Payroll is often a big part of every company’s expenses. In order to save on cost and increase efficiency, many companies need to learn how to streamline their payroll strategy. A small error during tax filings or a missed deadline could spell trouble for the company. Increasing the efficiency of payroll process with various techniques will enable you to refocus your much-needed resources to more pressing areas. Hence, here is a list of 6 ways to streamline payroll strategy to alleviate unnecessary stress and improve overall efficiency and performance for the company.  

1. Keep It Simple

Keeping your payroll process as simple as possible is the easiest way to streamline your payroll and increase your workforce efficiency. Payroll is indisputably complicated but that does not mean your process has to suffer the same fate. One simple step is to standardise a company-wide pay schedule. This means that everyone in the company, regardless of departments, would receive their pay on the same day. Doing so drives the economies of scale which eliminates duplication of efforts makes it easier to manage and reduces the effort and time used to track every individual employee.

2. Always Be Compliant

In Singapore, there are many regulations and restrictions in place for companies. It is a huge and tedious task to ensure that your payroll processes adhere to the current regulatory requirements. This is especially true for industries such as healthcare and finance. From your company’s accounting records to financial reports, it all has to adhere to relevant legislation or risk penalties.

3. Automation

Traditional ways of keeping track of payroll would be manual input and data entry onto program such as Microsoft Excel. Manually inputting values into an excel sheet is an outdated practice and prone to human error. Additionally, it is extremely time-consuming. The solution to this is to implement an automated workflow system that would aid in streamlining your payroll. You can do so by automating payroll requests such as annual bonuses and missing by initiating, approving, and tracking such processes.

4. Go Paperless

The push for an environmentally sustainable company has never been stronger. The climate situation is dire, and we can each do our own little part to help cut down our carbon footprints and emission. Paper checks are a waste of precious resources and a hassle to track. Not to mention how expensive it is to print and replace a lost check. Paperless payroll is the key to streamlining your payroll. It is a much faster and safer way of getting your pay and pay details to your employees on the day itself. You will no longer have to worry about lost checks and postage costs, cutting your costs down and boosting efficiency. 

5. Employee Self-Service

Empowering your employees to take charge of their pay is another way to streamline your payroll and boost efficiency. Gone are the days where HR personnel is needed to keep track of every individual employee, answer routine questions, and hand out forms. With technology such as the mobile application for HRMS, everything is automated and traceable. This is especially crucial for industries that deal with freelance and contract staff. Allowing employees to track their own attendance will help reduce the number of disputes related to payrolls. They are also able to manually change personal information such as a new address or update their bank account details. Hence, lightening the burden for the HR department and allowing them to focus on other work. 

6. Outsourcing Your Payroll

Last but definitely one of the most important is to outsource your payroll. After reading through all the previous points, it might seem overwhelming and leaving you uncertain of which area to start. It might be a worthy investment to outsource your payroll. Letting a third party take over one of the most tedious and complicated processes will free up your workforce to focus on the bigger picture of your operation. They are specialised in keeping track of the ever-changing complex regulations such as tax and benefits. They can ensure your payroll is error-free during an audit, so you don’t have to ever worry about getting into legal trouble.  

In conclusion, these are some simple strategies to streamline your payroll and increase the overall efficiency of your organisation.