In today’s era, industries are experiencing innovations that are making numerous changes to streamline complex human tasks.
One of the most challenging tasks for an HR and management faculty comes in the domain of supervising payroll metrics.
However, this process can be easily streamlined if you adopt good payroll software to assist the crucial operations of the different teams.
Even many founders believe that timely and accurate payroll, facilitated by payroll software, can positively impact employee morale and satisfaction. (Superworks)
In this blog post, we are going to see some must-have features that every ideal application for managing the salaries of organizations should carry.
Let’s begin!
Direct Deposit
Direct deposit is easily one of the single most crucial features you should look for, for both employees and management. So, any efficient desktop payroll software will have it, and it makes everyone’s life so much easier when you can just deposit the money right into their accounts instead of having to go through multiple methods.
Direct deposits make everyone’s life easier in a variety of ways, including eliminating the need to print and deliver paychecks and saving thousands of dollars annually in processing and supply costs. The funds are also available immediately, unlike traditional paper checks, where they had to go through a holding period.
Filing and Tax Calculations
One significant issue with calculating taxes and filing is the guesswork that is involved, but payroll software removes that from the equation.
When automatic calculations are introduced, you no longer need to manually calculate tax rates for each employee, which was previously a massive burden.
The system generates the necessary paperwork by accessing the employee data directly and filing the tax deposit information ahead of time before sending those forms to the proper agency. Core benefits of these applications in this domain include metrics like:
Increased efficiency and productivity
Compliance benefits from different domains
Employee satisfaction
Cost savings in varied parameters
Seamless Integration with other systems to enhance coordination
Intriguing Insights This graph shows the volume of different industries that are using payroll software as their primary tool
Legal Compliance
The economy and the laws and regulations regarding it are constantly evolving, from the municipal level to the whole country. It can be annoying and confusing trying to keep up with all the changes in rules and regulations concerning payrolls.
That is why the compliance feature is so helpful in payroll software, one that is purposely built to check and double-check every company’s work against each of the government agencies to make sure it’s all accurate and compliant.
With it, you greatly reduce the risk of incurring fines, lawsuits, penalties, and headaches. Every effort should be made to avoid making minor errors that escalate into a major crisis that was not anyone’s fault but that you now have to handle.
Expense Management
If one’s business involves reimbursable employee expenses like traveling or lodging, you will want to keep an eye out for payroll software that has expense management capability.
They function by automating the payment and expense report processes, which improves the promptness of these reimbursements and saves time.
Additionally, it helps guarantee that documents are accurate, retained, and easily located when needed.
Good record-keeping that is accessible when needed is frequently the foundation of a successful business, and if the software can handle this for you, your job will already be much simpler.
Did you know? Many payroll software solutions integrate with other business applications like HR management systems and accounting software. allowing for seamless data flow. (Oracle)
Accounting Integration
Your team’s accounting can save hours spent on redundant data entry and lost labor if the payroll software contains the appropriate accounting software.
To update your ledger automatically, simply click the Import option for the current payroll period, then relax and let the system take care of the rest.
This integration feature not only saves time but also affords you peace of mind, as manual data entry by a person invariably carries the risk of mistakes it also enhances elementary factors like
Interoperability: Ensure your payroll and accounting software are compatible and support the desired integration features.
Accountability alignment: Define how specific payroll data fields will map to corresponding accounting to ensure accurate posting.
Risk mitigation: Protect sensitive employee payroll information by using secure data transfer methods.
Multiple Currencies
When they have employees in multiple countries, perhaps working from home or the like, you need to process and pay out wages in multiple currencies. This means any payroll software should also feature currency conversion, as well as generating reports for each currency.
The bigger and more international the company, the more factors one have to consider and keep track of, and money is perhaps the most important one, as without it the wheels of your business grind to a halt.
Phone Access
By a significant margin, more people use phones than any other device, and standards and expectations have evolved to reflect this.
These days, mobile phone compatibility is the priority when designing an app or piece of software, and payroll software is no exception.
Features that can be accessed on the go from anywhere are a must for every software giant, and both managers and employees want this to be implemented as well.
Being able to run payroll and look at reports out of the office, view pay, and how many hours they have worked are all much easier when you can use your phone too.
Bonus, Loans, and Advance
A corporation that values its employees frequently provides additional facilities and benefits, which must be addressed while processing payroll. If an employee requires a loan, it should be paid back in installments; similarly, if a salary must be paid in advance, it should be stated on the payslip.
Keeping track of all this, especially with more employees, can be difficult. One miscalculation may mean having to start all over again for hours, and even worse if that mistake does not get discovered. But if it is a feature of the payroll software, everything is much easier.
Running a business is complex, made up of multiple moving parts that all need to be working well and independently. Having good payroll software is essential to keep the wheels of money and salaries moving. Make sure to check all the metrics above to calibrate the complete functionality of the new-gen applications to streamline your business activities.
