If yours is like most businesses, you are looking for ways to “go green", cut costs, and maintain the security of your company's data. One way of accomplishing this is with a paperless payroll process, also known as green payroll.

Eliminating time cards or time sheets, physical paychecks, and paper pay stubs can be huge steps towards a paperless payroll process. Adopting an online portal system for your employees also eliminates most of the paper being used. In fact, a majority of employees prefer to receive their check stubs and pay information electronically.

Done right, implementing a paperless payroll process is a win-win for everyone.

Go Green: Why Paperless Payroll Pays

1. Employee Access Through an Online Portal

A recent survey from the American Payroll Association (APA), 2014 Getting Paid in America, found that over 8 in 10 employed Americans have access to pay and benefits information from an employee self-service portal. With in-house or cloud-based technology, you can streamline and improve your payroll process.  

The same survey revealed that over 49 percent of employees access the portals from a desktop computer, another 25 percent use a laptop computer, while over 7 percent access them from a smart phone. Employees overwhelming prefer this direct access and the flexibility of the cross-platform useability.

2. Increased Efficiency in the Payroll Process

While it is true the payroll management and HR functions in general do not generate revenue, they can certainly add significantly to your business's bottom line with reduced expenses and lower personnel costs. This can be accomplished through the implementation of a paperless payroll solution. Accuracy, speed, security and convenience all add up to time and cost savings.

3. Mobile Access to Pay Stubs

According to the ACA's surveys, HR professionals have been moving to mobile-enabled processes by over 75 percent since 2012. Most of these new uses have been in payroll and recruiting, as well as performance management, and employee development functions. In addition, over 24 percent of survey respondents who still receive paper checks say they regularly use smart phones to deposit those paychecks.

“Organizations are scrambling to react to the demand for mobile-friendly solutions to everything, as employees get more and more attached to their digital tethers,” according to a white paper from TalentWise, a recruitment technology company.

4. Secure Access to Payroll Information

Security is a critical concern for businesses and individuals. The threat of identity theft and cyber theft of businesses is an ongoing reality. Eliminating paper pay stubs can drastically minimize the potential of sensitive information being at risk. If a pay stub doesn't exist it can't be lost or copied. 

In addition, an online system will provide your employees the peace of mind and convenience of viewing their pay stubs securely and at home. And having an online paycheck system along with online reports also means no lost records.

5. Reduce Paper Waste

According to the APA survey, over 40 percent of American wage earners still receive a paper pay stub. That is equivalent to almost two billion paper check stubs annually. In addition, over 74 percent of employees in the U.S. still receive paper copies of their annual Form W-2s. While eliminating all paper may still be impractical for now, a large and significant reduction in paper use and waste paper accumulation can be had with a green payroll system.

Save time, save money, save the planet

And while investing in the best available paperless payroll software for your payroll processes is a viable option, another direction you might consider is outsourcing. This can be simply outsourcing one process such as payroll. However, with a full-service provider such as Accuchex, you have additional options for outsourcing as well.

Let Accuchex help you in managing your HR needs, payroll processes, and staying on top of compliance demands. Get your Free Download: Payroll Outsourcing Guide to help you make an informed decision or call Accuchex Payroll Management Services at 877-422-2824.