Payroll Software and People Management blog

Key payroll insights revealed in the 2014 Payroll Benchmarking Study.

Posted by Sage MicrOpay on Thu, May 29, 2014 @ 12:05 PM

2014 Payroll Benchmarking StudyAll eyes from the payroll sector have been on the “Australian Payroll Association 2014 Payroll Benchmarking Study” since its release by the Australian Payroll Association (APA). 1,782 organisations responded to the survey that was conducted between November 2013 and January 2014 and it features great news for our own payroll product – Meridian.

There are a few key results to note from the report which relates to the industry and Sage MicrOpay, including who has the responsibility of handling payroll and which payroll products make up the largest share of the payroll market?

The Finance Department in many businesses still have the responsibility of looking after payroll, but as a company grows in size, it is the HR Department that takes on this role. Nearly 75% of Australian organisations still run an inhouse payroll function, whilst the other quarter outsources their payroll to a payroll provider. The outsourcing of payroll tends to lend itself to companies that have less than 200 employees or with employers with over 10,000 employees.

The average salary including superannuation of a payroll professional has risen from $73,629 to $78,756. However, there are significant differences between industries with the lowest average payroll salary found in the Personal Services Industry and the highest average payroll salary found in the Transportation and Logistic Industry.

Finding a payroll product that can save both time and money is an important factor for businesses in today’s modern society, and it is clear that some organisations are delivering the payroll function much more efficiently than others. So who is using Sage MicrOpay’s Meridian payroll product to make their payroll run more efficiently, and is it only particular sized companies that benefit?

Out of a possible choice of 40 types of payroll systems in the Australian market, Sage MicrOpay’s Meridian payroll system is one of only nine products that were the most prevalent in the top five for all categories. This result demonstrates the versatility of the Meridian software which has been developed for Australian businesses of all types, industries and sizes.

For employers with 200-499 employees, Meridian came out top with a massive 41.9% share of the market – the biggest share of the market owned by one payroll product within one category. For employers of 500-1,999 employees, Meridian was the second most commonly used product within this market segment, and those with 10,000+ employees, Meridian was the 5th most used payroll system. The result demonstrates that Meridian is one of the most widely used payroll software for companies of all sizes, highlighting our clients’ confidence in our payroll system.

Not only does Sage MicrOpay make up a large proportion of the payroll software market, it also plays a significant role in providing exceptional services in the outsourcing space, being the 5th most popular outsourcing payroll provider.

The Australian Payroll Association sees trends in the utilisation of mobile, cloud computing as well as big data will be the key to improvements in payroll benchmarking in 2014 and beyond.

The use of software technology to enable time saving automation in payroll, in addition to rich functionality and comprehensive reporting is becoming increasingly important and relied upon within payroll, and no doubt Meridian will continue to rank as one of the top payroll providers in Australia.

If you’re interested in learning more about MicrOpay Meridian, and how it can help your organisation, you can find out more information here.

Topics: payroll software, Meridian

4 Benefits Payroll Software Delivers to Businesses.

Posted by Sage MicrOpay on Thu, Mar 07, 2013 @ 10:44 AM

Benefits of payroll softwareOne of the most important goals for any business, no matter which industry they reside in, is the constant pursuit of peak efficiency in their operations. This extends to all facets of the company, including the critical payroll and HR functions. Modern payroll software solutions offer a number of features that enable organisations to realise their goal of greater efficiency via streamlined payroll and HR processes.

Below are a number of benefits that these features bring, along with an explanation of how they boost the effectiveness of payroll and HR departments.

Automated payroll calculations

Regardless of how many employees a business currently possesses, the crucial responsibility of accurately calculating and distributing each staff members’ pay every pay cycle is a challenge. To ensure mistakes are not made, all pay components must be carefully included and tallied when required, representing a time-consuming task for all involved.

Luckily, today’s payroll software solutions possess the ability to automate calculations for payroll including back pays, termination payments, leave management and taxation, easing the burden on payroll managers. Various additions and deductions can usually also be created to include popular allowances that are frequently applied such as travel, meals and mobile phones.

Simplified superannuation payments

The calculation and payment of superannuation including concessional contributions such as the Superannuation Guarantee, salary sacrifices and voluntary employer amounts as well as non-concessional contributions including personal and spouse contributions can often be a challenge. Add to this the need to determine each employee’s eligibility for super contributions, plus the task of correctly paying the precise amount into each individual’s chosen fund at the appropriate time, and completing superannuation payments each pay cycle turns into a time-consuming process.

