Advivo Business Advisors and Accountants explain how small businesses can keep their staffing and payroll on track.
Managing Human Resources (HR) and payroll is no small task, and while many businesses continue to face an uncertain future, now is a great time to audit what’s working and what needs to be changed when considering staffing and payroll requirements for 2021.
Staffing Requirements
Having the right people with the right skills to ensure the smooth running of the company and enable growth is key to success. Below are some questions you might ask yourself for your business:
- Are you planning to expand or extend your business into new markets?
- What will your recruiting schedule look like?
- How are you planning to retain your current staff?
- Is this in the form of upskilling and succession planning?
- Will there be incentives and what are the options?
- Flexible working options
Your employees influence the success of your business and can give you a competitive advantage within your industry by generating repeat business and growing your brand. Making sure your employees are always paid the right amount at the right time increases their feelings of job security, value and respect within your business. This results in increased levels of engagement and employee satisfaction, making them more likely to deliver high levels of customer service. It also helps to reduce employee turnover and hence the cost of replacing staff.
Getting your payroll right
It is important to ensure you get your payroll right from the beginning, and this starts with getting your employment contract right. Retracing your steps and correcting mistakes in payroll can be time-consuming, very costly, and not good for a business’s reputation.
The more employees you have, the more complex your payroll usually gets, especially if you have a mix of employees on hourly wages and salaries. Add in some contractors, staff on commission, overtime, expense claims, allowances, and leave entitlements, and your payroll can be different every time you run it.
There can be severe consequences for not following the payroll regulations, for example, late payments of PAYG withholding tax, superannuation and payroll tax resulting from payroll errors. Underpaid payroll obligations can have an added interest amount; in addition to this, your business could be hit with extra penalties for non-compliance with payroll regulations, including non-deductibility of the expense.
What’s involved in payroll compliance?
To comply with government regulations, you must:
- make accurate payments and deductions
- provide your employee with a detailed payslip that shows what you have done
- file and pay taxes on time
- pay other deductions – such as retirement contributions – to the right places
- hold onto payroll records for at least seven years
At Advivo Business Advisors and Accountants, we help you to focus on what you do best, while we partner with HR and Payroll experts (Business 360) to provide you with the most effective and inexpensive solutions. We also offer audit insurance which can help protect against unexpected costs that small businesses face. We offer two complimentary meetings; one to discuss your needs and budget, then a follow-up meeting with our HR and Payroll experts to distinguish roles and responsibilities best suited to your needs, and ensure full compliance with award and legislation, so your payroll inputs are correct.
For further advice on staffing and payroll for your business, contact our expert team of business advisors and accountants today.