Say goodbye to pay-day pains

Making your payroll system work for you

by Phillip Tarrant

Paying your staff on time, every time is essential if you want to compete in today's corporate world. People work for money, you need to pay them. That's why they're here. So, having the best possible payroll system in place is crucial.

In recent years, every pay office in Australia has had to contend with an increasingly confusing business and economic climate, together with perhaps the most complicated payroll legislation in the world. Keeping up with government regulations and developments in payroll and company technology is an essential focus of your payroll department. Companies must ensure payroll systems and staff make their work less laborious, more exact and more efficient. To do this, you need an effective software package.

Taping away made easier by TAPS

Over 8.5m workers in Australia receive 400m pay packets each year, and an inefficient payroll system may lead to angry workers and eventually to ineffective production and service. Assisting payroll professionals, however, is The Association for Payroll Specialists (TAPS). The industry body aims to increase the awareness of payroll staff because "an informed payroll specialist is a vital member of the management team," said Jason Low, director of membership services. TAPS also aims "to be a totally independent and unbiased body, removed from any government or payroll company," Low said.

As Australia's only industry body dealing specifically with the payroll profession, TAPS aims:

• To provide a high professional standard through education and mutual support;
  
• To provide a united voice which can represent the views of members;
  
• To obtain recognition for payroll work in today's business environment;
  
• To identify future training requirements for those involved in payroll and to organise appropriate facilities on behalf of members;
  
• To conduct professional examinations covering the entire range of subjects associated with payroll functions;
  
• To provide Certified Payroll Specialist (CPS) training; and
  
• To provide university education for the profession.

TAPS membership includes bimonthly meetings, bimonthly journals, a TAPS "Pay Assist" helpline, discounted seminars and training courses and exclusive recruitment rates. Ideally, payroll professionals will use TAPS as a contact point or forum for networking and knowledge acquisition within the field, said Low.

I can't make a decision on which software is right for me!

Companies must first ask how important is payroll in their area of business. Clearly, for professionals in areas such as recruiting, payroll is one of the fundamental drivers of business - paying, billing and generating extensive client contact. A small business with two or three employees, such as a fish and chip shop, will not, however, require an extensive payroll system.

To outsource or use in-house resources? The only "right" answer to this frequently asked question is whatever works best for you. Outsourcing payroll, however, is an extremely cost-effective option for many businesses, both large and small. An innovative option may work just as well as an expensive, labour-intensive network.

Selecting a payroll system then is about breaking down your needs and what you expect based on areas such as strategic focus, business development and employee or resource capabilities. The systems showcased below range from state-of-the-art application service provider (ASP) systems to the more traditional client-server based system. Each will be appropriate for a different business environment.

FastTrack

Improved margins and cash flow - and therefore profitability - are the advantages of paying and billing using one integrated system. Double-keying data, or exporting data to another application, clearly costs money through inaccuracies and lost time. With FastTrack's Recruitment Payroll Manager, your timesheet data - keyed in once only - generates company pay slips and invoices.

Payroll Manager is part of the specialised recruitment management, tracking and reporting system developed in Australia by FastTrack. The system extends to products for payroll and billing, ledgers, résumé interpretation and Web interfacing - providing a total solution for any size and type of recruiter.

Payroll Manager provides:

• Simplified timesheets and billing
  Recruitment Payroll Manager allows timesheet entries to be made by clerical staff - locally or centrally - using either summary or detailed entry methods. Cash flow and profitability can be optimised through independent processing frequencies for the billing of clients and also the payment of employees.
  
• Payroll processing
  FastTrack's integrated system suits both internal staff and external payees. It also allows users to include or exclude GST, PAYG, Payroll, WorkCover, and superannuation on allowances. Furthermore, users can deal with changes and variations in State payroll tax regimes and other areas.
  
• Payee management
  Payroll Manager maintains up-to-date records of WorkCover codes, entitlements and superannuation contributions - making administration of these complex areas straightforward.
  
• Taxation administration
  Payroll Manager ensures that end-of-financial-year processing keeps up with current legislation. Tax is calculated using ATO formulae - with tax scale changes upgraded under our Product Maintenance service. Recipient-created tax invoices can be produced from pay slips.
  
• Reports
  Payroll Manager can generate reports at any time - without the need to wait for the end of a cycle or pay run. Data can also be exported to accounting software to develop other reports.
  
• Web interface
  Payroll Manager can interface clients, contractors and temps to your website. This allows for online access to work-in-progress charging details and invoices, and allows temps and contractors to view their own pay history.

Rebus Australia

Rebus Australia (formerly Peterborough Software) has provided software solutions in Australia since 1980. Developed though parent company Rebus UK, Rebus specialises in payroll and human resources information systems (HRIS), proving workplaces with the company's product PS enterprise.

PS enterprise is a Microsoft-centric designed, client-server payroll and HRIS with intranet front-ended employee/manager self-service options. Features and benefits include:

• Design and configurability
  Allows the product to be tailored to suit a company's particular needs without becoming heavily customised. Customised systems are difficult to support and upgrade to newer product releases.
  
• Multi-functionality
  PS enterprise is multi-company, multi-country, multi-currency and multi-lingual - all accessible from a single database. The PS enterprise Payroll & HRIS solution is ideal for regionally based companies which require consolidated corporate reporting.
  
• Microsoft standard
  PS enterprise is designed and constructed with standard Microsoft tools. This eliminates the need to employ or contract people with specialised programming and technical skills to support the product.
  
• State-of-the-art
  PS enterprise is not a Windows front-end attached system. Rebus has invested in a total product redesign, allowing PS enterprise to keeps pace with the latest e-business technology advances.

Rebus is rapidly expanding into the "total workforce management" market and has integrated market-leading "best of breed partner" solutions into the overall PS enterprise solution.

Rebus wants to be known as a value-added business partner to customers, rather than just another solution supplier. PS enterprise and the dedicated team of Rebus Professional Services consultants can add significant value and savings to all businesses who want to use the full capabilities of the PS enterprise Workforce Management Solution.

Payroll and human resources have traditionally been viewed as "cost centres" by a business. With relatively low unemployment and the recent shift to a casual and part time orientated workforce, improved HR practices are essential to keep valued staff and retain and share their knowledge. As such, PS enterprise and its labour saving features enable HR and payroll professionals to free themselves from the burden of administrative tasks and to participate further at a strategic level.

Payroll Software Providers -- Do you need to contact the experts?

Frontier Software
(Contact: Alwyn Henderson)
Level 10, 54 Miller Street,
North Sydney, NSW 2060
tel: (02) 9956 7598

Rebus Australia Pty Ltd
(Contact: Geoff Smith)
PO Box 174,
Frenchs Forest, NSW 2086
tel: (02) 9975 7277

FastTrack Pty Ltd
(Contact: Justin Sway)
Level 12, 499 St Kilda Road,
Melbourne, VIC 3004
tel: (03) 9866 8700

This article first appeared in Human Resources, Issue 1.6.

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