Important Steps for an Effective Post-COVID Payroll Strategy

The Corona Virus Pandemic has led to such an unexpected shift in the world where almost every single aspect has been affected or changed in some way. Businesses have, without a doubt, been hit hard by this turn of events. The number one challenge faced by businesses today in a post-COVID world is definitely all things related to finance. A payroll strategy is especially important now more than ever.

With revenues going down as a result of the pandemic, which is to be expected as a natural result, employers now have to face the challenge of trying to find a reasonable balance between paying workers their fair share and not losing more than what they are making. Many businesses have been hit especially hard with quarantine or semi-quarantine in place. Lockdown has led to a much less active flow of money in the world and while people are demanding their paychecks, employers also need to take effective steps in order to avoid too many losses in the long run.

In order to effectively cut down on losses, here are some vital steps to take to find an effective and efficient post-COVID payroll strategy. While adjusting and adapting to this new world order, make sure your business is up to date with the new norms and functions of the business world. Payment issues, in wake of the pandemic, can be easily solved with a few simple procedures.

One of the most important actions to be taken is branching out and integrating an efficient payroll software system. There are many software systems to choose from and all consist of different features and benefits; that way you can pick and choose which one suits you best based on these criteria.

Payroll outsourcing has solved countless issues created in the wake of the post-COVID world. With almost every aspect of life going online and becoming more accessible with the internet, such as entertainment and education, and so the business world has also gone cyber. A highly simple strategy to avoid drowning in payment problems is to use an effective software system.
 

Steps for a Post-COVID Strategy

Here are some of the most important steps you can take to implement an effective strategy for your business.

Staying within legal boundaries

Legal restrictions are always changing and have especially changed quite a lot since the pandemic. The first and foremost step is staying within legal boundaries; compliancy is quite important. Businesses need to know that laws regarding payment are always changing. It is crucial to always make sure your policies in this regard are up to date and brought to the attention of your employees. The frequency of how much or how often you pay your workers is also prone to change.

Adjusting to change

Once you make sure your current payroll system complies with these regulations, you can move on to the next step. The second step to take is to adjust to any changes. There are countless new ways to perform work-related tasks that haven’t been around pre-COVID. Some of these include blended and remote work and flexible work hours. Once you utilize these approaches to the best of your advantage you can find a lot of ways to save extra costs and increase productivity.

Integrating an online software system

Now we come to the most important step and the absolute key deal-breaker in achieving an effective post-COVID payroll strategy. Using online payroll software is one of the most essential things you could do for your business in a post-pandemic world. This will lead to an easier process of paying employees on time, automating all payroll calculations, and increasing your long-run income in many different ways.

We will now address why it is absolutely important you use payroll software for your business. We will also bring up relevant reasons on why it is a completely great option whether there is a pandemic or not.
 

Why Payroll Software is Crucial and Effective

Payroll software is one of the most groundbreaking technologies of the 21st century in the business world. Almost every single company today has decided to move with the times and install payroll software. It is an important choice and a top priority for many reasons. Below you will find some of these reasons:

In this list below you will find some benefits to integrating digital or online payroll software systems.

• Payroll calculation is automatically done and, therefore, it is time-saving
• Payments are almost perfectly accurate
• Bonuses, expenses, holiday pay, and so on are easily calculated with hardly any effort
• Other than payments, a wide array of other tasks are automated, such as year-end reporting
• The reminder feature set with customized alerts
• Efficiency and speed are overall increased in the business
• Simplifying previously difficult tasks so that there are no more time-consuming manual processes
• Highly secure and reliable
• Higher accuracy in reports produced by the software
• Simplified tactics rather than the obsolete method of spreadsheets
• Extensive storage on the cloud
• No need to lose money investing in an HR crew when software can save you money by automating everything
• Tax management and calculations are also automated seamlessly by the software. This feature in particular vastly improves your work life and saves you time and money.
• Ensuring a higher level of success overall for you with the money and time saved with the software.
• Accessibility at any time and any place. This enables you, and your workers, maximum comfort.

