Professional April 2019

FEATURE INSIGHT

Payroll software implementation

Jerome Smail, freelance journalist, asked industry luminaries to give their expert opinions to key questions

O rganisations rely on payroll to do its job effectively and accurately. But payroll can’t fulfil that brief if it’s not given the right tools to work with. Essential to the task is payroll software that’s fit for purpose. In a function where errors are not tolerated, software that’s reliable and fit for purpose is a non-negotiable requirement for payroll, regardless of the size of the organisation and whether the process is in-house or outsourced. However, the payroll market is both large and varied. Not only is it difficult to know where to start when making your choice of software, but it’s also hard to keep up with the latest innovations and functions on offer. There are other essential questions too, such as when you should think about switching your payroll software, as well as how to go about it if you do. To get to grips with the state of play in the market and to get answers to the key

questions, I spoke to two of the foremost experts in the arena: Stuart Hall, non- executive director at the CIPP, and Chris Deeson, UK country lead for KeyPay. Here’s what they had to say. When choosing payroll software, what are the key factors to look for? Stuart Hall (SH): It might sound fairly basic, but you need the software to do all the calculations correctly, as required by HM Revenue & Customs. You might think that’s fairly standard, but if you look at the UK market, there are a number of payroll solutions out there that don’t actually do the calculations correctly. So, if you’re choosing a payroll software, it’s got to do what it says on the tin. But it also has to be adaptable to your needs, not only for today but also for tomorrow. Chris Deeson (CD): The three key factors to look for in payroll software are

efficiency, efficiency and efficiency. Efficient processes mean either fewer people or the same number of people working in more profitable areas. Efficiency means not needing to have additional processes to get four separate systems working together. Efficiency means payroll saves time, and other parts of the internal business or external clients also save time on dull administrative tasks. The right way to look at potential new software is not whether it does what you currently do in the same way, but whether it allows you to meet your needs in a new way that creates opportunities for you and makes your business better. Investing the time and money in new software should also mean a review of existing practices and processes – the chance to be truly transformative. Too often, people start looking at software based on price, forgetting that by choosing a cheap, desktop solution they are effectively increasing their internal staffing costs, paying for additional software solutions to make up the shortfall and, for outsourcers, leaving revenues and opportunities on the table. Price matters, but only in the context of time saved,

...review of existing practices and processes – the chance to be truly transformative

| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | April 2019 | Issue 49 38

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