How To Choose a Good Payroll Software?

What should you consider when choosing a new or changing payroll software? What other criteria besides the price should be considered, and why is it necessary to consider electronification?

Several programs are available on the market for processing the personnel and payroll of employees. In this article, we will advise you on the criteria to consider when choosing the right payroll software.

Correctness of calculations and incorporation of current legislation

The first important feature that good payroll software should have is the correctness of the calculations. Calculating wages, wage compensation for vacation or PN, levies, or surcharges may not always be significantly easy if the quantities for correct calculations are constantly changing. 

If the software has timely and correctly incorporated legislative changes, you can rely on it and thus save inconveniences with the authorities or the employees themselves. When choosing payroll software, looking at how long the software creator has been working in the field is also advisable. “In addition to programmers, he must also have a team of experts at his disposal, thanks to which he can respond flexibly and promptly to legislative changes, a large number every year. 

You can correct an incorrectly posted invoice relatively easily, and you have to explain the incorrectly calculated salary to the manager and the employee. You have to correct the statements at the insurance companies and the tax office,” he adds. There may also be fines or interest payments due to delay.

It is the insufficient response of the software to quickly approve legislative changes, the slow and imprecise implementation of the current legislation is the most frequent impetus for changing the payroll software. Other reasons tend to be missing functions or low automation of processes. Users value payroll software for its up-to-date and the possibility of speeding up work.

Our tip: Olymp will help you with the correct calculation of wages and the fulfillment of other duties  – payroll software suitable for all payroll workers, HR professionals, managers, and accounting firms. Calculate your paychecks in a program that tracks news in-laws for you and fills out over 200 payroll documents. This saves time and eliminates errors.

Reports and documents for offices and employees

Employers have many obligations, often associated with filling out various statements, reports, and other documents not only for Social Insurance, health insurance companies, the tax office, the labor office, or the statistical office but also for the employee himself. 

For example, when starting a job, issuing payslips, credit card, etc. “Furthermore, the patterns of many forms.

Good payroll software contains current printouts and allows you to fill them in or can generate them, print them, export them in electronic form, or adapt them to the company’s needs. Suppose the necessary documents are contained directly in the software. 

In that case, the payroll accountant does not have to prepare forms manually or in other applications, which not only saves time but also reduces the rate of errors.

customer support

Even the best wage earners sometimes need advice. When choosing software, it is also advisable to look at  ​​customer support. Counseling by phone, e-mail, or via various online chats is common today. It is convenient if the consultants can connect to the user’s (salaried employee’s) computer via remote access and help with the software problem in this way.

Setting access rights

Several people can process payroll and personnel in the company. Still, it is not always necessary for each of them to have access to all data, especially when it comes to sensitive personal and payroll data. Therefore, the company affected by this situation should check whether it can set various access rights, password protection, etc., in the software.

HR and payroll software together

Salaries also include HR and collecting employees’ personal, work, or family data. It is, therefore, applicable that these records are linked and in one place. When calculating wages, each employee’s personnel and salary settings are subsequently taken into account. Suppose changes are also saved on the employee’s personnel card. Various working conditions may be adjusted several times during the employment relationship. 

“I consider the biggest shortcoming of some software to be that they can only store the current value of the gross salary without displaying the changes that occurred during the entire duration of the employment relationship.” It is also practical if documents can be stored electronically for individual employees.

Data import into payroll software and export to accounting software

If the company uses, for example, an attendance system, it may be essential to be able to import these attendances into the payroll software. Therefore, you should pay attention to this when choosing a program. Otherwise, it may be necessary to manually calculate hours worked or overtime and manually enter them into the payroll program, which is inefficient. In addition to the possibility of import, the software should also be able to export wages to accounting software, or create exports for payments to internet banking, etc.

Price for payroll software

One of the essential criteria is undoubtedly the price, but even in this respect, it is true that you usually have to pay extra for quality. Care must be taken to ensure that the company receives everything it needs for the price offered. If any price offer is too low, it is a good idea to check whether it will subsequently be necessary to purchase additional program modules or pay for other items not included in the calculation. 

The price usually depends on the number of employees whose wages will be processed in the program. As a rule, it is possible to assemble various modules or packages that the wage earner needs for his work.

“Gadgets” and electronification

At a time when developments in electronification and digitization are constantly moving forward, it is appropriate that the software does not sleep with the times and develops in this direction or in bringing various improvements that facilitate the work of wage earners. 

The functionality of the “remainder” when the software not only alerts you to the deadlines for submitting reports but also, for example, to the expiration of the validity of the professional exams of employees or their work anniversary. 

Experts agree that the ability to send pay slips and other documents electronically directly from the payroll program is a big time saver for payroll accountants. Or save documents related to labor relations directly in the personnel folder in the payroll software.

With some payroll software, it is possible to send monthly statements directly to the health insurance company with a few clicks without requiring lengthy entry of positions from the GRID card.

Education and training

Part of the job of a wage earner is also continuous education, especially about legislative changes, of which there are quite a lot. Although good software can effectively help with many changes because they are already incorporated into the program, it does not mean it will handle everything for the payroll accountant. 

For example, we can cite the recent change in the child tax bonus, which has become more complicated since July 2022. The software creators incorporated this change. 

However, which of the parents is more worthwhile to apply the tax bonus to, during which period, or monthly or rather annually, is no longer the task of the software?

However, it is ideal if the software also offers training or webinars to link the legislative innovation directly to its application in the payroll software. 

Good software also informs about news or various tips for working with the program directly in the program through notifications or a newsletter, or you can study a particular issue in a manual or e-book from the software supplier’s workshop.

When choosing the best payroll software, it is not appropriate to look only at price but especially at how long the software supplier has been on the market and what references it has.

“It is also essential to examine the team of experts involved in creating the software and its updating. Several payroll software suppliers provide their customers with useful tools, educational materials, or efficient video training.

” tools such as the wage calculator, holiday calculator, or meal ticket calculator are very helpful when planning costs and help not only to wage earners but also to employers themselves.

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