The function of payroll, ensuring your employees are paid correctly and on-time, is vital to the smooth running of any business. Payroll processing has become increasingly complex in recent years, with the introduction of auto-enrolment pension obligations, the option to payroll benefits, and several court rulings which significantly impact the calculations for holiday pay & entitlements. In the current tax year alone, we have had two in-year changes to National Insurance rates & limits.
Outsourcing this function to a payroll bureau can have significant benefits.
You will gain access to qualified professionals who will be aware of the latest developments and upcoming changes, ensuring your payroll calculations are complete and accurate. The responsibility for payroll processing within small businesses often falls to those who are self-taught creating the potential for key changes to be overlooked, or legislation to be mis-interpreted.
Continuity within a small business, ensuring the payroll is run on time regardless of sickness or annual leave can be tricky; outsourcing to a dedicated team gives you the flexibility and resilience to ensure your employees are still paid on time, and the necessary RTI submissions to HMRC are made on time.
Maintaining payroll software and ensuring this is regularly updated can be costly. In some cases the savings here alone can make payroll outsourcing an option worth exploring. You may also gain access to services not easily available for individual businesses, such as the provision of secure e-payslips to your employees.
Data security is as important as ever and the costs of getting it wrong, both in financial implications and lost confidence of your employees, can be significant. Outsourcing to a payroll bureau who are experienced in maintaining the highest levels of data security, whilst regularly exchanging data with employers & employees alike, means your data is in safe hands.
The level of support provided by a payroll bureau can be tailored to suit the needs of the business, for example you may wish to keep responsibility for making payments to your employees in-house, whilst delegating other aspects.
Ultimately outsourcing payroll can free up valuable time & resources so you can focus on your core business operations, whilst knowing your payroll function is in the hands of professionals.
Ensors provides a full payroll bureau from its office in Saxmundham, as well as its other offices across Suffolk & Cambridgeshire, supporting a wide variety of clients. If you feel your business could benefit from an outsourced payroll solution, do get in touch for a discussion about the services Ensors offer, and how we can help.
By Liz Lockwood, Manager, Ensors Accountants LLP
This information is given by way of general guidance only, and no action should be taken based solely on the information contained herein. No liability is accepted by the firm for any actions taken without seeking appropriate professional advice.
