Phone Number: 01924 291 388

Why Should Companies Outsource Payroll

  • Posted by:
  • Admin
  • Tags:
  • Posted date:
  • 17-03-2023
Why Should Companies Outsource Payroll

This article asks: why should companies outsource payroll? Wakefield Chartered Accountants provide accountant services throughout Wakefield and West Yorkshire. We look at what is payroll process outsourcing and discuss the top reasons to outsource payroll.

What is Payroll Process Outsourcing?

Payroll outsourcing entails contracting with an outside organisation or individual to handle all payroll processes. The type of service you can outsource varies; some companies offer a straightforward service, while others offer the entire package, including interacting with HMRC and ensuring full compliance, so your company never has to deal with payroll. Payroll is typically outsourced to an accountant, bookkeeper, or a specialised payroll company.

Payroll demands a great deal of work and expertise. Payroll outsourcing can help you stay compliant with your tax obligations and PAYE responsibilities, free up valuable time to focus on your core business, reduce the need for in-house payroll staff training, eliminate the cost of purchasing and maintaining an expensive payroll system, and reduce the likelihood of errors, omissions, or late payroll tax filings.

As with any sort of outsourcing, you should evaluate the advantages against the disadvantages, in this case, the expenses and the potential for communication errors, which are crucial for complex payrolls. 

The complexity of your payroll needs will decide whether or not payroll outsourcing is economical for your business. Yet, outsourcing payroll can be expensive, particularly for a new company.

If there is a breakdown in communication, such as failing to notify the payroll specialist of a new hire or departure, there is a certain amount of danger. 

You may not always be able to check your payroll when you want to, you won't always be able to add anything that's missing, and you will have to hand over sensitive and confidential employee information if it has been outsourced. Outsourcing will also mean losing control of some of the key components of your business.

HOW TO WORK OUT PAYE FOR A SMALL BUSINESS

Top Reasons to Outsource Payroll:

It's difficult to stay in compliance with constantly changing regulations because there is so much of it and it's usually written in taxman jargon. You also have to follow HMRC's expectations for how you should submit information to them and report on important business metrics (such as your gender pay gap if you have more than 250 employees).

Businesses are penalised for failing to provide specific information to HMRC each time an employee is paid under a law known as Real Time Information (RTI); this may be a time-consuming task, especially for firms that conduct a weekly payroll. 

Once more, selecting a trustworthy outsourced payroll provider guarantees that your RTI requirements are completed with every payroll run, without the need for further input or supervision. Payroll outsourcing truly means outsourcing the worry and strain of making sure you remain in good standing with HMRC when it comes to compliance.

Over two-thirds (61%) of firms expressly outsource their payroll, while 95% of enterprises outsource at least one business operation. In the end, most businesses decide that outsourcing payroll just makes sense.

This is due in part to the high quality of payroll providers available as well as the fact that payroll is a notoriously difficult industry with few specialists, actively diverting time and resources away from your core business, regardless of the market you're in.

Although it's not for everyone, there's a reason why outsourcing payroll is so popular: the cost per employee per transaction is typically much lower than hiring the equivalent requirement in headcount, and taking the burden off your existing team allows them to focus on areas of HR that can add value to your business, like reducing absence (and boosting productivity), talent development, employee engagement and retention.

Data security has never been more important since the upcoming GDPR is expected to have a significant impact on the company. By outsourcing your payroll to a specialised provider, you should ensure that the personal data of your employees are kept in a safe, secure environment.

Accuracy in payroll is crucial, and if you do it incorrectly, your firm might suffer greatly. In the UK, outsourcing companies depend on accuracy to succeed (Moorepay has a 99.8% accuracy rate), but they are also held accountable: if your provider makes a mistake, you can raise it right away with your account manager (if your provider has one), through legal action, and you can always switch providers if you're dissatisfied.

It would be more challenging to terminate, replace, and train a new hire if an employee committed the same mistake, and it would take longer (and cause more inconvenience) than switching payroll providers.

Payroll outsourcing firms are the best choice since they are built to handle payroll processes swiftly, accurately, and without any delays. Payroll outsourcing has a number of benefits, one of which is time savings. When you outsource, your personnel may focus more of their time on activities that provide value rather than payroll-related tasks like calculating salary and deductions.

Failure to comply with PAYE compliance standards can result in substantial financial fines, lost management time, unsatisfied employees, and exposure to pricey Inland Revenue PAYE Inspections, especially under the most recent RTI laws. Engaging, training, and keeping trustworthy, qualified, or competent employees is challenging, especially for smaller organisations, and poorly trained employees can result in costly errors and penalties for noncompliance.

Payroll errors are more likely to occur in a firm that administers its own payroll. When the government fines firms for payroll irregularities, it spends a lot of money. A global payroll system decreases the possibility of errors, missed deadlines, and improper payments.

For worldwide organisations, global payroll may be difficult and complicated. Paying overseas personnel necessitates adherence to local labour and payroll rules. With global payroll solutions, the hassle of making payments overseas is minimised. These platforms often have a worldwide network and are well-versed in international transactions.

Whether it's to examine the impact of furlough schemes, check gender pay discrepancies, or any other variety of requirements, integration allows data from several systems to be accessible and analysed - allowing critical choices to be made more quickly.

As a result, when an organisation is seeking an outsourced payroll partner, integration must be a top concern. There will be issues if a payroll provider's technology doesn't integrate easily with current HR and finance systems. If not now, then in the future, all firms will demand this degree of interconnectivity. They must thus pick a partner who will do integration as part of their implementation process as a matter of course.

Outsourcing eliminates the time commitment and inconvenience of periodically storing payroll data as well as the internal security concerns associated with the management of private personal information.

Employees using full-service payroll may frequently access their pay information, track their hours, and control their withholdings from a mobile device.

Outsourcing allows businesses to save significantly on the rates suppliers provide outsourced staff when compared to in-house employees. 

In 2018, 62% of organisations claimed 10% to 25% savings when they outsourced, with the remaining 38% reporting savings of up to 40%. Similar cost reductions can also be gained when looking at bookkeeping and accounting services, which are frequently outsourced.

In-house bookkeepers price an average of £74K per year, whereas an outsourced 3-person accounting team charges £48K. Similar cost reductions may also be realised when your business hires outsourced accountants on a monthly basis; this gives you the extra benefit of having the flexibility and control of short-term contracts, which can help you save even more money.

Are you looking for an accountant in Wakefield and west Yorkshire? Follow the link below to contact our tax advisors.