BUSINESS ARTICLE

How To Choose The Right Payroll Provider For Your Business

How To Choose The Right Payroll Provider For Your Business

boardroomsuperadmin Business Insights, Payroll

When it comes to ensuring that every employee gets paid on time, many companies choose to outsource this payroll responsibility to professional firms.

It is rather easy to understand why – handling your payroll effectively will either require you to spend a substantial amount of time figuring out the proper procedures to pay your employees (time that could be used to focus and grow your core business) or committing to hiring a payroll specialist that could be rather expensive together with a backup resource for contingency.

By choosing to outsource your payroll to a credible firm, you will not only have service assurance by having agreed Service Levels thereby reducing errors, saving time and money. In addition to this you will have access to a knowledgeable and dedicated team but also gain access to a myriad of additional benefits that include:

  • Agreed Service Levels and reporting
  • Technology refresh and ability to add new functions
  • An assurance of compliance with government regulations and reporting standards
  • Information security and confidentiality of your sensitive payroll data
  • A team of professionals with expertise extending to accountancy, tax advisory and beyond.

In this article, we will go through 5 questions to ask yourself before deciding on the right payroll service provider for your business.

1. How Big Is My Organisation?

Am I a growing SME under ten employees? Or maybe I have a bigger regional business with branches spread across Asia-Pacific.

While every company requires mandatory payroll management services that include the computation of gross to net salary, statutory deductions as well as the preparation of year-end forms, a regional company will require these across multiple countries as well as additional services to stay organised and compliant.

A suitable payroll firm for bigger companies will have the ability to provide centralised payroll coordination through their network of local offices, allowing your organisation to stay compliant under the local jurisdiction you are in as well as in your local Country.

2. How Up To Date Is My Payroll Provider’s Technology or Platform?

Technology is ever changing and you will need a firm that keeps up with the trends.

From the issuing of confidential payslips through electronic means to the easy access of payslips and data, a good payroll provider will provide a flexible and central platform for the administration of payroll.

Many payroll services today will allow employees to access a secure site to view their individual payroll history as well as providing an avenue for the submissions of claims and leave applications.

Most employers are becoming more and more aware of providing the same customer experience to their employees regardless of which Country they are based in or managed from. Having access to a solution that has the ability to provide this across multiple Countries is a key consideration.

Ensuring your payroll provider is tech savvy is vital not only for the convenience of your employees but also if you decide to scale your company to the next level without payroll becoming an issue.

3. How Secure Will My Employees Information And Payroll Data Be?

Outsourcing to a payroll provider can be scary but it doesn’t have to be so. Conducting adequate research on your payroll service is a good way to gauge the level of security they will provide.

Look for a company that has a strong IT team coupled with secure hardware and redundant backups together with a disaster recovery system in place, should the unforeseen happen.

4. How Is The Level of Customer Service?

No matter how smooth sailing your business might seem, unforeseen issues could arise at any time.

What you would need is a partner that offers superior support during such moments of crisis.

This can come in the form of an account manager or a single-point-of-contact executive that will grow with your company as the years go by, intimately understanding your organisation and how it functions.

This will allow a smooth resolution of any potential issues that might spring up without the need for you to re-educate a new representative every time you decide to reach out.

Ask your payroll service provider if there will be a dedicated manager tasked to service your account. If they say yes, you will be in good hands.

Your service provider should also be able to offer you guaranteed levels of service through a Service Level Agreement with Key Performance Indicators that are reportable on a monthly basis.

5. Do They Provide Other Complementary Services?

When it comes to running a business, payroll is just a facet of many services that can be outsourced.

While there are merits to choosing a specialist company that only handles payroll, a more sensible choice would be selecting a payroll provider that offers a spectrum of services that can handle your non-core business functions. These can include corporate secretarial services, bookkeeping services as well as tax advisory.

Selecting a single provider that can handle a whole suite of related services will not only help you save time but also synergise the various aspects of your business that can lead to additional benefits such as tax savings.

Looking For An Established Payroll Partner In Singapore & Beyond?

At Boardroom, we are experts in helping companies, from corporations to fast-growing SMEs, with their payroll needs, allowing them to focus on what matters – growth and profitability.

From local payroll services handling to managing substantial payroll obligations for bigger companies spread across the Asia-Pacific region, we help companies take care of their people while increasing productivity.

Contact us today and empower your organisation with greater freedom through our payroll solutions.

Or you can also learn more about our payroll solutions here.

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