With the extensive and ever increasing demands being made on both HR and payroll, it makes sense to look at ways to increase efficiency and accuracy while reducing the administrative burden on both functions. One way to do that could be by integrating your HR and payroll systems – and here are 5 reasons that explain why it could help.
1. Greater data accuracy and less errors
There’s a significant amount of data that needs to be held on any one employee – and a lot of that data is required by both HR and payroll. The more data entries made, the greater the risk of data errors.
It’s far simpler to have a system where a single information input results in multiple records being quickly and accurately brought up to date. That in turn reduces the risk of knock-on errors being made due to delays in HR information reaching payroll and vice versa.
2. Better use of time
Being able to share data within an integrated payroll and HR system saves a considerable amount of time. It’s double the effort to input the data in the first instance if it needs to be entered into two separate systems. It then takes up time if HR and payroll subsequently need to check data with each other to make sure it correlates and sort it out if it doesn’t.
Having an integrated payroll and HR system saves the effort and time needed to do this and that time saving translates into opportunities to do more productive activity.
3. Improved reporting efficiency
If you have two separate sets of data to reconcile and pull together into one report, it can be time-consuming and complicated to do. It’s easy for errors to creep in. By the time the report is ready to use, the data could already be starting to become dated too. If the report’s required as a matter of urgency, the delays in going through this process can be costly in terms of decisions that need to be made using it.
An integrated system brings together essential payroll and HR information. That enables rapid, accurate and insightful reporting that provides the organisation with the vital information it needs to make effective decisions.
4. It assists effective compliance
Staying compliant with employment and payroll legislation is increasingly challenging and certainly isn’t helped by having duplicate sets of information in place for both functions. That can create a far higher level of risk of error and oversight and, as a consequence, non-compliance.
All information must be continually kept up to date in line with legislative requirements and standards from bodies like HMRC, and meet data management obligations including the general data protection regulations. Having all the data in one system makes the process of compliance easier to achieve.
5. An improved employee and manager experience
It’s frustrating for employees to have to inform both HR and payroll of detail changes. Alternatively if one department needs to notify the other once the employee has contacted them, there could be occasions when it gets overlooked. An integrated payroll and HR system removes that risk, reducing the chances of mistakes happening in employee payments and other essential activities.
An integrated payroll and HR system that provides employee and manager self-service functionality is even more likely to enhance the employee and manager experience. It makes it easier for employees to amend their personal information which then updates for both functions. It gives them access to their own integrated records, enabling them to view information such as payslips and holiday allowances. This makes it easier for them to find out answers to queries they might otherwise have raised with payroll and HR teams. That saves time, and also makes it easier for the employee to get a quick answer to their query.
From a manager’s perspective, it enables greater confidence in the data they are relying on to make decisions too. Instead of having to wait for reports, or raise queries about inconsistencies and cross check information, they can easily access the data and quickly analyse issues.
Could your company benefit from a smoother, more efficient workflow?
When HR software and payroll software are integrated, ultimately it creates a system that facilitates a smoother and faster workflow. Are you considering whether you should integrate your payroll and HR systems to increase efficiency and reduce duplication and inaccuracies within your business? If you would like to know more about how an integrated system could help you, please do get in contact with us.