Compliance: Why it’s so important
With tax and employment laws changing constantly, we make it our business to stay on top of every rule, regulation and law so that you can maintain compliance and get on with the important stuff.
We know that mitigating risk is crucial to every business, which is why we ensure all our supply chains and partners are fully compliant, ensuring your business is always in the right lane and up to date.
Compliance is an important consideration for HR and payroll professionals as it’s crucial in avoiding an penalties that may stem from not following relevant legislation.
Here we share our top 6 tips to help you with payroll compliance to keep you on the right path.
- Keep accurate records
Although it may seem obvious, making sure to you keep correct personal information for each employee is very important. Remember, as an HR and payroll professional it’s your responsibility to maintain employee records accurately for the duration of their time at the business.
The personal information of the business’s employees may change regularly so it’s important to keep on top of this as some of this information may likely affect your payroll.
These changes could be anything from a promotion, a salary increase after a pay review to maternity leave, so it’s imperative that everything is processed in the right way.
While it may seem like a lot of paperwork, keeping these accurate personnel records is something that needs to be kept on top of – which is why many businesses outsource their payroll. After all, it’s always better to leave it to the professionals!
It’s important that your employees understand what they need to do in terms of remaining compliant. This can range from making sure they understand the company’s expenses policy, to keeping accurate overtime records.
Making sure there are procedures in places to help your employees is vital so that they can document expenses and overtime properly without leaving your business exposed to any penalties from HMRC.
Putting together a comprehensive set of policies and practices for all issues that affect the pay of your employees will provide them with a guide to follow and help if they have any queries around additions or deductions of their earnings.
3. Understand workplace pensions
Workplace pensions were introduced in 2012. Understanding workplace pensions is key as it doesn’t matter what type of business you run – even if you have just one employee, this makes you an employer and you have ‘duties’ under the pensions law.
Have you heard about automatic enrolment? If not, don’t worry. This simply means that your business, as an employer, needs to put certain staff into a pension scheme, which you will make contributions towards.
Key sites such as the Pensions Regulator will have more information on workplace pensions, however, if you’re still confused payroll experts like our team here at Red Ark will be able to offer advice too – get in touch with us today.
4. Use a payroll company
There is always a danger that your business may be investigated. Unfortunately, although an investigation may not find any wrongdoing it could damage your reputation. Some companies use payroll software where audit trails are available.
This function allows you to link each transaction that is made with supporting information, such as purchase orders and invoices, which will validate any payments that look unusual.
However, many businesses employ the expertise of payroll companies to offer them peace of mind as they are able to offer the following:
- Guard against fraud
- Ensure corporate accounts are as accurate as possible
- Provide insights into the health of your company
- Keep up to date with the latest legislation
Find out how we can help by getting in touch today.
- Stay up to date with the latest legislation
As we’ve mentioned, it’s important to keep up to date with the latest payroll legislation as it can change regularly.
You can attend payroll seminars, watch webinars, and go to industry conferences to help enhance your knowledge or you can leave it up to the professionals.
A dedicated payroll company will be able to offer advice on various topics such as legislative changes and new payroll procedures.
Your payroll company will be able to educate you on the latest regulatory changes, industry trends, innovation around payroll and more topics that will have an impact on payroll processing.
- Submit payroll information on time
Making late submissions, missing paperwork, and changes in reporting all amount to your business being at risk of being penalised. Payroll can be very complex and there are a number of things to consider such as, tax deadlines, shifting paydays, and quarterly reporting, so it’s important to make sure you have enough time to get the relevant information together.
Internally, you can create an annual calendar for the business outlining key dates, such as submission to timesheets and invoices, and when payments need to be made. Sharing this with your payroll company will also make sure that tasks and deadlines aren’t missed.
Conclusion
Payroll can be confusing and complex but staying on top of legislation is important. More often than not business owners can find themselves too busy to deal with payroll issues and ultimately need help with payroll compliance and legislation. In all cases, it’s important to speak to an expert.
Using a dedicated payroll company means you will be in a safe pair of hands, as they will have knowledge of payroll compliance and can assist you with regulations, important changes, and any updates.
A payroll company will also be able to keep your records up to date, file your returns and remit taxes, and support you around any payroll issues, as well as find solutions for any discrepancies in your records.
To find out how Red Ark can support your business by offering expert pay roll solutions, get in touch with us today at hello@red-ark.co.uk
