Payroll errors can have a significant impact on businesses of any size. Missed or delayed payments can cause significant distress to employees, which in turn could lead to poor productivity or losing staff. Luckily, with the right software payroll problems should be a thing of the past.
What is payroll processing?
In order to pay employees, businesses need to process their payroll, which involves inputting a variety of data into a platform like Payfit or others recommended by the UK government. This way you know that employee wages, pension contributions, and taxes are accurately calculated, and their wage can be dispersed to them either via bank deposit or cheque.
Small business owners with only a handful employees will generally process payroll for their company themselves, but as the company and number of employees grows this task is often handed off to an accountant or HR manager.
What are some common payroll errors?
1. Late payments
Employees rely on their wages coming in at the same time every month so they can pay their bills and plan their budgets. If a company pays its employees a few days late that can cause major distress for the workers and their families as it may mean that they are late on their own payments. Avoid late payment errors by using a payroll platform that helped coordinate all the data and timings for you.
2. Missed overtime
If your employees are working hours over and above their standard salaried number, then they should be fairly compensated. Many businesses rely on their employees being flexible and working overtime when required, but at the same time it is critical that a business monitors and records these hours so the employee is paid for all that extra work. Avoid missed overtime errors by always tracking employee hours every day in a payroll platform.
3. Poor records management
As a business owner you need to be on top of how many hours your employees are working, their pension contributions, their tax status, and more. There is no substitute for accurate and complete record keeping within a business, and that is no different with staff management and payroll. Record all the information in a safe and secure place and add it regularly to your payroll platform to make sure everything runs smoothly.