The benefits and savings of moving to cloud-hosted payroll software
Payroll management is a challenging process. Not only must payroll professionals ensure their employees are paid on time and accurately, they must also keep up with ever-changing government legislation to ensure payroll compliance.
These payroll challenges are made even harder when using outdated, on-premise payroll software that’s slow, overly complex, and difficult to access remotely. It can lead to payment errors that place a strain on employee-employer relationships, and burden payroll professionals with extra duties.
Let’s look at some of the common problems payroll professionals and their businesses encounter with on-premise software, and the key benefits of moving to a cloud-hosted solution.
Limitations of on-premise payroll software
Before COVID-19, many payroll professionals relied on on-premise payroll software. However, with remote working now becoming the norm, especially more so with the amendments to Malaysia’s Employment Act 1955, where employees can request for flexible work arrangements, many are finding it increasingly difficult to access their physical systems and keep them secure.
Businesses that don’t provide sufficient remote access may run the risk of having payroll employees sneak into the office to access their systems, violating guidelines on working from home. Even when companies do have secured remote working access, weak firewalls mean that highly sensitive payroll data risks being leaked and mismanaged.
The financial cost of on-premise payroll software also places a burden on businesses. It goes beyond simply the high start-up costs and software license fees. There are also hidden costs, like those related to engaging information technology (IT) personnel to manage the system, hardware maintenance, storage space, utilities, and warranties.
So how can moving from on-premise payroll software to a cloud-hosted solution help businesses avoid these challenges?
How cloud-based payroll software can benefit businesses
Cloud-hosted software enables payroll professionals to process payroll anytime, anywhere, which means they can comply with work-from-home guidelines. They also provide the security needed to safeguard against data breaches or data loss. This includes security applications that authenticate and limit user access, multiple firewalls, and real-time data backups.
Because cloud-hosted software is fully maintained and secured by a vendor, many previously time-consuming processes are automated. This gives payroll and IT professionals more time to work on more important priorities.
Another key benefit of cloud-hosted software is the cost savings businesses can enjoy. Because cloud-hosted software doesn’t require any physical hardware to purchase or replace, maintenance and depreciation costs are near zero – as any system upgrades and patches are provided by the vendor.
Cloud-hosted payroll software provides important benefits not available with on-premise solutions. It can enable payroll professionals to access their system and process payroll anytime and anywhere. This allows payroll professionals to work more productively and thereby enabling their business to emerge stronger in these challenging times.
Understand the total cost of payroll technology ownership
This whitepaper helps payroll, finance and IT professionals deepen their understanding on the benefits and cost savings of cloud-hosted payroll technologies; and guides them on their journey to selecting the right vendor to support them in achieving seamless payroll processing and compliance.
