Owners and managers of small and medium-sized businesses must be champions in the art of multitasking, but they also need to cope with long hours of work and occupational stress.
One of the best ways to relieve some of the pressure is to outsource responsibility for your payroll, which in an age of austerity and cost-cutting may seem like an unaffordable “luxury”.
Cost-saving
This couldn’t be further from the truth though, as juggling the demands of legislation, regulation and even the simplest payroll admin systems can be a money burner.
It’s not just the software you need to invest in and constantly update, but also the staff time that could be better spent on other priorities. You need the training to keep up with the latest demands from HMRC, as well as the consumables like printer ink.
The big costs can come from getting it wrong too, as HMRC has strict deadlines and a close eye on accuracy.
It's just easier
The introduction of auto-enrolment is adding a whole new level of complicated to payrolls. By the end of 2017, all SMEs must offer staff the opportunity to enrol on a company pension scheme. And if you haven’t got one, then it needs setting up as well as administering because the only exceptions are when a business has just directors, with no employment contracts.
In its simplest form, the payroll implications are that all employers must pay a contribution of at least 1% of their employee’s salary into the pension, every time they are paid.
With all this to consider, SMEs also must factor in fluctuations in staff. We all aim to be friendly SMEs with loyal, long-serving teams, but the reality is staff come, and staff go. The beauty of outsourcing your payroll is that it’s someone else’s headache to keep pace.
Even if regular changes must be made to your payroll due to seasonal variations or major developments, the process is seamless and stress-free.
We provide transparent, secure, impartial monitoring of how your staff are paid and the amounts due to HMRC or helpful information and advice, use the GOV.UK website page about payroll. https://www.gov.uk/browse/employing-people/payroll
If you want us to help you with your payroll then please do get in touch with us by email at