Are Your Payroll & Benefits Processes Both Efficient and Documented?

Are Your Payroll and Benefits Processes Both Efficient and Documented? Your Payroll and Benefits departments may be working hard to get everything done each week, but are they working efficiently?  Are there too many manual processes, and too little time for auditing or control mechanismsAre your processes “in someone’s head,” undocumented, and unable to be completed if said resource is out of the office?

There are missed opportunities for cost efficiencies and process improvement for companies that are not assessing data from prior payrolls to improve the quality of future payrolls.  Consider other potential impacts to your bottom line:

  • Do you pay employees incorrectly while they are on approved leaves of absence?
  • Does your team have the time and resources to do pre-audit reviews?
  • Are you keeping track of workers comp and FMLA eligibility each month?
  • Is your 401k plan compliance in jeopardy because the 401k eligible wages don’t match the actual deductions taken from employees’ paychecks?

Try explaining that to the auditor…or to the CFO.

Payroll and benefits managers are not seeking to avoid the problem, but it’s a case of sheer resources.  We expect them to do more with less.  As one executive put it, “Companies that are running lean staffs don’t have the manpower anymore to do proper auditing without working 70 hours per week.”  And that’s why you need to talk to Clockwork.

Clockwork Technology has a track record of documenting and improving processes, providing a deeper look into the needs of payroll and HR services, and in developing the software and solutions necessary to meet and exceed these needs.  We partner with your team to identify an attack the gaps that the typical team simply doesn’t have time to address.  This can provide the company thousands in ROI in hard costs, efficiency savings, and/or avoidance of fines and penalties.

To discuss a 60-day “boot camp” to get your organization assessed, your payroll, HR, and/or benefits processes documented, define an action plan, and/or get your systems into shape, talk to us.

 

Payroll: Just a Twice Monthly Check….Or Are You Losing Thousands, or More?

Are Your Payroll and Benefits Processes Both Efficient and Documented?In today’s lean economy, efficiency is not only an expectation, it is required.  But what would you do with an internal department that loses potentially millions of dollars per year?  Would you be surprised to learn this internal department is the payroll or human resources department?  While not usually run as a “revenue center,” payroll has a much larger impact on the bottom line than most realize.

Companies rely on their valuable payroll teams to keep the engine of business moving, but payroll, compensation, and benefits are increasingly a technical challenge.  Your payroll department may be the pillar of efficiency, but for some it can be the source of a slow bleed of which no one is aware.

One of the biggest issues lies in the answer to one of the most basic of questions:  does your company overpay workers?  Almost every executive would say no, but a 2010 survey of major corporations by the American Payroll Association found some disturbing results on how top companies routinely overpay employees:

  • 71% of companies studied routinely overpay on termination
  • 50% incorrectly pay while employees are on approved leaves of absence
  • 29% (more than one in four companies) simply apply the wrong pay rate

Equally disturbing:  32% of over payments are never collected.  And these are the top performers!

“Multi-state taxation in the United States is a major challenge in the are of tax filing and payments,” it reads.  “Yet 79% of companies…do not use a time and attendance system (or any automated system) to track the work location of employees.”

Try explaining that to the auditor…or to the IRS.

Payroll professionals are often some of the hardest working and most dedicated employees, working nights, weekends, and on holidays just to ensure the payroll is processed in a timely and accurate manner.  Payroll managers are not seeking to avoid the problem, but it’s a case of sheer resources.  We expect them to do more with less.  As one executive put it, “Companies that are running lean staffs don’t have the manpower anymore to do proper auditing without working 70 hours per week.”

And that’s why you need to talk to Clockwork.

Clockwork Technology has a track record of providing a deeper look into the needs of payroll services and in developing the software and sourcing solutions necessary to meet and exceed those needs.  We partner with your team to identify and attack the gaps that the typical payroll team simply doesn’t have time to address.  This can provide the company with thousands in ROI in hard costs, thousands in efficiency savings, and/or avoidance of fines and penalties.

Payroll is much, much more than a twice monthly check.  To discuss a 60-day “boot camp” to get your organization assessed, your payroll process documented, define an action plan, and/or get your systems in shape, talk to us.

Hire an Employee or use Clockwork Rapid Resources℠

bigstockphoto_Needle_in_haystack_6380917You are running with a lean staff and have to justify new headcount.  But it’s not just salary, it’s benefits, taxes, training, and time for your new, “really needed” resource to get up to speed and make a contribution.

A February 2013 article by CNNMoney illustrates the “extra” costs associated with hiring an employee — benefits, training, social security, Medicare, state and federal unemployment insurance, health care insurance, and 401k benefits.  They estimate that benefits and taxes alone will add another 18 to 26% on top of the salary of the employee to the employer’s costs.  And that doesn’t count lost time of a new hire to get on board, get trained, get up to speed, and start contributing.

And that is why you need to talk to Clockwork.

Hiring Clockwork on a temporary, or project-at-a-time basis can get projects completed, back on track, or ahead of schedule using just the talent you need for just the time you need it.  Need our help full time while you build bench strength?  Only need a part-time resource for an important project that cannot justify a full-time project manager?  We can provide the right resource for your situation.

With Clockwork Rapid Resources℠ service, we deploy BA, QA, PM, or developer resources to you in as little as 24 hours for on-site or remote needs.  With no on boarding or training expense, you can bring in Clockwork resources ready to go as seasonal or business demand warrants.  Our new Clockwork Rapid Resources℠ program is an ideal solution to short term business needs without long term headaches or additional costs associated with hiring a full time employee.

Contact us today to discuss how Clockwork Rapid Resources℠ can meet your needs.

To read the article from CNNMoney entitled “You make $70k but cost your boss $88k,” click http://money.cnn.com/2013/02/28/smallbusiness/salary-benefits