Although payroll does not contribute directly to a business’s bottom line, it’s an indispensable aspect of its sustenance. Like a cog within a wheel.

And this cog is rarely glitch-free.

Companies find payroll calculation and processing complex, fraught with challenges. These challenges not only limit the efficiency of the entire process, but can also induce errors in it.

Therefore, understanding these challenges and ensuring the provision of solutions through which these challenges can be conquered, is vital for all businesses.

The following are 3 of the most common payroll challenges that businesses face, as well as some practical tips on how to overcome them.

Change – The Biggest Challenge!

The biggest challenge that companies face when processing payroll is keeping the system up to date with changes that happen around us. These changes could be technological, legislative, environmental or changes in work habits of the employed workforce.

How Can You Conquer This Challenge?

By embracing the change. For that you need to train and educate your payroll processing staff to be more agile in the way they work. Alternatively, you could also outsource payroll services for your business. That way you won’t have to worry about training and educating your staff, and you’ll be able to leverage the experience of knowledgeable professionals.

Handling of Data

Payroll processing involves handling of large volume of data. These data sets are also quite diverse. This makes the management of data difficult for the staff, and as a result, they tend to commit data entry errors. This is especially true in cases where payrolls are generated manually.

How can you make data handling convenient and error free?

You can do that by using automated payroll software solutions. These platforms can also be integrated with a company’s legacy systems which can help reduce errors in generated payrolls.

Accurate Tracking of Employee Absenteeism

Tracking employee absence is another common payroll challenge that businesses face. The issue in particular arises because of employees taking unplanned leaves, or where a planned leave is taken but they may return earlier than expected.

How to improve tracking of employee absenteeism?

By using a time tracking software fully compatible with a company’s CMS or ERP system.

In Conclusion

Payroll challenges exist in all business settings. They can have far reaching implications and can grow to be more complex if not addressed on a timely basis. As such, it’s important that you develop an implementation roadmap to tackle them successfully.

A BONUS read: The Benefits of Using QuickBooks for Payroll Management