Still Doing Payroll the Hard Way? Here’s What It’s Really Costing Your Business

Payroll has to get done. Every week. Every two weeks. Every pay period.

But how much time are you spending just getting ready to run payroll?

Collecting timecards. Deciphering handwriting. Tracking down missed punches. Adding hours. Calculating overtime. Correcting mistakes. Entering everything into payroll.

For many business owners, the actual payroll isn't the biggest problem.

It's everything that happens before payroll.

And sometimes, you've been doing it the same way for so long that you don't realize how much time it's actually costing you.

1. “But This Is How We’ve Always Done It”

We recently worked with a Maxx Outsourcing client who was still using an old-fashioned punch-card time clock.

It worked. Employees punched in and out, the cards collected the hours, and payroll got processed.

But “it works” and “it works efficiently” are two very different things.

After we helped the client install our PRO timekeeping system, they called us thrilled with how much easier payroll had become.

The work they had accepted as a normal part of payroll suddenly wasn't necessary anymore.

Sometimes you don't realize how complicated a process has become until you see how simple it could be.

2. Your Time Has a Cost

Business owners are notorious for treating their own time like it's free.

Spend two hours checking timecards? No invoice arrives.

Stay late fixing payroll? Nobody sends you a bill.

Spend Saturday morning catching up on administrative work? There's no line item on your profit and loss statement showing what that cost.

But your time absolutely has value.

Every hour spent doing work that could be streamlined is an hour you aren't spending with customers, developing employees, pursuing new business, solving bigger problems—or simply going home.

The question isn't just, “Can I do this myself?” It's, “Is this really the best use of my time?”

3. Manual Processes Create More Opportunities for Mistakes

Any process that requires information to be manually collected, calculated and entered creates opportunities for human error.

A number gets transposed. Someone forgets a punch. Overtime is overlooked. A handwritten timecard is difficult to read.

One little mistake can mean stopping what you're doing, researching what happened, making a correction and possibly explaining it to an unhappy employee.

Technology can't eliminate every payroll issue, but the right system can eliminate a lot of unnecessary manual work.

Fewer moving pieces can mean fewer opportunities for something to go wrong.

4. Payroll Shouldn't Take Over Your Week

For some businesses, “payroll day” isn't really one day.

It starts with gathering employee hours. Then there are corrections. Questions. Calculations. Payroll processing. Taxes. Deductions. Reports.

Before long, something that should be a routine business function has consumed a significant part of someone's week.

At Maxx Outsourcing, we look beyond simply issuing paychecks.

We look at the process surrounding payroll and help businesses find ways to make that process easier.

That can include payroll processing, direct deposit, tax filings, deductions, reporting and timekeeping solutions that work together instead of creating more work.

5. You May Not Need Another Employee. You May Need a Better System.

When administrative work becomes overwhelming, the first thought is often:

We need to hire somebody.

Sometimes you do.

But sometimes the problem isn't that you don't have enough people.

The problem is that your people are spending too much time working around inefficient processes.

Before adding another salary, another workstation and another employee to manage, it may be worth asking whether some of that workload could simply be eliminated.

That's exactly what happened with our client.

They didn't need someone else standing at the old punch clock collecting cards.

They needed a better way to do what they were already doing.

What Could You Take Off Your Plate?

If payroll has always been a headache in your business, don't automatically assume that's just part of owning a company.

It may simply mean you've outgrown the way you're doing it.

At Maxx Outsourcing, we help businesses simplify payroll and the administrative responsibilities surrounding their employees.

Your business needs your attention. Your paperwork doesn't need all of it.

Ready to see what Maxx could simplify for your business?

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