Payroll is a crucial aspect of any business, and the larger your business, the more important it is to have an efficient, reliable and secure system in place.
If you choose to operate your payroll manually, you must ensure that your calculations are correct, you must keep records up to date yourself and you must be aware of tax updates – this is time consuming and inefficient, and fact that all of this can be managed easily with a good HMRC accredited payroll software package makes it a much more worthwhile and time-saving option.
Let’s take a look at the key things that are made easier by using payroll software.
Tax and Deductions
Managing employee tax and deductions is simple and convenient with software – calculations are automatic, and the software will automatically update in-line with P6/P6B tax updates.
Once you have entered an employee into the system with the necessary P46/P45 information, all of the most important on-going deductions and additions are managed automatically, including National Insurance Contributions, income tax, student loans and statutory pay.
Statutory pay can be tricky to get right, but software automates this according to the employee information, and with a visual calendar it is much easier to manage sick days, holidays and other periods of absence such as maternity/paternity leave. Attachment Orders and pension schemes are also supported, including Group Personal Pensions and Stakeholder Schemes.
It is much easier to file your tax reports online to HMRC. The filing of P14, P35 and P60 reports can be managed in a step-by-step process with prompts to ensure you leave nothing out. Reporting breaks down the information you send so you can be sure of its accuracy.
RTI Reporting
The salary payment process will change in the coming 2013/14 tax year. PAYE will need to be reported to HMRC every time an employee is paid, not at the end of the tax year.
This will eliminate the need to send end of year P35 and P14 forms and also, make the starter and leaver process simpler.
Make sure you use RTI payroll software for the update, and make sure you have all necessary employee information ready.
Paying Wages
A good UK payroll manager will make one of the most important aspects of payroll much easier – creating pay slips. Paying wages on time and accurately is critical for any business, but with so many possible payment frequencies, additions and deductions, it can be difficult to keep things clear and organised.
This is what makes software such a benefit, as it will manage the important things like income tax, national insurance contributions, statutory payments and attachment orders automatically, and give you the freedom to make any necessary additions or deductions such as ex-gratia pay and ad hoc expenses.
Once the payslip is completed, they can be saved and exported in a variety of secure formats such as .doc, .pdf & etc. printed or sent via email.
