Selecting a software or service to handle your payroll requirements can be overwhelming, but there are ways to make the choice clearer. When making this decision, you have three major areas you will need to analyze:
This is the most important part of your analysis. Pricing should be secondary. Compare pricing only with products that pass the functional test.
With today’s technology, most employees expect easy access to paystubs and W2s, as well as the ability to make demographic changes to their master record online. Administrators should expect the tools to manage garnishments, special payroll runs, payments to vendors (i.e., 401k, benefit carriers, government agencies). Administrators should also expect tools with automatic notifications to assist with one-off payroll exceptions as well as routine activities. Managers will want an easy way to access their direct reports’ timesheets and salary history.
All payroll software leverages a few payroll tax services to update and maintain tax rates (local, state and federal). Some tools offer this as a seamless service, requiring no action on your part to keep the rates current. Many products also provide full tax filing services, and some even handle the payments to the appropriate authorities. You may elect to have these services without having to outsource your payroll. This option is new to the market.
In today’s marketplace, most payroll software and service are priced on PEPM (per employee, per month). Although you may receive a PEPM price, you may still be able to pay annually, saving a few dollars. PEPM pricing typically excludes the one-time fees that all products will require, such as implementation, training, clocks and badges.
A few years ago, CS3 Technology added Scissortail HCM by UKG, formerly Kronos, to our portfolio. We used the same three criteria mentioned above to find a product with broad functionality, unlimited user license, flexible tax services, outsourced or inhouse processing and competitive pricing. Check out Scissortail HCM to learn more about this product.