Payroll is, therefore, a crucial and essential part of any business. The hassle of paying workers on time can easily be taken care of with good payroll software installed and implemented. With the use of such software, time is saved and performance goes up, and the overall execution of related tasks becomes much easier.

It is, as can be seen, highly important to keep up with the latest trends in the business world and now, in the post-COVID world, more than ever before. We realize that all of this can be very challenging, and the idea of coming up with an effective post-COVID effective payroll strategy may seem daunting at first. However, taking such challenges in a manner of step-by-step you can achieve all of this and so much more.

We highly recommend taking all of the above into consideration. We also deeply recommend going forward with online payroll software since, as can clearly be seen from the above, it will not only make your life infinitely easier in the business market but will also boost revenue. Therefore, it is a win-win situation for all.

If you are still unsure whether or not you are interested in payroll software after this, or you are interested but are feeling unsure how to proceed and with which software, continue reading to see the best payroll recommendations we have created for you to help you decide which one fits you best.

Recommended Software Systems

This section is here to provide you with some of the most suitable payroll systems that are out there. Now that we have described some of the most important ways software can benefit you, here are some of the best options provided below. These are only some of the available choices with their features, benefits, and prices taken into thought. You can read these reviews we have written and decide which one suits you best.
 

Paychex 

Paychex is our number one suggestion. It is one of the best payroll software that you could ask for. It offers businesses a rounded, versatile, comprehensive system that is able to automate payroll procedures, tax calculations, and other reports. In addition to this, it also provides the following:

• Time tracking software
• Employee Benefits Administration
• Reporting and Analytics
• Employee Screening
• Employee Onboarding
• Employee Handbook Builder
• Learning Management System
• Mobile Application

Paychex offers three subscription plans for its software

• Paychex Flex Essentials - $39/month, + $5 per employee
• Paychex Flex Select – Quote-based
• Paychex Flex Pro – Quote-based

Each plan comes with a set of features, and you will need to contact Paychex’s team to get a price for the last two plans, which will be tailored to your business’s size and needs.

Intuit QuickBooks 

QuickBooks comes in second place in our list of recommendations. This is also definitely one of the best payroll software systems you can find. It is great in many respects, as it flawlessly assimilates with most business systems.

QuickBooks offers payroll software that connects with its accounting software. QuickBooks can easily automate all of your payroll processes and offer you the following:

• Mobile payroll application
• Automated payroll runs
• Automated federal and state tax filing and payment
• Time tracking software
• Project management tools
• HR solutions
• Compliancy alerts and law updates

QuickBooks associates its accounting software with its payroll subscription plans, so you get the two at great prices:

• Core + QuickBooks Simple Start - $70/month + $4/month/employee
• Core + QuickBooks Essentials - $95/month + $4/month/employee
• Premium + QuickBooks Plus - $155/month + $8/month/employee

Toast 

Coming in third place of our software recommendations is a Toast. Toast is centrally focused on providing restaurant and food-related businesses with their handy point-of-sale system that is nothing but a great investment to help them grow.

Toast affiliates its payroll software and management tools with its point-of-sale system. Its payroll software can automate your payroll runs, generate calculations, payments, and guarantee your business stays compliant with federal and state labor laws and restrictions.

As for the subscription, you get payroll software with the following point-of-sale plans:

• Essentials Plan - $165 per month
• New Restaurant Basics - $110 /month + $4 per employee/month
• Custom Plan - Quote-based

Paycom

Last but definitely not least is Paycom payroll. Paycom payroll software is a cloud-based system that is precisely designed and specialized to make HR management considerably easier. Paycom caters to most businesses’ needs with all its resources and tools. It is also highly accessible and very easy to use, with many features and benefits.

Features and Tools of Paycom :

• No setup fee
• Self Service App
• Single HCM platform for all HR tasks
• Payroll Management Features
• Human Resource Management Tools
• Time and Labor Management tools

Paycom is a quote-based service provider and that means that prices are provided upon contacting them. You can easily check their website for customer support and request a quote.