Outsourcing Payroll Services: What You Should Look Out For
Organizing financial transactions and preparing statements are just part of running a business. And these tasks seem to never stop filing in. Not to mention the time-consuming payroll preparation that needs to be done on time. Although you only have to prepare the payroll on a weekly, bi-monthly, or monthly basis, it can still eat up much of your accounting department’s time especially if you are running a huge business with a large number of employees.
Be specific about what and why you want to outsource payroll
Before outsourcing your payroll needs, you need to ask first why you want a third party agency to do the payroll for your company and what specific tasks you need to be done. Make sure that the answers to these questions are aligned with your business goals and objectives.
Do you want to cut costs and save time? Do you want to let your staff focus on developing growth strategies or on the other essential financial tasks? Do you want to leverage the expertise and skills of an external team of professionals? Are you going to outsource payroll for rank and file workers alone or all the employees in your company?
Being clear with these matters can help you trim down your options, avoid unnecessary services, hire the right professionals for the task, and get the best results.
Do your research
Technology used
Reputation and experience
It is always best to choose a payroll service provider with a proven track record. Before finally deciding which provider to hire, check the agency’s reputation and experience first. Try to investigate whether or not the company has already dealt with some payroll issues or disputes in the past.
Cost and contract
You may want to hire payroll services that your company can afford. See if the cost of outsourcing payroll to such a company fits your budget and if the rate is reasonable enough. Also, check the specifics of the contract before signing it. Are you looking for a one-time service only or a recurring service? How often the payroll preparation needs to be done? The type of structure or service you choose can have a huge implication on the total cost.