Is it a good time to change your payroll system?

COVID-19 and its effect on businesses

While the direct impact of COVID-19 has not yet been fully realised, businesses have been forced to adapt in order to stabilise or survive. Identifying and improving inefficient processes is the key to cutting unnecessary costs and relieving some of the financial pressure. We believe that payroll is one such process that can be significantly improved in many businesses. A robust payroll system can lead to better management of your other resources. In turn, this leads to your business being better position to survive and thrive.

“Payroll in the cloud is not the future, it is here. MYOB Advanced Payroll is thriving. Software in the cloud has enabled employers to pay their employees anywhere, anytime with ease. The future is now.”

– Julia Padginton, Senior Payroll Consultant at Kilimanjaro Consulting

Businesses are more willing to adopt existing technology that they were not widely using before. There is increased confidence operating in an online space, and concerns about data security and operating in the cloud have subsided. What we have found is that migrating operations and data to the cloud is a natural and logical step that many businesses will undertake in the future.

To learn more about our prediction of the major trends for 2021, read here.

What issues might I be exposed to with an out of date payroll system?

With improper payroll practices or resources, business can become exposed to compliance, fraud and other sources of risk. COVID-19 has only heightened this threat, as focus is shifted elsewhere in the business. Out of date payroll systems struggle with many requirements of modern companies, such as:

• An inability to handle the complexities of awards and work rules
• Difficulty managing different pay cycles
• Inflexible technology platforms
• No automation for leave requests and approval

Payroll processes should be constantly developed and optimised to improve efficiency and compliance, and limit risk. Employee knowledge and training of your payroll system plays a significant role in its effectiveness, especially when working within a system that relies on manual input. Staff reductions in response to the pandemic can expose gaps in critical areas of a company’s payroll process.

Visit our Payroll Training page here

What can enterprise level payroll programs do?

High functioning payroll systems, such as MYOB Advanced Payroll (formerly MYOB Advanced People), are suited to the complex requirements of modern growing businesses. The technology allows the open flow of payroll information, reducing duplication of effort, manual data entry, and provides real-time business information. Some of the features of MYOB Advanced Payroll include:

• Customisable leave entitlements and custom leave types
• Sophisticated Employee Self Service features, that help automate leave requests and approvals
• Capability to include multiple pay cycles, frequencies, and groups
• Automatically updated tax and superannuation rates, to aid in industry compliance
• A cloud-based platform that allows for incomparable accessibility, including via mobile phone

Implementing MYOB Advanced Payroll in your business can also lead to further efficiencies when integrated with your ERP system. MYOB Advanced Payroll integrates seamlessly with MYOB Advanced allowing a “single source of truth” for your data. This in turn leads to a reduction in administration and smoother workflows across all functions of your business. However, MYOB Advanced Payroll can also be used as a standalone platform, meaning that it can run alongside your existing MYOB Exo system. The cloud-based platform removes the need to pay for and maintain complex on-premise servers or a data centre. All you will need is a web browser and an internet connection to access the full scope of real time information, whenever and wherever you want. The entire MYOB Advanced suite is hosted on the world’s leading cloud IT infrastructure – Amazon Web Services (AWS). AWS provides a high performing and robust application that stores your data across multiple devices in multiple availability zones for added security.

Booster takes advantage of modern, cloud-based payroll software

Booster decided that they needed a new system to streamline their payroll processes and better support their organisation’s growth. As their trusted and experienced implementation partner we were able to offer early access to New Zealand’s newest payroll specific module of MYOB Advanced – MYOB Advanced Payroll. Booster now leverages both MYOB Advanced Business and MYOB Advanced Payroll in one integrated system and the team is not looking back.

Read more about their efficiency improvements following their MYOB Advanced Payroll Implementation here.

Businesses are more ready and able to adopt new online technology in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Without a suitable focus, out of date payroll systems are liable to become a source of risk for many businesses in the future. MYOB Advanced Payroll is a robust and powerful cloud-based platform that can handle the complexities of modern organisations.

If you would like more information about MYOB Advanced Payroll as a payroll solution for your business, contact sales@kilimanjaro-consulting.com or call 1300 857 464 (AU) or 0800 436 774 (NZ).