Are You Paying Too Much?

From the small business to the conglomerate, payroll should remain a seamless process. When core competencies and bottom line profits drive the economical core, less attention and resources should be paid to payroll processing and administrative tasks. Often times, in-house payroll processing staff is inadequate, with quarterly salary reports rife with errors and tax laws not adhered to. Unfortunately, low quality payroll processing services you’ve outsourced to could introduce the same problems.

It is a sad fact that over time compliancy creeps into most relationships. In outsourcing that can result is a gradual slip in service levels, and also over pricing. We live in a very competitive age, with continuing improvements in technology. There are situations where over the years suppliers have been quietly increasing their charges, whilst their costs have actually been reducing. It is a wise step to bench your service against the market, to ensure you are still getting best value.

And so a reason for changing payroll services is high cost. With the plethora of free quote services for payroll processing available online, you might have enough leeway to negotiate your service price if you think it is too high. Many times, payroll services will quote you a price to sign you on. After a while, these payroll companies might launch a revenue maximization process where the price increases every few payrolls. Other payroll companies might quote a price that includes limited services. Additional fees might incur based on new reports, new hires, additional forms, additional monthly fees, and so on. When gathering quotes, make sure they are guaranteed for a period of time.

Another reason to change payroll services is poor service. Is your payroll service overly focused on providing paperless payroll rather than data files and printed reports? Has your department had new hires and promoted employees whose hourly salaries increase and are not duly reflected in this month’s accounting report? What about inaccuracies with printed checks? Are your pay slips being printed and sealed poorly? Bad checks/payslips could leave disgruntled employees scrambling towards your office. If your payroll provider cannot take the raw variable information you provide them and run payroll efficiently, you are receiving bad service.

All in all, changing payroll services due to poor service and increasing costs off a faulty price quote is a sound business proposition.

Chris Anderson, MD eSlip Limited, is an entrepreneur, speaker, and business mentor. Chris has spent the last 28 years in IT, specializing in outsourcing and more recently payroll services. Chris has a successful track record of taking businesses from inception, to profit, and into business maturity. Previous posts include MD Rebus HRS, MD Sceptre Payroll Services. Sign up for regular tips at
http://www.eSlipPayrollServices.com for more info visit
http://www.EasyPayrollService.co.uk