5 faulty assumptions about payroll management


Between work schedules and the legal obligations of owning a business, the extra work for employers is hardly a walk in the park.

Mélanie Larouche | Journalist

You're probably in the rush of preparing one employee tax slip or summary after another. Ugh. For some entrepreneurs, the whole process is like a bad dream that doesn't end! 

Between work schedules and the legal obligations of owning a business, the extra work for employers is hardly a walk in the park. Nevertheless, some business owners still swear up and down that they'll never outsource their payroll. But it can't hurt to dig just a little deeper into the benefits of delegating some of the work to professionals. 

Here are the 5 most common excuses entrepreneurs use to justify why they don't outsource payroll management--and why they're not always right.

1. It's cost too much
No business is too small (or too big) for a service like this. The cost can be adapted to any company and its specific needs, no matter the size. Even micro-businesses with just one employee can benefit.

You can use a calculator to estimate the cost of the services for your business. When you consider all the time you spend managing payroll, using an outside service could provide you with a nice return on your investment.

2. It's too complicated
You can contract payroll management services any time, not just at the beginning of the year. Desjardins's service can step in and immediately pick up right where you left off. 

There are several options that help entrepreneurs cut down the amount of time spent on administration, automate recurring tasks and simplify processes. A team of specialists is also available to provide support.

3.  I have the time to do it!
Any time spent managing payroll is less time spent developing business, operating the company, creating sales strategies or doing anything else that brings grist to the mill. 

It's not only employee T4s, RL-1s and provincial and federal summaries at tax time that you need to handle, but a whole host of other tasks that start adding up: at-source deductions, transfers, payroll taxes, expenses, pay stubs, etc. 

The devil is in the details, and there's no shortage of them in the minutiae of payroll! Contracting out payroll management reduces the risk of non-compliance with regulatory requirements and frees up hours that could be better spent doing something else, like the main business activities that generate revenue.

4. I have no trouble following laws and regulations
Employee payroll data contains personal and confidential information; and putting best practices in place to ensure it's protected can't be taken lightly. 

Contracting a payroll service takes that responsibility out of your hands and the provider is obligated to follow all laws and regulations, without exception. So you can forget about the risk of penalties when rebates or numbers don't meet new government requirements!

Steps like these show employees that you care about them and appreciate the work they do.

5. I have software I'm happy with
What happens when there's an incident or when you get sick? Do you have a backup payroll management plan ready to go? Would your employees get paid on time? None of us want to think about the worst, but employees count on their salary. Payroll service providers have very secure servers, de-centralized operations and safe and secure backup systems that will make sure your data is safe and your payroll goes out on time.

You might also like our tip sheet : Good accounts receivable management practices

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