HR professionals tasked with managing their company's payroll procedures look to a number of tools to assist them in their work.
But there are three fundamental tools that are often overlooked or disregarded - tools that can smooth even the most complex payroll situation.
While these are basic and fundamental, don't let their simplicity cause you to dismiss them. We discussed the first one in a previous post last week. Today we look at the other two of the three tools:
Armed with these three tools, HR departments can rest assured that they have the upper hand when it comes to maintaining accuracy, timeliness, and compliance with their payroll process.
Year-end is often a long and arduous process, but having a comprehensive action item checklist can simplify your tasks. If your list has been used and followed consistently throughout the calendar year, your year-end process will be much smoother and less stressful.
In addition, the checklist can serve as a “To Do” list for processes and procedures that should be documented. Far too many HR departments function primarily from the knowledge and experience of their staff.
And while this can suffice for a time, if key staff members leave then the processes are in jeopardy of being carried out incorrectly, or overlooked completely. The only effective way to avoid this is to create a procedure manual with each and every task or process fully documented.
If you haven’t already accomplished this, a great way to approach it is to document each payday, monthly, and quarterly procedure as you complete it.
If you have additional procedures that are not included here you can add them to this checklist. In addition, if there are tasks listed here that do not apply to your business functions, they can be deleted from the list.
Here’s a short checklist you can use to help guide you through each pay period, each month and each quarter. Keep in mind that this is not a complete listing of every task you may have to accomplish in your payroll management procedures. In fact, it is highly recommended that you create a comprehensive list that can be referred to by everyone involved in the payroll process:
After every pay period:
After every month:
After every quarter:
Having the fundamentals is a great start. Utilizing up-to-date software is also a great use of available tools. Looking to the cloud and even considering outsourcing are also great options when it is no longer a matter of simply tools, but of time and resources.
For payroll managers, keeping up to date with continually changing Federal and State regulations and new legislation is a never-ending task. The consequences of mis-filing taxes, missing payments, or other withholding and tax filing errors can be costly for a business and, in some cases, catastrophic. However, there are options to doing everything yourself.
If Accuchex is not currently filing your taxes, call to find out how we can smooth this process (and others) for your business. 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.