Choosing a payroll provider is a difficult task.
Before you decide on an outsourced payroll provider, we recommend that you ask a number of questions of them and of your business to make sure you make the right choices.
When choosing a payroll provider - ASK YOURSELF
- Do you have more important business matters you could be focussing time and resources on than payroll?
- What kind of service do I need? Bureau or fully managed.
- What level of contact do I need?
- How quickly do I need them to respond to queries?
- Am I looking for improvements in service levels?
- How complex is my payroll?
- What management reporting would benefit my business?
- Is there other important information I could gain from my payroll data?
- How secure is my in-house payroll data?
- What is my budget?
- Do I understand all the cost implications?
- Do you want to approve and view your payrolls online?
- Do you want to use ePayslips?
When choosing a payroll provider - ASK THEM
- How can they streamline your payroll process?
- Do they offer proactive support?
- How often are they willing to meet?
- Do I have a dedicated contact?
- What Service Level Agreement can they offer?
- What is their track record with organisations like mine?
- What is their culture and is there a fit with your organisation?
- Where are the payrolls processed - within the UK or overseas?
- Do they offer fully customised bespoke reporting?
- And if so, is there an additional cost?
- Can they offer any added value information such as absence tracking?
- What is their security and disaster recovery policy?
- What is their charging structure?
- Are there any hidden extras or charges in addition to their ‘per payslip’ price?
- What is the notice period if you want to leave?
- What is the minimum contract period?
- When you start with them what is the setup charge?
- What are the processes when something goes wrong?
- Are they BACS accredited?
- Are they adequately insured in the event of something going wrong?
- Do they offer online payroll services?
- Can they provide ePayslips should you need them?
Choosing a payroll provider is a process you need to get right. See our section on choosing a payroll service provider.
