Services Ensure Payroll Accuracy

Some small businesses are operated with just a small team of office workers yet have a huge payroll to organise. This is the world of the employment agency where companies who need staff for varying lengths of time go for help. There is any number of scenarios. Some retail stores need temporary sales staff, particularly around Christmas for the pre Christmas business and the discount sales that follow on immediately. Other companies need help to cover the summer holiday period when one or more of a small workforce will be sunning themselves somewhere but certainly not in the office. There are also personnel requirements for maternity leave.

AGENCIES

These are just some of the regular placements for an employment agency, but there are also ones when expanding businesses are in urgent need of contract workers. The Construction Industry comes to mind immediately. Many projects were shelved during the recession. As the property market has improved, several have come back on stream. In such a situation, agencies that have tradesmen and labourers on their books have become very busy.

Should you handle payroll yourself?

While these workers remain on the agency’s books, they will all be part of a payroll that the agency needs to process. You may think that given the money is starting to come in you have no worries and can do the job yourself. You should ask yourself one important question however. Are you in the position to expand? If the answer is ‘yes’ then the next question is whether your time is better spent focussing on expansion or on administrative processing. There is surely only one sensible answer to this.

VALUABLE TIME

An outsourced payroll service can give you that extra time to grow your business. All of your workers will expect to be paid on time and correctly. A service that will process payroll will also handle not only queries on the pay but also any questions coming from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs that expects an accurate return and remittance. Ultimately, it is the agency that is responsible for that return which makes it even more sensible to get the help of a quality service with a good reputation.

EXPERTISE

There are regular employment legislation changes and at every Budget announcement by the Government something relating to income tax and National Insurance changes. Giving the job to someone who deals with payroll tasks every working day is an excellent way to ensure that things are done properly.

The benefits of outsourcing payroll

There are many types of businesses that have seen the benefit of using third parties as a cost effective and efficient way to run their business. It is certainly something that is worth investigation, especially in a company where the absolute priority is to take advantage of the improving economic climate. It is perhaps time for every business, employment agency or not, to look into this a little further.

Summary

This article looks at why small businesses with fluctuating staffing needs, such as retail stores hiring temporary Christmas staff, often turn to employment agencies and third-party payroll services. It argues that outsourcing payroll processing can be a more cost-effective and efficient use of time than handling it in-house as a business grows.

Questions this article raises

• How much does outsourcing payroll typically cost compared to doing it in-house?
• What risks come with relying on a third-party payroll provider?
• At what size of business does outsourcing payroll start to make financial sense?