Written by Alverta “Sandy” Steinwedel
Approximately 20 years ago, business owners had limited options on payroll processing; in-house, an accountant, or outsource to a payroll company. Sadly, the technology for payroll processing was just beginning so manual processing was your only source and the “bible” of payroll preparation was IRS Publication 15 – Federal Income Tax Withholding. The IRS still prints this 70-page publication but thankfully because of thoughtful initiatives, technology has resulted in practical payroll solutions.
Today’s business owners, no matter the size, must use a payroll software solution, especially cloud-based systems, because of the growing number of regulations, rules, employee benefits, and employee types.
Imagine manually preparing a basic weekly payroll for 10 employees who work for a company that offers retirement benefits, paid leave, sick leave, a cafeteria plan, and childcare. These are just basic benefits.
Currently, 79% of business owners outsource their payroll processing and it is only growing. This growth is being driven by greater efficiency, improved employee satisfaction, ease of access to data for the employees and an increase in employee incentives and benefits.
Many companies currently offer a menu of benefits to their employees. These benefits could be pre- or post-taxed benefits which the cloud-based payroll systems can properly report.
There are future initiative trends that are gaining momentum with businesses and employees and with these trends the need for an agile and advanced AI payroll system is a must. Consider the following employee benefits and how this could give a business a competitive advantage:
Getting Paid After Each Workday. With the growth of independent contractors and the “gig” economy, many employees would like to see daily pay.
Earned Wage Access would allow employees to access part of their pay during the payroll period. Consider an employee who cannot wait until the end of the payroll period. They could access pay for time already worked because of a unforeseen emergency.
Personalized Benefits With The Assistance of AI Technology. Currently the employee must meet with an HR person to learn about the employer’s benefits. Giving the employee the opportunity and flexibility to answer questions through a learning portal would provide them with data prior to a meeting.
Remote Accessibility by the employee and employers as well as provide both parties the up to the minute data which builds trust and committed employees.
With individuals needing immediate answers and valuable opportunities, the demand for self-service payroll portals with an integration to human resources is growing and business owners need adjust to keep their competitive edge.
