If you ask most business owners, they’ll tell you there aren’t many more important elements to a successful business than a happy workforce.
When we begin onboarding a new client, invariably the first burning question on their lips will be, “will we have enough time to make sure the payroll is completed on time this month?”. An effective payroll department, whether it is outsourced or kept internally, is key to ensuring the team is paid when they should be paid, pension contributions are submitted to the relevant provider and taxes are filed and paid to HMRC on time.
Why employ an internal payroll expert?
For a long time, many business owners have employed a bookkeeper and a payroll manager within the business to complete the monthly pay runs for the company. The most obvious benefit to this is the knowledge of the team that the manager has, but also includes:
- The company retains control of when the figures are completed, giving them instant access to payslips when they are completed.
- New staff members are more likely to be picked up by an internal expert as they’re often also in control of onboarding the employee.
Why should I consider outsourcing payroll tasks?
Whilst the reasons above might give food for thought for bringing someone into the business to manage payroll, there is clearly a significant cost to hiring someone as part of the team.
Freeing up the business owners busy schedule
If the business owner completes the payroll for the company themselves, clearly the outsourcing of the monthly payroll processing will free up even more time for the owner to work on the business rather than in it, something we’re really keen on.
Ensures confidentiality and reduces training costs
There is no reliance upon one person completing the work when your payroll is completed externally. Internal training costs are minimised, and the outsourced provider bears the risk of ensuring there are no handover issues if the person processing the payroll leaves. Add this to the fact that any information you send to the accountant remains entirely confidential and you’ve removed one very big headache!
Ensuring your company is HMRC compliant
Payroll outsourcing services help to ensure that your company remains compliant with HMRC filing deadlines, whilst mitigating the risk of technical errors occurring with the team’s pay. Payroll legislation is an ever-changing landscape, with updates to Statutory Maternity Pay, Statutory Sick Pay and the National Minimum Wage occurring each year, making staying up-to-date with changes one of the most important tasks for a business.
Payroll outsourcing services from Kirkwood Wilson Accountants
You should of course weigh up both sides of the argument if you’re considering the next move for your company’s payroll. At Kirkwood Wilson, we have a vastly experienced team of payroll specialists who would be happy to have a conversation with you about our payroll outsourcing services to ourselves. Our payroll outsourcing service which we provide to our clients using leading software Xero, includes the management of auto- enrolment pension contributions using NEST and the construction industry scheme so you can be rest assured that all of the necessary reductions have been made.
For more information about the payroll outsourcing services available at Kirkwood Wilson Accountants get in touch with our specialist team. Call us on 01704 546000 or email enquiries@kirkwoodwilson.co.uk.
