There are some features that you can go without in your choice of payroll software, and others that are absolute necessities. Today we’ll be talking about the necessities.

7 Features That Should Be in Every Payroll Software

These are the features that take the hassle out of managing payroll, allowing the automated system to fully manage your payroll while your HR staff is focusing their attention on other things.

So what are these features? Let’s find out!

1. Time & Attendance Tracking

You’ll need to have a solid system for tracking time & attendance if you want to produce accurate paychecks. Every reputable payroll software includes this feature because this is essentially where your payroll starts.

The software will record time & attendance data, and then use it to calculate paychecks. Often, complete payroll solutions like UZIO will allow employees to clock in/out using an app, instantly adding data to their timesheets.

2. Payroll Processing

The main purpose of using complete payroll solutions is to simplify your payroll. Payroll software uses the time, attendance, and other data to efficiently calculate paychecks for each employee.

This may include regular pay, overtime pay, and other types of pay like PTO. The system is also capable of managing salaried employees as well.

3. Tax Compliance

A lack of tax compliance can mean big fines for your business. Complete payroll solutions will help you avoid these penalties by accurately applying any relevant federal, state, and local tax deductions to your employees’ paychecks.

Of course, the payroll software can handle other types of deductions as well—such as health insurance, life insurance, and 401(k)s—which takes the stress out of manual (error-prone) calculations.

4. Distribution Options

Not all employees prefer to be paid the same way. Some workers prefer a direct deposit, while others like to receive physical checks. Some employees may even want their money loaded onto a prepaid debit card!

Your payroll software will offer a variety of distribution options for your employees so that you can choose whichever option is best for your employees. Depending on your choice of complete payroll solutions, it may even be possible to offer multiple distribution options, although this may be more of a hassle than it’s worth.

5. Employee Self Service

The HR department usually spends a lot of time assisting employees with routine tasks like reviewing their pay stubs, adjusting their benefits, and correcting their timesheets.

Fortunately, most payroll software will have an employee self-service center, which allows workers to handle these tasks on their own. This frees up the HR staff, giving them time to attend to other crucial items instead.

6. Detailed Reports

It’s helpful to have detailed reports on hand when calculating your budget. However, with complete payroll solutions, you won’t need to have any made-up: the system can generate them for you!

This saves your employees hours of reviewing old data to make new reports, which (due to the nature of humans) is likely to have errors anyway. The feature is also helpful if you get audited and for tax compliance.

7. Customer Support

Although payroll software is usually fairly straightforward to use, sometimes you may need a little assistance. When that happens, you’ll want access to customer support.

Most complete payroll solutions will have a dedicated support staff to assist you with any issues you may have. Depending on the plan you have with that company, you may even be entitled to premium customer support!

Now that you know what features are absolutely essential to any solid payroll software, we know you’ll be able to make a smart decision when choosing complete payroll solutions.

While it’s possible to find cheaper services that may exclude a few of these features, we highly recommend against doing so, because all of the features play a big role in the management of your payroll.

With the proper payroll software, your business can grow from good to great in a short amount of time, so don’t wait—make the switch today!

If you’re ready to start using payroll software but not quite sure where to start, click here to try out UZIO (an all-in-one payroll and HR platform) free for 30 days!

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