Today, manual payroll processes have become a pain for the HR department as well as for the finance team as it needs a lot of time, work, and effort to make it successful every month. Transitioning from a traditionally paper-based process to cloud-based payroll software is still a debatable topic for many companies.
Manual payroll approach is cumbersome and at the same time poses the biggest threat of human errors. The security issue is also critical as payroll includes crucial information which becomes a challenge when outsourced to third-party service providers. The present market for business is competitive and companies need to stay ahead of their game to have an edge over others.
Organizations searching for excellence in business can achieve it with a centralized payroll process. A good payroll system allows HR leaders or the payroll administrator to handle payroll operations smoothly and without any errors, thus eliminating risks related to payroll processing.
Here, we present the key challenges of manual payroll processing which can cost businesses heavily.
Tracking Time and Attendance
Managing and calculating leaves for every employee manually each month is a part of the payroll process. This is highly prone to huge errors and takes up a lot of valuable time for HR managers. Piles of paper documents comprising manual recordings of employee time and attendance are inefficient and frustrating as well. Miscalculation can lead to employees receiving more or less than the actual amount they are entitled to. Hence, this is unfair and can contribute to lowering employee satisfaction levels.
Possibilities of Human Error
Organizations that carry out payroll process manually have to undergo a great deal of aggravation accompanied by manual intervention. Manual payroll process overburdens human resource and finance departments with mundane activities such as repetitive cross-checking and documentation. Moreover, it is highly prone to human error which can create incorrect and untimely payments. Employees can have complicated salary structures which need gross-up calculations to ensure accuracy. The other scope of human error crops up in the incorrect calculation of employee leaves.
Security Issues
Maintaining crucial employee information in Excel spreadsheets or hard copies is not secure. Employees expect a lot from their company when it comes to ensuring the security of crucial information. Manual payroll processing increases the chance of data getting into the hands of the wrong person and such leakage of information can cost businesses high amounts.
Employee Productivity
With outdated payroll systems, employee details like reimbursements, leaves, and more are typically uploaded or entered manually. Spreadsheets with exhaustive data need a lot of management. Even a small change in a formula can disrupt complicated calculations, resulting in wrong payments. Such repetitive processes are tedious and lead an ineffective use of resources. Employees end up spending their time carrying out mundane work over and over again that can reduce their overall productivity and morale.
Non-Compliance
Manual payroll processing requires additional attention to make essential legislative updates. Inability to abide any of the statutory laws can make you face severe penalties or fines for non-compliance. Staying updated on all the rules and regulations is crucial for businesses and a task mostly left at the bottom of the plate.
To Sum Up
Organizations can overcome all the challenges easily by switching to a cloud-based payroll software solution which easy to use, secure, and ensures strict compliance. Moreover, the solution saves costs and a lot of time that is otherwise spent on manual processing.
You are absolutely right about payroll processing even in cases of small businesses