The 5 Biggest Problems With In-House Payroll Processing

If you have employees, you have payroll – there’s no escaping it.

Not only is payroll an unavoidable aspect of managing a business, but it’s also one of the most critical. After all, nothing can spark a mutiny amongst your employees faster than an error in their paychecks, particularly frequent or repeated errors.

So what makes processing payroll such a difficult part of running a business?

While paying your employees sounds like it should be a simple process (all you need to do is multiply the number of hours worked by the employee’s wage rate, right?), it’s incredibly complex, and encompasses everything from tracking employee hours to setting up benefit deductions to issuing W-2 forms and filing payroll tax forms and reports.

Do you hate processing payroll? You’re not alone…

With so many moving pieces involved, it’s no wonder that payroll administration is often ranked as one of the most hated tasks among office administrators (payroll ranked #8 on this survey conducted by Business Management Daily).

So here they are, the 5 biggest complaints employees have about the way their company processes payroll:

Generally speaking, most business owners and HR managers tend to hear five major complaints about their company’s payroll process:

• Getting managers to approve timesheets on time is a hassle.

  The most important day of the month for employees is payday (no matter how many times it comes around). That’s why it’s vital for employers to ensure that every payroll is processed accurately and on time. Employers using paper timesheets or similarly outdated modes of tracking time and attendance data often find themselves rushing around at the last minute to get approval for employee hours prior to the time when payroll is run.

• Manually transferring data takes hours.

  Even companies that do use some sort of payroll technology or online program can encounter issues trying to upload employee data and hours. Often, an HR professional or office administrator has to manually enter each employee’s information into the payroll system, including the number of hours worked each week. This manual data-entry process can take hours, and is prone to costly errors.

  Curious about just how much of an employee productivity drain processing payroll and other tedious, manual tasks are on your workforce? Check out our infographic: The Time-Consuming Toll Of Transactional HR – the numbers might just shock you.

• Printing paper paychecks is time-consuming and expensive.

  Unlike electronic payment methods like direct deposit, printing paper checks each pay period is a time-consuming and tedious process that is sometimes easier to get wrong than it is to get right. Printers can jam, names can be misspelled, amounts can be typed incorrectly. And just one glitch can turn a task that should be quick into one that can take hours, depending on how many employees a company has.

• Limited reporting capabilities.

  Certified payroll, job costing, new hire, general ledger – the list goes on and on. If you’re processing payroll on your own, generating these and other reports can be a real hassle without the right HR technology platforms to help you automate these reports.

• Employment taxes just keep getting more complicated.

  FICA, FUTA, SUTA, Medicare, Social Security, etc. Part of an employer’s responsibility is to withhold applicable federal, state and local taxes and remit the payments on a timely basis. Even missing just one payment can result in stiff penalties (penalty rates can range between 2-15 percent).

Given all of the difficulties employers experience with payroll, it’s not all that surprising that it’s typically the first function businesses look to outsource.

Have you heard any of these payroll complaints at your workplace?

G&A Partners’ team of knowledgeable payroll specialists understands the ins and outs of payroll processing and reporting, from the simple to the complex, and can help your business expertly handle the task of paying your employees accurately and on time, every time – no more payroll complaints!

When you outsource payroll with G&A Partners, you don’t spend any time making calculations or preparing reports. Our payroll experts process all the necessary payments and withdrawals using a simple, self-service online system that gives your employees and managers the access they need, and want, to view paystubs, update their information, approve timesheets, etc.

G&A’s payroll processing services include:

• Payroll setup
• Payroll tax filing
• Online payroll submission
• Automated standard deductions
• Garnishment & levy administration
• New hire reporting
• Job costing & certified payroll
• Custom report development