Defense Of Payroll: Demystifying Common Payroll Stereotypes

Payroll forms a crucial part of any company or business. It doesn't matter whether your company is minting money or just on the cusp of expansion, a streamlined payroll management system is a must-have.

There are many people around the world who categorize payroll as a one-time investment. However, the truth supersedes everything else. Payrolls can be an extremely daunting area for every start-up, business, and company.

This is mainly because of the payment structure of the employee, salary breakups, annual tax filing, which forms a concrete base for the overall payroll management software.

Why Is Payroll Software Needed? 

Some companies tend to overlook this, but payroll mistakes are prevalent. Picture this for a moment, and think about all employees who are dependent on the salary for their basic needs. If there is any delay regarding the disbursal of salary, then it can directly lower the morale of the employees and affect their productivity in the long run.

While the timely release of salary is very pertinent, it is even equally essential to take into account all the other statutory compliance. To have the upper hand in making all employees’ law compliant, and happy, every employer shall have an in-depth understanding of the payroll software and its basics.

The payroll management system usually consists of a list of all employees who are under the payment structure of an organization. It is an umbrella term for the whole amount of money sanctioned by the employers to the employee. It also includes the followings: 

• Leave encasement and other organizational policies. 
• Other components in the payslip like HRA, LTA, and other variables 
• The overall calculation of the gross salary along with all deductions
• Deposit of TDS and PF with timely tax filing. 

Challenges In Effectively Handling Payroll Process  

As we have already debunked the overall process of payroll, it is now time to oversee some of the challenges faced in the system. There are mainly two challenges that are faced which are explained below:

• It is a well-established fact that non-adherence to laws can result in heavy penalties for the companies. Therefore, to curb this very important challenge one has to stick to good payroll software that can carry out the overall process in compliance with the laws.

• Data sourcing for payroll processing is another major challenge faced by companies. Earlier, the calculation of salaries and basic overheads was done in the excel sheets. But with the arrival of software, the whole process of putting data together for payroll management has become quite simpler.

What Are Some Of The Common Stereotypes In Payroll 

As discussed earlier, the payroll process is very sensitive and shall be handled carefully to avoid any leakage of the necessary information. However, some common myths can easily trap your organization and ruin the business. So, without further adieu, let us demystify some of the common payroll stereotypes faced by employers and business today.

Physical Time sheets Are Better Than Digital Ones: Today, the era is of digitization, and there is no need for paper time sheets for recording the attendance of the employees. However, many organizations are still following the old school method for doing the same. The paper time sheets are extremely outdated and are open to all sorts of frauds along with data modification. Therefore, it is important to record attendance digitally in order to save time and smoother attendance processing.

PTO Quota:  The paid time off is a policy implemented in some organizations where employees are given access to being paid while not at work. PTO Quota can impact the payroll process if there is no proper documentation in place. Therefore organizations that are willing to exercise the PTO quota for the benefit of employees shall have all documents with them without making the process cumbersome. 

Payroll software Do Not Have Solutions For Large Teams: While it was true some decades ago, the modern hr payroll software available today has salable solutions that can accommodate a team size of over 1000. 

Individual Contractors Do Not Come Under Payroll: Today is the time and age when almost all companies, whether big or small, are hugely dependent on the contractual workforce. Independent contractors shall also be paid regularly as the regular salaried employees and also are required to fill the IRS form. This debunks the common myth that individual contractors do not come under payroll. 

Payroll Management is Easier With A Small Team Size: This is another myth circulating around payroll management.Whether you are having a team size of 50 or 500, Payroll management and bureaucratic procedures remain the same. As you scale up your workforce, the time and effort for managing payroll will stay the same. 

The Right Employees Simplify Payroll Process: Many small business owners believe in hiring the right kind of talent for payroll exemption. But the truth is, an employee might be loyal to your business or organization.Still,payroll violations can be reported under any circumstances like loss of pay or illegal salary cut. 

Outsourcing Payroll Will Lead To Vendor Lock-In: Payroll management can indeed be a tough sector for any new or small company. In this scenario to simplify and execute the process faster, many companies outsource payroll management to third-party vendors. While this process might look effective at first, outsourcing work will eventually lead to a lock-in period with the vendor. To avoid this complicated situation, opt for interfaces that have no-lock in periods, hence allowing you to associate freely with them.

Conclusion:

As a new start-up or a small-time business owner, these payroll myths are something that you might have heard of time and again. But before arriving into any decision, it is highly essential to make a smart move by knowing the current market scenario for payroll management. Instead of ignoring the compliance, take time out, and source payroll software that can strengthen your foundation and even help in quicker progress.