Payroll software can alleviate both the risk of error, and the difficulty associated with accurately handling superannuation. Calculations to establish contribution amounts as well as Superannuation Guarantee eligibility can be completed automatically. Software solutions also enable the remittance of superannuation contributions using EFT to participating funds that can be attached to each employee. Additionally some payroll software systems offer access to a superannuation clearing house service allowing much easier distribution of information and contributions to employees’ chosen super funds.

Human resources functionality

The effective management of staff is one of the most important aspects of operating a successful business. Not only does the proper utilisation of human capital promote increased productivity, it also facilitates numerous other benefits to an organisation.

Many modern payroll software solutions boast generous human resources functionality to assist businesses in achieving improved workforce effectiveness and talent management. Detailed employee records can be easily maintained with information on an individual’s medical details, probationary period, skills and competencies. Tools are often included to track accidents and incidents as well as rehabilitation to make the daily management of Work Health & Safety (WH&S) issues simpler. Training management functions can enable the effective development of staff skills by allowing the capture of comprehensive information including course providers, venues, cost per head and training manuals. Recruitment facilities allow the critical process of locating and acquiring talent to be completed more efficiently by tracking vacant positions, applicants, interview processes and promotion to employees.

Abundant reporting options for effective analysis

The ability to generate reports and detect adverse trends by analysing payroll data is important for all companies searching for a higher level of efficiency. Unfortunately the exercise of producing these reports, especially custom-made versions containing specific data, can be time-consuming.   

Assistance is now available with the comprehensive reporting and analysis options that are now commonplace among payroll software solutions. Normally offering a suite of standard reports, most payroll software programs also include numerous other options allowing users to quickly generate different reports upon request. Some systems also cater for a business’s need to build specific reports for their requirements by allowing the creation of custom-made reports from scratch, providing unlimited flexibility for reporting and analysis.  

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Topics: payroll software

Advantages to adding an employee self service solution to your payroll software.

Posted by Sage MicrOpay on Fri, Feb 15, 2013 @ 12:11 PM

ESSBenefitsAs a result of new advances in technology including the rapid rise in popularity of devices such as smartphones and tablets along with powerful wireless internet connections, more and more businesses are implementing employee self service solutions with their payroll software to enhance productivity.

To shed some light on why this is the case and to introduce you to how these systems are revolutionising the way payroll departments function, included below are a few of the advantages that ESS solutions are bringing to companies.

Reduce the administrative workload.

Employee self service solutions give staff the ability to view and amend their information including personal, contact and bank details. By transferring the responsibility of maintaining accurate records of these details from payroll personnel to each individual staff member, employee self service portals can successfully reduce the severe administrative burden that many payroll professionals face every day. The process of leveraging a business’s entire workforce to maintain staff records by giving employees the control to change their own information also often facilitates a higher level of accuracy.

Email coordination of leave applications and approvals.

Quick, easy application and approval of leave is made possible with the use of ESS systems. Employees are able to forecast leave amounts and submit applications online anytime, anywhere, triggering the sending of automatic email alerts to managers for approval. The mobility and convenience this provides to staff, as well as the expedited application/approval process that occurs as a result of the automated workflows that ESS software possess promotes a more engaged workforce. Once again, administrative duties are also kept to a minimum with details of approved leave being imported directly into payroll software for the next pay cycle when using integrated systems.

Minimise paper-based processes.

The benefits of replacing numerous paper-based processes such as leave applications as well as payslips with online substitutes using employee self service solutions are numerous. Time-consuming data entry by payroll and HR staff is no longer required. The occurrence of common errors such as lost application slips or incomplete contact details forms become a thing of the past. The allowance of employees to view and print their pay advices also dispels any need for staff requests for pay information or copies of previous payslips.  Additionally, another obvious advantage of switching to paperless methods is the consequent positive effect on a business’s carbon footprint.

Enhance the mobility of your workforce.

Many businesses often rely on broad networks of employees across multiple locations to successfully carry out their operations. This scenario is often accompanied by its own unique set of challenges, none more prevalent than the need to efficiently gather data such as start and finish times to accurately process the payroll. The integration of an employee self service solution featuring mobile timesheet entry capability with a payroll software system greatly simplifies this conundrum. Giving staff the ability to input their own timesheet data online, coupled with the widespread use of smartphones and tablets with internet capability, means critical timesheet information can be compiled quickly from several different sites.

 

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Topics: employee self service, payroll software