How a strong payroll system can transform your business
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Dealing with payroll is complicated, and mistakes can be costly. Payroll expert KeyPay discusses the pitfalls of using outdated legacy systems to manage your payroll, and how a modern, automated process can benefit your business
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FOR EMPLOYEES, getting paid should be as easy as checking your bank account every month. But many Singaporean businesses are still relying on spreadsheets, old software and lots of paperwork to ensure their employees are paid – and this may be putting them at risk of costly payroll errors.
While payroll is not usually something that employees or customers ever see, the picture behind the scenes can be extremely complicated. Businesses have to juggle different legal requirements, wages, tax brackets and retirement contributions, and for a smaller business with no dedicated payroll or HR department, this can become a daunting task.
The costs of getting payroll wrong can be huge. Australia recently saw a string of payroll scandals that resulted in companies paying out large sums of money to incorrectly paid employees, with some settlements reaching the hundreds of millions. The culprit in most of these cases? Outdated systems and human error.
KeyPay is an award-winning cloud-based payroll and workforce management platform that simplifies the payroll process to save time and relieve customers from the stressors of payroll.
KeyPay’s automated pay runs feature eliminates repetitive payroll tasks, and its wide range of features and integrations into industry-leading platforms streamline workflows to improve efficiency.
Launched in 2012, KeyPay currently supports businesses across Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Singapore and Malaysia.
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“You’ve got legacy systems, spreadsheets and paper-based data, and that all combines to create a storm of potential manual errors”
Marc Princi,
Partnerships Business Development Manager
According to payroll and workforce management system KeyPay, the answer to these issues is simple – streamline your process, and automate as much as you can.
Partnerships Business Development Manager Marc Princi says a good payroll system is a vital tool for a smooth-running HR department, and the biggest pain point of outdated systems is often their lack of cohesion.
“One of the biggest issues with legacy systems is that often they don’t talk to each other,” Princi says.
“You’ve got legacy systems, spreadsheets and paper-based data, and that all combines to create a storm of potential manual errors. Relying on these systems puts more stress on the payroll admin staff too, because they need to get all of that manual data entry right every time.
“If you aren’t trying to make that process as easy on yourself as you can, you will run into problems,” he explains.
“Having systems that talk to each other is very important, because if they don’t, it becomes very difficult to find the information that you’re looking for. This eats into time and resources, and adds hours to your week. The right system can get something done in half an hour that would otherwise have taken a full workday, or more.”
With its payroll software, KeyPay’s main aim is to reduce the number of steps in the traditional payroll process. Instead of having to complete manual admin such as pay calculations, data imports, and report and payslip distribution, the software eliminates these repetitive tasks with automated steps that run in the background like clockwork, freeing up more time in a day for users.
Princi notes that this type of process is particularly useful for time-poor businesses, small to medium enterprises with no dedicated HR departments, and payroll outsourcing firms that juggle multiple clients at the same time. He says even HR departments in large companies will benefit significantly from easier processes, giving them more time to dedicate to other core areas of the business.
“A good payroll process will definitely strengthen your HR team overall,” Princi says.
“As good as your team might be in terms of individual talent, a lot depends on what systems you have in place and the processes that you’re shaping around them that will enable them to work to the best of their abilities. Depending on how a business is managing things, that can mean that productivity is held back by processes which are archaic and time-consuming.
“You might be using legacy systems which can cause a lot of issues, so to be able to have a team that’s working efficiently, optimising their time, and really dedicating their attention to important areas of the business, you need to rethink those archaic processes,” he explains.
“Our aim at KeyPay is to simplify the payroll process and streamline efficiencies by automating as much as we can. This saves time for payroll, admin and HR teams, as well as small business owners who have to wear many different hats.”
“To be able to have a team that’s working efficiently, optimising their time, and really dedicating their attention to important areas of the business, you need to rethink those archaic processes”
Marc Princi,
Partnerships Business Development Manager
One of the most difficult tasks in payroll is getting the compliance right, and many owners of smaller businesses simply don’t have the expertise to keep up with the ever-changing legislation.
KeyPay currently operates in five different countries – Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, the UK and Malaysia – all of which have vastly different rules around payroll. As of April 2016, all employers in Singapore are required to give itemised payslips to every employee within three days of salary payment, and companies also have strict duties around record-keeping.
Princi says the compliance burden can be challenging for small and medium-sized businesses, and having a system that takes care of everything under one roof is a "game changer" for the payroll market.
“Compliance is a major concern in payroll,” Princi says. “We’ve seen that play out recently with underpayment scandals, and so in every region where we operate, we build our software to ensure that it can handle the compliance requirements of that region.
“We take care of things like pay rates, taxes and local retirement fund contributions, and these things are changing all the time,” he explains.
“Local statutory boards are pushing through updates, and it’s almost impossible for the average person to keep up with that. So that compliance angle really takes away a lot of headaches for businesses.
“There are still many businesses out there combining multiple different systems, spreadsheets and paper-based forms, and as you can imagine, that gets very messy very quickly,” Princi says.
“The great thing about KeyPay is that we can make our system as simple or as complex as you need, so whether you’re a small business, or a company with thousands of employees with different pay rates and agreements, we can cater to all of those different complexity levels.
“Having the ability to manage so many processes under one roof is a game changer, and it’s something that has only really come about in recent years to drive positive impact. Our clients are a testament to this positive impact, with many experiencing up to 90% in time savings and 40% reduction in business costs."
KeyPay currently works with over 750 partners and has won numerous global awards for its payroll software. To find out more about KeyPay and its suite of products, click here.
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KeyPay achievements
750+ payroll partners
HRD 5-Star HR Software Award 2021
Rated one of 11 best payroll systems in Singapore in 2021
Reward Strategy Payroll and
HR Software Product Award 2020
KeyPay achievements
750+ payroll partners
HRD 5-Star HR Software Award 2021
Rated one of 11 best payroll systems in Singapore in 2021
Reward Strategy Payroll and
HR Software Product Award 2020
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