and Mr. Page who don’t need a paycheck since they only earn $1 a year, all employees count on a regular paycheck, for obvious reasons. I don’t know if there was a payroll software 15 years ago (why did my former employer have to rely on a payroll in-charge?) but today, it’s impossible to not have one even if you only have 20 employees. Payroll problems can cost your business a lot of time and even more money, and can result in personal penalties for the business owner, so it’s necessary that your business has a payroll system to shoulder all the administrative burden that comes with paying people. Here are the most important reasons for having one:

Practical

Whether by taking control of payroll yourself and not going with a professional service or by outsourcing payroll administration, your company can save money. Each choice has a strong case for being more cost-effective than the other. With the former, you can save more money once you can use the software quickly and efficiently. If you choose the latter, there are consultants that administer the software and include the cost of printing and distributing checks, creating tax documents, and bookkeeping. In many cases, payroll services will be able to offer the service for less, because they operate at volume, use sophisticated payroll software, and employ best practices. Either way, it’s a win-win situation for you.

Accountant costs vary widely, but they’re generally not cheap. Across the “Big Four” accounting firms (Deloitte, PwC, Ernst & Young, and KPMG), an average CA will cost approximately $250 to $350 per hour. Read more on How Much Money Can I Save With Online Payroll?

Save Money On Accounting ($200 to $600 Per Hour) When You Use Online Payroll

Creates Payslips

Don’t you just hate it when you don’t receive a payslip? There are dozens of free payroll software around, but they cannot create payslips. A commercial payroll system allows you to quickly and easily generate payslips for all your employees, and with templates that have all the necessary information.

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Added Accountability

Payroll comes with a plethora of IRS rules and regulations (and corresponding penalties) so obviously, you don’t want to miss the latest tax updates or something like that. A reliable payroll software will help you by notifying you when these updates arrive. Different reminders help the user avoid important tasks and to get them up to speed when they sign in to the software. This makes it easy for the user to keep on top of payslips and tax submissions.

According to bebusinessed.com,

Failure to meet these deadlines results in a penalty. If you don’t pay your taxes in a timely and accurate manner, then the IRS will automatically assess a 5% to 10% penalty on the amount owed.

Additional penalties may be assessed. In some cases, the IRS will charge a penalty of 100% of all money owed. Worse, both the employer and the employee will need to pay this total.

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Avoid Costly IRS Tax Penalties With Online Payroll

(10% to 100% of Amount Owed)

Saves Time

It takes extra time, extra effort, and extra resources for a business to manage its own payroll (when compared to payroll outsourcing), but as far as in house management is concerned, payroll software helps to speed up every aspect of the payroll process with a range of automated features.

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No Expertise Needed

It’s not really rocket engineering, so technically, anyone with a good understanding of IT can manage a company’s payroll requirements using a payroll software, as long as the demand are modest. Even smaller businesses can take advantage of this much ease of use.

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Bonus!

Most payroll software solutions also come with a customizable employee calendar. This comes in handy when you want to manage sick leave, absences and overtime. In a glance you can see how long employees are away for, whether they should be at work, what type of leave they are currently on, how much leave they are entitled to, and how come that new guy in logistics who didn’t show up at work for last week isn’t on an AWOL notice yet. It makes planning (and firing inefficient employees) a lot easier.

Conclusion

I’ve said it before but yes, manual payroll administration is a burden and can bog down a company’s internal staff, sapping the people’s energy that could and should have been used for more important and productive activities. The right payroll software allows businesses to save money, time and other resources, and improve productivity. This day and age, having a payroll software at your disposal isn’t a luxury anymore but a necessity.

Reference: bebusinessed.com

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