You would be forgiven for thinking there is only one way of conducting payroll within your business, as workplaces have a bad habit of sticking to processes they have established long ago without revision. The truth is, the shifting face of payroll means that there are many types of payroll systems that could be a better fit for your business. Let’s explore your options to uncover what sort of solution is going to best fit your needs. Here are the 4 types of payroll systems that you should know:

  1. Outsourced payroll solutions
  2. In-house payroll solutions
  3. Bookkeepers and CPAs
  4. Online payroll solutions

1. Outsourced Payroll Solutions

An outsourced payroll solution is an option being explored by businesses spanning all industries, with the payroll function taken on by a team of experienced payroll professionals. This gives you access to leading technologies and best practice payroll, administered offsite and in the hands of trained finance professionals. With the recent introduction of Single Touch Payroll, these types of payroll solutions are the ultimate way forward for both small and large corporate operations. Most reputable outsourced payroll solutions will offer more than your standard payroll, additionally offering time and attendance tracking, disbursements, and a series of consulting capabilities available.

Read more about the benefits of outsourced payroll.

2. In-House Payroll Solution

In-house payroll is a common solution for businesses with a small number of employees. Managing data, wages and reporting compliance is achievable with limited employees, and often there is a dedicated resource tasked with this responsibility. Ultimately, your in-house payroll resource should have training in payroll practises and modern reporting functions at the very least. Support from the rest of your team will also ensure that your payroll professional is taking the required time to upskill, and implement legislative changes. Failure to stay on top of compliance changes could result in a hefty fine.

3. Bookkeepers and CPAs

Engaging an external bookkeeper and CPA is an option explored by small to medium businesses who do not have the internal resource to facilitate this function. While this reduces the overheads of employing a staff member, you may find that the bookkeepers’ methods may not integrate with your business. This means that there may be some manual work to administer on your end at the end of the financial year, or at various points throughout the year.

4. Online Payroll Solutions

There are undeniable benefits to exploring an online payroll solution, however, this will still require manual labour at your end. Having remote access to your payroll figures and data has great advantages for a range of business types, and training up in these platforms is worthwhile. If you believe that the online interface isn’t armed with the same security measures you would be wrong, with all online payroll solutions offering multi-verification touchpoints. What’s the catch, you may be thinking? Well depending on how you run your business, you may want something a little more tangible, or simply the luxury to pick up the phone and discuss a payroll matter with your dedicated outsourced professional. This you will not necessarily get with an online solution as the support can be limited.

Interested in learning more about payroll systems? Check out our other resources below!

  1. Choosing A Payroll System
  2. Overhaul Your Payroll System
  3. Implementing A Payroll System

It’s hard to know what types of payroll systems are going to be right for you and your business, which is why you should conduct your own research on the matter. In our experience, businesses will always end up selecting outsourcing payroll to a professional as it remains the happy medium between all types of payroll systems. If you’re looking for more information about why an outsourced model could be right for your business, contact i3Group today.