12 Surprising Benefits Business Owners Found Using Payroll Software

Unless your business is a one-person show, payroll is a necessary task that can be a time-consuming burden. But it doesn’t have to be.

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With the right payroll software, payroll can become an automated process that you hardly need to think about. But don’t just take our word for it—hear some surprising perks these business leaders learned when they started using payroll software.

1. Saves time

Payroll isn't exactly what I would personally call a fun job; it's a necessary one, and people in charge of payroll aren't likely to look forward to the monthly payroll reconciliation. The advantages of payroll software include the ability to help them in making their job easier and saving them a significant amount of time that could be better spent on other parts of the job.

-Timothy Robinson, CEO of inVPN


Our most affordable payroll solution: SurePayroll

SurePayroll is an affordable and straightforward payroll software that offers automatic payroll runs, tax filing, and exceptional customer service.


2. Keeps data secure

Data security is critical, and payroll information is especially sensitive. Personal information, such as mailing addresses, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, and bank account numbers, will be stored in payroll files. You can ensure that this information is securely locked down and cannot be accessed by anybody outside of your firm by using reliable payroll software.

-Eric Carrell, Chief Marketing Advisor at Surfshark

3. Avoids human error

As the number of people in your company grows, so does the amount of paperwork that has to be completed. The greater the number, the greater the chance of human error. However, one of the most significant advantages of payroll software is that it makes it extremely impossible to make mistakes. This is due to the entire process being automated, as well as extensive validation checks and procedures.

It's surprising how easy it is to overlook a tax change. It's sometimes difficult to stay on top of everything, especially since tax adjustments can go unreported until you receive a notification from the IRS. This will not happen if you use payroll software. This is because the software will notify you of any updates immediately, ensuring that you are constantly up to date.

-Steve Scott, CTO at Spreadsheet Planet

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4. Easier access to documentation

Payroll software makes it simple to find vital records, whether it's an employee seeking information on a past payment or an executive looking for a specific report. Your payroll records and data can be securely maintained online and accessed by supervisors or managers who require them. Time savings, deadline notifications, quick access to data, and cost are all advantages of the online approach to HR and payroll processing.

-Darshan Somashekar, Founder and CEO at Solitaired

5. Manages employee records properly

Keeping track of all sick days, paid leaves, overtime, and vacations taken by an employee is a difficult task for a payroll manager. To compile an accurate monthly payroll report, you must have all of the employee's work records on hand. Employee calendars have been added to payroll software to track what type of leave an employee has taken, how much time they can take, how long they've been on vacation, and so on. All of the data will be processed automatically by the software, resulting in a complete payroll monthly report.

-Saskia Ketz, CEO of Mojomox

6. Provides an audit trail

All financial parts of your organization, including how you process payroll and pay your employees, require an audit trail. Payroll and pay-related issues are prevalent, and a single disgruntled ex-employee can cause serious problems for your company.

You can simply monitor payment logs, check tax and super guarantee rates, and verify that all payments were accurate and no one was short changed when you use online payroll software to process salary and superannuation payments. With a human method, gathering so much information could take days, but software can accomplish it in minutes.

-Stewart McGrenary, Director at Freedom Mobiles

Best Small Business Payroll Software
Gusto
Best overall
ADP
Best HR add-ons
Paychex
Best for growth
OnPay
Best value
Learn more about our top brands.

7. Promotes better employee morale

Workers are the heart and soul of a firm, toiling away and giving their
distinctive contribution to overall growth and productivity. A typical payroll administration system may cause the payment to be delayed. However, you can rely on payroll software to meet employee expectations at the appropriate time. When payments are paid on a regular basis, it increases their faith in the firm. This will invigorate their spirits and motivate them to do their finest work.

-Ansh Gupta, Founder of Empire Crafter

8. Increases business productivity

Payroll software has increased the overall productivity of our company. I know it sounds a bit absurd, but since the payroll software calculates salaries faster and accurately, we were able to pay our employees on time. Manual payrolls take longer, and they often have many errors, making the salary process longer than it should be. This can result in a lack of motivation for our employees. Being paid on time and accurately has a positive impact on our employees' morale, boosting their productivity.

-Nate Tsang, Founder and CEO at WallStreetZen

Tired of payroll? Gusto handles payroll taxes and more

With unlimited payroll runs and automatic tax filing, Gusto helps small-business owners worry less about payroll and put more time into growing their business.

  • Get automatic payroll tax filing, including end-of-year tax forms
  • Manage workers compensation insurance
  • Track paid time off, sick leave, and holiday pay

9. Decentralizes data

When it comes to finance, switching to an online payroll software solution enables your small company to accomplish one important aspect: decentralization. Previously, the finance department would have all of the procedures and methods in place to enable workers to check on their current finances or payroll status, resulting in needless delays and lengthy processing times.

Decentralized finance provides for greater flexibility in processing and seeing payroll for your workers, as well as verifying whether they've been paid yet. It saves time, labor, and money that might be used for more
productive purposes.

-Jennifer Harder, Founder and CEO of Jennifer Harder Mortgage Brokers

10. Reduces your environmental impact

It enables your firm to be more environmentally conscious while also complying with the most recent code or standard for energy efficiency for most businesses.

Due to the change in corporate emphasis toward more sustainable methods of doing business, rules and regulations have already been created to help these businesses become green faster. While switching to digital has clear benefits over paper-and-ledger layouts, it also contributes to the environmental movement.

-Ebony Chappell, Co-founder and CMO at FormsPal

11. Forecasts future events

Adding hypothetical packages and generating reports helped us gauge how to expand the team. We got an idea of how much we can really spend on expansion and what kind of strategic roles need to be prioritized.

-Ruben Gamez, Founder and CEO of Docsketch

12. Automates compliance needs

All of our employment related compliance forms are automatically filed on our behalf, including tax reports, unemployment compensation reports, and more. This allows us to save on operations costs and avoid hiring professional help to handle those requirements.

When we recently added a remote employee in a different state, we had a whole new set of requirements to follow—fortunately, our payroll system made that process a breeze, providing guidance and automation on everything we needed to do to be compliant.

-Eran Galperin, Founder of Martial Arts on Rails

Top Payroll Software Resources

Want to give payroll software a try? These resources can help you find the best payroll software for your business:

Sarah Ryther Francom
Written by
Sarah Ryther Francom
Sarah is Business.org’s senior content editor. She has more than 15 years of experience writing, editing, and managing business-focused content. As the former editor-in-chief of Utah Business magazine, Sarah oversaw the state’s premier business publication, developed several custom publications, and managed all business-to-business content. She also co-authored a business book with FJ Management CEO Crystal Maggelet. Sarah is passionate about helping small-business owners reach sustained success.
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