How to: Outsource Payroll – Everything You Need to Know

12 Nov 2021

Our guide to payroll outsourcing will help you create an effective, efficient payroll solution that works for your company and your employees.

Qualified payroll providers are trained professionals, which means they work efficiently and accurately. They assit in areas including:

calculating employee salaries;
compliance;
estimating employee benefits;
setting up, implementing and managing payroll software; and
filing documents with the relevant tax authorities.

Whether you want an efficient in-house payroll system or would prefer to outsource your payroll function altogether, here is everything you need to know about outsourcing payroll.

Why is payroll so important?

Beyond ensuring that employees are paid correctly and on time, getting your company payroll right is also a legal requirement. Recruiting good employees can be challenging, and late or incorrect payment can make it hard to retain them. Incorrect payroll processes can also lead to costly fines, low employee morale and damage to your company’s reputation.

That makes staying on top of your payroll essential. You need to implement any legislative changes as they occur and maintain the correct entitlements for your employees.

How does a payroll system work?

Expert payroll outsourcing vendors use advanced, all-in-one Human Resource Management System (HRMS) solutions to automate and streamline payroll processing. This eliminates the need for manual calculations or data input, which can significantly increase the speed and accuracy of your pay runs.

More streamlined payroll processes also enhance productivity by enabling your HR team to spend their time and energy on core strategic business activities. Beyond this, your company would not need to maintain the cloud security to support it – generating yet more savings. At BoardRoom, we use Definitiv as a complete, flexible, all-in-one payroll solution for our clients.

How outsourcing payroll can meet your unique needs efficiently and accurately

An experienced payroll outsourcing provider should personalise their service to meet your specific needs and use a payroll system that can apply:

Infinite costing levels: you can assign your costs wherever you need them across different departments, work orders and tasks, which enables easy cost distribution and management.
Flexible structuring: if you have employees on different awards and pay calendars (including shift work and overtime), we can accommodate your needs. Feel confident knowing that you are paying everyone the right amount at the right time.
Numerous pay cycle options: we can organise your pay cycles around your company’s needs, offering different pay cycles for different departments.
Multiple entities: if you manage multiple entities within your business, we enable you to access each separate business under your one account.
Award interpretation: our innovative system recognises employees who are covered by multiple awards and can calculate their pay accordingly.

Enjoy the benefits of payroll automation

Our payroll automation can quickly, accurately calculate your payroll data. Other benefits include:

Single touch payroll approved: Our comprehensive system is an approved Single Touch Payroll provider, which means you avoid any lengthy end-of-year processing. Instead, you can send your documentation to the ATO quickly and easily at the touch of a button.
Seamless integrations: our payroll system will integrate with several well-known accounting and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.
Date-driven updates: the system can also quickly identify and interpret changes to employee job titles or new policies.
Instant back pays: easily calculate and process employee salaries and back payments correctly while accounting for previous pay runs and any subsequent changes.

Wondering how best to calculate a payroll budget?

An expert payroll outsourcing provider can guide you through the process and identify any potential problems while providing practical solutions to save your team time and resources.

More specifically, payroll outsourcing providers can help you with:

calculating employee pay (including any benefits);
calculating employee income tax;
calculating payroll tax;
submitting retirement contributions and other deductions;
filing taxes with the relevant tax authorities;
allocating funds to creditors;
receiving funds from debtors;
keeping detailed payroll records; and
ensuring all data complies with government requirements.

What’s the difference between processing payroll in-house and outsourcing it?

When you process payroll in-house, your payroll staff are employed by your organisation. This means you are responsible for paying their:

salary (including superannuation and benefits);
onboarding and set-up costs; and
day-to-day office expenses, including electricity, computer hardware, software, office supplies and office space.

If you choose to outsource your payroll, however, you will work directly with an expert payroll team. They will provide efficient payroll services with clear, defined terms, and simply invoice you for these as needed. This frees up your time to focus on other business needs without having to manage additional staff.

Outsourcing payroll makes sense

If your HR team is feeling the pressure to do more with less, now is the time to consider outsourcing payroll.

Our team of payroll experts at BoardRoom can take care of payroll for you, freeing up your team to refocus on delivering strategic HR imperatives like strengthening company culture and increasing employee engagement.

Speak to our payroll specialists today about how to outsource payroll services for your company.

Let us help you to build the right foundations for your business with our industry-leading corporate service solutions, which include:

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