In: Accounting
Advantages of outsourcing payroll
Attending to payroll demands a great deal of time and expertise. Outsourcing your payroll to a specialist can help:
free up precious time to focus on your core business
reduce the need for training in-house payroll staff
remove the expense of buying and maintaining a costly payroll system
minimise the chance for errors, omissions or late payroll tax filings
stay compliant with your tax obligations and PAYE responsibilities
As with all outsourcing, you should balance the advantages against the potential pitfalls - in this case the financial costs and the risk of communication errors, particularly for complex payrolls.
Whether payroll outsourcing will be cost-effective for your business depends on the complexity of your payroll requirements.
Disadvantages of outsourcing payroll
Costs of outsourcing payroll can be high, especially for a young business. There is a certain degree of risk if communication lapses - for example, if you don't advise the payroll specialist of a staff member starting or leaving.
Outsourcing will also mean losing control of some of the key elements of your business, eg:
you may not have instant access to payroll if it has been outsourced
you won't always be able to check it when you want to, or add anything that's missing
you will have to hand over confidential and sensitive staff information