Payroll Software and Training
Paul Golden looks at the factors that need to be taken into account when selecting a payroll software package and underlines the importance of effective training in using your chosen product efficiently
Since effective payroll software can produce significant cost savings, it makes sense to invest in the training required to get the most from the chosen package.
The criteria for selecting a payroll software package are the same as for all business software purchases, according to Jessica McIntire, product release manager of Sage Ireland. ‘It is important to make sure that the package you select fits the way your business works. For example, do you use a clock-card system to collect timesheets, which you then need to import into the payroll? Do you need to be able to assign wage costs to projects? Make sure to list all of your requirements in detail and then have a demonstration of the software to ensure it ticks all of these boxes.’
Padraig Gill, sales and marketing director at Intelligo Software breaks the selection process into five sections – scalability, support, technology, complexity and price.
Scalability: As the business grows can it cope with the increased numbers? In other words, can the payroll software solution grow with the company? A number of systems would be limited to 10 or 30 people.
Support: If there are issues or problems, how accessible are the people at the end of the phone? Do they know what they are talking about? The only real way to gauge this is by talking to existing customers.
Technology: In a lot of organisations, the technology has to fit in with the IT strategy and infrastructure. For instance, some clients may only consider an Oracle-based solution whilst others may be based on the Microsoft platforms, such as SQL Server.
Complexity: Many companies believe theirs is the most complex and complicated payroll on earth and no standard system can encompass all of their requirements. This belief can sometimes be true. However, once they consider enterprise-level applications such as Megapay, this fear can be easily allayed.
There are a few packages offered by the larger software players like Sage and a large number available from smaller payroll-only software companies, which range from entry-level products, such as Quickpay and mid-range packages such as Micropay Professional, up to options integrated into large ERP packages.
‘In Ireland, the market is segmented into three principal areas,’ said Gill. ‘Lower tier (Sage Quickpay, Thesaurus - entry point sub 100 euro); middle tier (VIP Payroll, Micropay - entry point 1000-5000 euro); and upper tier (Oracle, SAP, Megapay - entry point 5000 euro-plus).’
Training is a vital part of implementing and maintaining human resources, payroll and pensions systems, explained Roddie Aherne, business director Northgate HR Ireland. ‘It ensures that users have the knowledge and understanding to effectively use the product and to realise its full potential.’
Northgate provides standard and customised training on all its products, which maximises the return on investment. ‘It works for us too, because new users and managers start to see and appreciate the unique qualities and working-day benefits of our solutions.’ The company’s training services provide a blended learning approach that helps new users and managers to see and appreciate the qualities and benefits quickly.
Northgate HR is the only human resources and payroll provider to achieve IITT Gold Accreditation and TAP-certified Training Consultants status. Every training consultant is either IITT or CompTIA certified and courses are constantly monitored, both internally and externally, to maintain their consistency and adherence to methodology.
‘The training team undergo continuous professional development, to make sure that individually and collectively they stay abreast of the issues that our clients face day-to-day. Continuous development has always been key to us, as we learn from every course (from the issues raised and delegates’ feedback) and translate that learning into new course content’, stresses Aherne.
The amount of training required for a payroll software package depends on the user\'s familiarity with processing payroll and with using software packages, and can vary substantially, admitted Jessica McIntire. ‘Payroll is really about two things - paying your employees and complying with legislation. There are heaps of regulations around taxation and employment. Recently, the legislation has increased as many payroll operators are now completing surveys for the Central Statistics Office.’
‘We believe that to totally understand how a payroll functions, it is necessary to have a full appreciation of how to calculate and work a manual payroll system before starting the training on any computerised payroll package,’ said Ted Creed, Pitman Training Centre Wexford. ‘This enables our trainees, when they return to their workplaces, to explain and support any payroll queries raised.’
Pitman Training courses are offered on both an instructor-led and flexible/self paced basis. ‘As a training provider, we find that that the most common request is for the Sage Quickpay product. A lot of our customers use Sage accounts and payroll solutions.’ Courses include demonstration of links to the Revenue On-Line system (ROS) as well as the production of key Revenue reports including P35, P30, P45 and P60. Creed also reports considerable student interest in the level of integration into Microsoft Office applications such as Excel and Word.
Processing employees\' payments is something every employer has to do. According to Creed, the introduction of complex payroll legislation over recent years has made it increasingly difficult for employers to cope with the amount of paperwork involved in processing payments, not to mention the need to keep up with the changes to legislation as well as requests from employees. ‘In today\'s competitive business environment it is essential to have a flexible payroll system that prepares you for every eventuality.’
Padraig Gill explained that the benefits of an effective payroll system can be substantial. ‘We have one client who has switched from posting payslips out every week to their employees at home to issuing ePayslips. They costed the exercise and have estimated cost savings of almost EUR 400,000 over a five year period.’
HR staff can piggyback on a decent payroll system by integrating their human resources application into payroll, said Padraig Gill. ‘Hence a single employee is only ever set-up once and from that point is effectively maintained for the human resources department by payroll.’
Seems like payroll software pays for itself!
Case Study: NRH
The National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH) is the national centre for the treatment of spinal and brain injury rehabilitation.
The NRH has over 500 employees based in Dun Laoghaire and being able to process payroll information instantly and quickly is critical, explained Payroll Manager Brendan Martin. ‘We needed a system that would offer us flexibility and reliability, as well as allowing us to customise information. We had used a DOS-based payroll system for 20 years and although the product was good, we do not have the flexibility that we have now with Megapay.’
The National Rehabilitation Hospital chose Megapay from Intelligo Software because of its track record in the payroll business and the health sector in Ireland. ‘Having used a DOS based application for 20 years, it was important to us that installation and training of a new system went as smoothly as possible,’ said Martin.
‘The attention to detail, and knowledge of our specific requirements during the installation and ongoing support, gave the payroll department the confidence they needed. Megapay offers us extreme flexibility; it has given us far more control over the payroll process and access to information is now much better for both the employee and employer.’
He believes Megapay has increased the efficiency and the time available to the payroll department by linking to external applications such as ROS and Agresso. ‘The best feature in our opinion is the easy access to Excel through the system. It has taken away a lot of the mundane keying in of information and freed up the payroll staff for more strategic tasks.’
