How to Streamline Payroll Processing

Payroll can be a challenging task for many companies, especially for small business owners. A streamlined payroll process makes it easier to meet internal and government payroll requirements.

In this article, we will discuss the options for streamlining payroll available to small businesses and their advantages and disadvantages, as well as the benefits of having a streamlined payroll process.

What is payroll processing?

Payroll processing encompasses all the steps involved in ensuring employees are paid accurately and on time. Incidentally, payroll processing responsibilities including:

• Calculating employees hours worked
• Processing payroll calculations and deductions
• Payslip preparation
• Payroll accounting and reporting
• Ensuring payroll compliance with internal policies and government rules and regulations such as submitting Single Touch Payroll (STP) reports to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO)

To learn more about the steps required for processing payroll, read our guide to processing payroll.

How to streamline your payroll process 

There are a number of options for streamlining payroll available to small businesses. Let’s look at the options in more detail and discuss their advantages and disadvantages.

Streamlining payroll by outsourcing

For some businesses, the option to outsource payroll could be the best choice. It's efficient and means payroll professionals equipped with the right knowledge and tools are performing the complex tasks associated with payroll processing, allowing you to focus on other aspects of your business. However, outsourcing payroll will incur your business additional costs because you are engaging an external payroll provider to handle your payroll.

Read our article on payroll outsourcing to learn the steps involved in outsourcing payroll to an external provider.

Streamlining payroll by reducing the frequency of your payroll cycle

Reducing the frequency of your payroll cycle is an effective way to streamline the payroll process. While many businesses pay weekly or fortnightly, moving to a monthly payment run can reduce the amount of time you spend processing payroll. While monthly pay runs are the norm in many industries, they can also deter potential employees.

Read our article on payroll schedules to determine which payroll schedule is right for your business?

Streamline payroll with payroll software

Integrating payroll software into your business is an efficient way to streamline payroll processing and simplify payroll management. Payroll software such as QuickBooks Payroll streamlines payroll by automating complex calculations and is designed to support your ATO reporting.  

To learn more about how payroll software works read our introduction for Australian employers.

Payroll software often includes additional integrations with employee benefits portals and human resources systems. For example, QuickBooks Payroll allows employees to manage their timesheets and leave requests on the go by connecting to the employee self-service app EH Work.

Read our guide on the key benefits of payroll software and learn how to choose the right payroll software for your small business.

Streamline payroll with time-tracking software and apps

Using time-tracking software and apps that integrate with your payroll software offer additional ways to streamline payroll processing. Time-tracking software such as QuickBooks Time allows you to schedule, track and manage your team and projects. Timesheet apps like QuickBooks allow you to track time, and submit and approve hours from your fingertips.

Benefits of streamlining payroll

Streamlining payroll offers numerous benefits to organisations and small businesses.

• Increased employee job satisfaction: For a happy workplace, you need to ensure you pay your employees correctly and on time. Some payroll software also allows employees to log in to manage timesheets and leave.
• Increased efficiency: Having a payroll system that handles employee onboarding, stores employee data, manages employee payroll, and integrates with your accounting software reduces the amount of manual work payroll professionals need to do. 
• Increased productivity: A streamlined payroll process fosters a seamless collaboration between payroll and human resources, increasing the productivity of both departments. 
• Reduced costs: Payroll can be expensive as there can be many hidden costs associated with outsourcing payroll and penalties for non-compliance if you handle payroll in-house but aren’t familiar with payroll rules and regulations.
• Ensuring compliance: A streamlined payroll process ensures your business stays compliant with the ATO and internal payroll processing policies and procedures.

Streamline your payroll process with QuickBooks Payroll

QuickBooks Payroll powered by Employment Hero is the best cloud payroll software that can help you get all of the benefits listed above when you decide to streamline your payroll. QuickBooks payroll software is STP-enabled and designed to support ATO reporting, and includes an employee self-service solution. This will allow your employees to update their personal details, request leave and view payslips. Our Standard Payroll and Advanced Payroll options can be added to any QuickBooks Online plan to suit your business needs.

Take the next step and start streamlining your payroll. You can schedule a free payroll setup session with one of our experts to find out more.