How to Avoid Payroll Paralysis
Ask anyone who works in payroll management and they will almost certainly tell you that it is a stressful process. When that process has to be done manually, the scope for stress can increase even further. A new survey has revealed that manual payroll causes employees to experience severe levels of stress that have huge impacts across the business as a whole.
The survey was carried out by PayFit, a company which provides HR and payroll software. A key takeaway from the data was that almost two-fifths of employers (37%) reported that manual payroll tasks, notorious for being extremely intensive in terms of time, caused high levels of stress among their team members. This led to impacts on both staff morale and productivity.
All of the tasks involved with managing payroll were found to cause stress but those identified most frequently by survey respondents were HMRC submissions, salary transfers, payslip distribution, complicated calculations and data entry. Many respondents said that things became even worse at the end of the year, with things like tax return preparations, adjustments to holiday pay and the distribution of bonuses adding to their already-heavy workloads.
Some respondents said that upcoming requirements established by the new Labour government were at the front of many payroll managers' minds. Beginning in April next year, employer National Insurance (NI) contributions will rise to 15% from the current 13.8%. In addition, the level at which employers must pay NI contributions on the earnings of their employees (referred to as the 'secondary threshold') will fall to £5,000 from the current £9,000. Payroll managers will have to make adjustments for the aforementioned changes, all the while ensuring total compliance.
Commenting on the survey, the CEO of PayFit Firmin Zocchetto said: "The toll that manual payroll takes on teams is undeniable. We’re hearing from businesses experiencing what we can only describe as ‘payroll paralysis’. Teams are overwhelmed with ever-growing payroll tasks and the pressure of adapting to legislative shifts."
One of the easiest, most reliable and cost-effective ways to reduce or even completely eradicate these problems is to outsource all of your payroll management requirements to Bachmann Group. We offer an efficient, streamlined and fully-tailored payroll management service in conjunction with Multiwage, taking all of the hard work off your hands and freeing up valuable time and resources for your operation, whatever it may be.
If you'd like to find out more about Bachmann Group and our gold-standard suite of payroll management services, please browse our website or get in touch with our team. You can also keep up to date on all of the latest payroll news and other related stories by subscribing to our free email newsletter.
