Many schools and academies are cautious about outsourcing their payroll provider. Payroll is a time-critical activity, so understandably this makes people nervous about making the change.
However, with payroll software providers streamlining processes, offering comprehensive reports and easy to use tools at your fingertips, your team could claw back invaluable time to focus on other important tasks.
In the current financial struggle, as education settings look to find efficiencies and cut spending in every direction possible, changing providers can save you time, energy and money.
Here’s our five top tips to successfully move your payroll provider:
1. Establish what you need from your payroll provider
Understand from your workforce what the full payroll requirements are and make an extensive list of service requirements. Are there any pain points that need to be addressed? Could you use this opportunity to expand your offer?
2. Discover
Research the market for payroll providers that are experts in the education sector, so that they can better suit your needs. Are they experienced in the different types of contracts you use? Ensure all suppliers are compliant with HMRC legislation, and they have a trusted security network to avoid any kind of data breach. Have they had the seal of approval, for example from the CIPP Payroll Assurance Scheme (PAS).
3. Read the fine print
Opt for a payroll provider with fixed costs. The last thing you need is to receive bills for hidden services during the year. Check that your above list of services are included in plan proposals. i.e Can statutory deductions and expense claims be calculated automatically.
4. Migration
Migration of your data is crucial. Check that your payroll provider offers support with this service, and that the costs have been included within your proposal. How are you going to switch from one provider to the next. Do they recommend a dummy phase or perhaps running two software providers in parallel. What effect will this have on your bottom line?
5. Customer support and training
Support: When you urgently need to speak to someone how can you make contact with them? Will you have a named member of staff that you can direct queries too or do you need to submit tickets via email? If so, what is their response time?
Training: How are you going to make the most out of your new payroll software? What tools will be provided to train your staff? Are there demo videos, self-help documents or online webinars? How do your team prefer to learn?
Above all do your research and work out what is best for your setting, you might be surprised by what you could get.
Louise Brace
