As many companies prepare for year-end shutdown and employees look forward to a well-deserved break, the last month of the year is ‘crunch time’ for the payroll department. As HR and HCM experts at CRS Technologies explain, timing and a reliable technology system are absolutely essential to meet all requirements and expectations.
Year-end for payroll means having to provide for sufficient time to pay salaries and bonuses, and this means having to move the payroll input date deadline considerably closer to the beginning of December.
“Timing is imperative in payroll at any time of the year, but even more so at the end of the year. If the correct planning has not been implemented, it could result in late payments and very unhappy employees,” says HR & Payroll Compliance Consultant Sean van Wyk.
Van Wyk emphasises the importance of timing and says this is essential, irrespective of the level of technology that has been integrated to smooth over the payroll administrative process.
“Payroll systems are usually the best tool, but planning is the operative word,” says van Wyk.
If preparation is the chief cog in the payroll administration engine, then communication is the oil, according to CRS Technologies.
The company describes communication as the stepping stone to holistic understanding between entities.
As van Wyk attests, effective payroll administration involves the communication of deadlines to HR and payroll departments, as well as communication of pay dates to employees. This alleviates unnecessary queries to the payroll admin department and removes a significant amount of pressure.
This is very important, especially at this time of the year when the payroll department is under enough pressure without the burden of having to deal with mounting queries and questions from unsure employees.
“The payroll department is the heart of the business. It is often believed that sales would be the obvious choice, however if no one gets paid, no one works. “Remembering the hard work and dedication of each payroll person is very important,” van Wyk adds.