Payroll system requirement: Checklist

Payroll is a complex and delicate process for any organization. And, errors in payroll systems pay to your employees with erroneous numbers in terms of salaries and benefits management is at stake.

Payroll deals with tax deductions, hence it is monitored by authorities. Therefore, having a mistake therein causes employees a miscalculate pay resulting in employee frustration, hence your reputation is also at risk.   

Modern organizational setups are using payroll software systems instead of the old manual payroll mechanism. But here a question arises How do you select the right payroll software system?

Payroll System Checklist

• Core HR Functionality
• Time and Attendance
• Payroll and Compliance Management
• Earnings Codes and Deductions
• Benefit Management
• Security
• Payroll Processing

Core HR Functionality

Your payroll system must have your core HR functionality in terms of an integrated system with different departments of the organization that helps inter-connected data input, access, update, processing, extraction, and much more right from hire to retirement!

It helps your organizational effectiveness to better and takes it to the level next by saving the precious time of your employees working and processing manually otherwise.

Not only is time saved, but the data and information are integrated with core HR functions and financials more quickly, and accurately in no time with the least possible errors.

Your payroll system should be synchronous with HR planning, management, administration, finance, training and development, compensation and benefits, insurance, health, and safety benefits management, and reward and recognition.

Time and Attendance

Your organization should have a payroll system where automated time and attendance should be one feature that records employees’ check-in and check-out time, regular attendance, number of days present or absent in the office, leaves, leave requests, accruals, and overtime hours served. Managers are helped by payroll system software a great deal.

Payroll and Compliance Management

The computerized payroll is another essential feature of a payroll system. Automated time and attendance are synchronized with payroll to generate employees’ salaries.

Moreover, your payroll software should have the necessary documents, tax laws, rules, regulations, policies, and tax services available, along with any other add-on as per your requirements, for compliance management.

Earnings Codes and Deductions

Earning codes are the codes in the system that allow the defined tracking of reimbursement and payment policies for employers, employees, and contractors.

These codes take the data from the system for earnings and deductions, if any, and automate the data for possible accuracy and quick processing.

It works on earnings payments and deductions in terms of salaries including base pay, taxes, commissions, premiums, bonuses, etc.

Benefit Management

Benefit management encompasses financial transactional automation processes bound as per law. At the back, you might be connected to automatic alerts whenever there is any mutation in rules or policies as far as financial laws are concerned.

It can be more efficient and accurate for your financials. This feature should work on your workers’ compensation management, retirement plans, tax management, benefits 0plans, 401 (k) plans, insurance, etc.

Security

Security is always a big threat to your precious data and company. If your payroll system does not provide you with this feature, you, your employees, and your company are at bid risk.

Payroll Processing

Payroll processing includes payroll calculations, employee pay, payment options (mobile app, direct deposits into accounts, or paper checks), and all-time access to payroll specialists’ support.

Payroll Processing Checklist

• Employee Information
• Salary Information
• Tax Details
• Attendance
• PTOs and Holidays
• Insurance
• Company Benefits
• Direct Deposit or Check Printing

Employee Information

Your payroll checklist must consist of your employees’ information slab therein to feed, access, and extract data whenever and wherever it is needed.

Salary Information

Salary information input allows you to input, protect, maintain, and handle salary-related necessary financial information and that allows you to a last-minute changes if needed.

Tax Details

You should have in your payroll system a tax details tab to input and update your and your employees’ tax information.

These details should include deductions like any tax on retirement plans, insurance plans, union dues, loan repayment, savings, etc.

This should have local tax, federal tax, state tax, electronic federal tax payment system (EFTPS), and recording of tax payments, deposits, and liabilities.

Attendance

Attendance comprises daily check-in and check-out electronically, even for workers who are on the job at remote sites, or working from home, attendance plans, shifts, scheduling, employees’ leaves, accruals, absence recording, etc.

PTOs and Holidays

Paid time off and holidays should also be on the checklist of your payroll system. Processing in the system your employees’ paid time off and holidays helps you process their paychecks accordingly.

Insurance

Your payroll system’s Insurance tab should contain disability insurance, life insurance, national insurance contributions like Medicare, national insurance numbers, State unemployment tax account (SUTA), state worker compensation insurance account, premiums on jury duty, court duty, or approved leave without pay, etc.

Company Benefits

Your company benefits mandatorily include financial benefits of healthcare, bonuses, and pension benefits.

Direct Deposit or Check Printing

Your payroll should have limitless direct deposit accounts and a check printing facility for employees (uniform or multiple accounts) from a computer system, mobile devices, or any other gadget.

Modern payroll systems should also have

Employee Self-Service

This feature includes employees’ access to payroll systems wherever necessary. Say, benefits election and its management, employee personal data, and tax withholdings admin.

Mobile Capability

If your payroll system can be synchronized with mobile apps, it helps you and your employees in check-ins, check-outs, mobile funds transfer, expenditure administration, creation of paychecks, direct deposits, important notifications, vital transactional data, and much more.

Global Payroll

If you are a multinational company (MNC) or working on larger business scalability (economy of scale), you need a global payroll system it should have all other options along with federal and global rules, regulations, and policies relevant to financial management, for error-free transactions avoiding penalties and reputation challenges.

Workflow

Your payroll system should have a workflow that should facilitate you in automated report generation, scheduling, easy access, and extraction friendly for required tasks, as per modern business intelligence practices, for making your work easy, accurate, timely, and prompt.

Integrations

Integration is another key feature of modern payroll systems. Instead of manually or even electronically copying, pasting, or input of data, the integrated systems automatically transfer, update, and connect all departments making it easy for your HR and Finance.

Integration works like it takes data from the system right from hire to retirement uniting diverse departments.