Five reasons why NOW is the time to upgrade your payroll software
The start of a new year is a time of reflection for all of us, but especially so for business owners. Looking at the months that lie ahead in 2022, it’s important to think about new ways to improve your payroll operations and how to create a more effective system for working with your clients. One important thing to consider is replacing your old payroll software.
If your firm is currently using an older legacy payroll package, you may not realise that payroll software has evolved massively in the past few years. Features like automation, cloud back-ups and online client dashboards are making it easier than ever to complete a payroll run – and if a new software platform is on your to-do list, now’s the ideal time to switch.
Below, we’ve summarised 5 key reasons why now is the perfect point in the year to upgrade your payroll software, giving your payroll services a new lease of life.
1. Busy season will be over soon, giving more time for research
December and January are generally a hugely busy time for accounting firms and payroll bureaus. With so many clients operating to a 31 December year-end, the final month’s payroll needs to be completed and year-end accounts must be signed off. When it comes to Self-Assessment tax returns, although HMRC is giving more time to file this year, most accountants will still hope to have all tax returns submitted by the end of January. So, with ‘busy season’ winding down, there should be more time available to properly research the payroll software market.
Doing your homework is a vital first step when looking for any new software, so it’s important to talk to your network, read the latest software reviews and get hands-on with a good cross-section of different payroll software demos. Remember to think about the features you need, the costs of subscriptions and how easy the software is to get set up and running.
2. The new tax year hasn’t started yet
It’s sensible to carry out any major changes to your systems before the start of a new tax year. By pressing go on your new payroll platform from Day 1 of the tax year in April 2022, you make your life easier. There’s no historic data to port over from the preceding tax year, and you’ll have all your clients’ 2021/22 tax and PAYE information recorded in full for the upcoming year.
By testing out your top picks from the payroll software market, you’ll also have time to try out any free software trials before the start of the new tax year. This gives you time to put the application through its paces and gauge whether this is the right platform for your practice.
3. Clients are still in a positive mindset after New Year
January is a time of reflection and reinvention, with many business owners trying out new ideas, new strategies and new ways of running their businesses. If you can catch your clients in this forward-thinking mood of innovation, they’ll be more open to trying a new payroll system.
Switching to any new system is a challenging process, especially if the client is a real fan of the old way of working. But by emphasising the key benefits of your new payroll software, you can highlight the time-saving features and show clients how they add value. Explain the benefits of online working and demonstrate how solutions like BrightPay Connect can combine payroll with HR by opening up new ways for clients and employees to access their payroll information, payslips and holiday booking forms.
4. New software can deliver practice efficiencies
Switching to the latest payroll software isn’t just a case of ‘keeping up with the Joneses’. Moving to a superior payroll platform can bring many significant efficiencies to your payroll business. With a payroll solution like BrightPay at the heart of your payroll services, you reduce the time spent on admin, back-ups and chasing-up clients.
For example, with BrightPay you can:
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Sync your payroll journals with the client’s accounting software, to remove the time-consuming and tedious data-entry.
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Automatically back-up your payroll files to the cloud, removing the need for manual back-ups and costly in-house servers.
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Use the Employer Portal in BrightPay Connect and shift the responsibility for input of the payroll data to the client, allowing them to enter hours and approve holidays etc.
5. Futureproof your payroll services
Payroll software is continuing to evolve and change, as vendors and their development teams find new ways to improve the payroll experience. By moving to an ambitious, forward-thinking payroll software platform, you can be sure that you’re always working at the cutting edge.
At BrightPay, our end users have told us how much they love the online working approach of BrightPay Connect, and how a 100% cloud-based payroll system would be a key thing on their wishlist. We’ve listened to our customers and our dev team is in the process of completing a brand-new fully cloud version of BrightPay Payroll Software – due to be released later in 2022.
If you’re ready to embrace a new way of running payroll, why not give BrightPay a try and make the most of our FREE 60-day trial of the software.