Payroll Solution - 1,000+ Employees

[NHAccountant]

Good evening,

I'm looking at bringing our payroll processing back inhouse, and with that in mind I'm looking at potential software, either server installed or SaaS. Although we currently outsource, all of the "leg work" is done in house, and our outsource bureau mainly provides a processing service. In addition, in house we would have a faster/shorter processing/turn around time, which is a particular "pro" for bringing it back inhouse.

We have 1,000+ employees and the majority (circa 90%) are paid by the hour, the remainder are salaried. We already have a relatively sophisticated operational system that (amongst many other things) handles time and attendance, timesheets etc, so I'm really looking for a core payroll system that can a) handle 1,000+ employees (with some scalability) and b) handle imports (e.g. Excel, .csv). Ideally we need to email payslips either direct from the system or allow an upload to something along the lines of PayDashboard.

We've done a summary review of a few systems, but these tend to be integrated with HR/time & attendance, which we already have sorted - so in short an overkill (and cost) for our current needs. The provider of our operational system does also offer a payroll solution/add-on, but that would tie us into the operational system which isn't future proof in the longer term. In an ideal situation we'd over hall it all together, but that's a task way beyond what we need to do for business and operational purposes at present.

Any recommendations greatly appreciated, thank you in advance,
Neil

 

[ProPayroll]

Good evening,

I'm looking at bringing our payroll processing back inhouse, and with that in mind I'm looking at potential software, either server installed or SaaS. Although we currently outsource, all of the "leg work" is done in house, and our outsource bureau mainly provides a processing service. In addition, in house we would have a faster/shorter processing/turn around time, which is a particular "pro" for bringing it back inhouse.

We have 1,000+ employees and the majority (circa 90%) are paid by the hour, the remainder are salaried. We already have a relatively sophisticated operational system that (amongst many other things) handles time and attendance, timesheets etc, so I'm really looking for a core payroll system that can a) handle 1,000+ employees (with some scalability) and b) handle imports (e.g. Excel, .csv). Ideally we need to email payslips either direct from the system or allow an upload to something along the lines of PayDashboard.

We've done a summary review of a few systems, but these tend to be integrated with HR/time & attendance, which we already have sorted - so in short an overkill (and cost) for our current needs. The provider of our operational system does also offer a payroll solution/add-on, but that would tie us into the operational system which isn't future proof in the longer term. In an ideal situation we'd over hall it all together, but that's a task way beyond what we need to do for business and operational purposes at present.

Any recommendations greatly appreciated, thank you in advance,
Neil

Just out of curiosity, how long is the bureau turnaround time?

From experience, it's very useful to have a T&A system that integrates with the payroll software. It's saved me so much time in the past, so it may be worth looking for a payroll system that is able to integrate both with your current T&A system and any other T&A systems that you would possibly look at implementing in the future.

Failing that, one of the best payroll systems I have ever used is Iris Payroll Professional. Their upload process is simple, Auto Enrolment dashboard is seamless, and their payslip portal is easy to navigate.

Hope this helps!

 

[Newchodge]

Good evening,

I'm looking at bringing our payroll processing back inhouse, and with that in mind I'm looking at potential software, either server installed or SaaS. Although we currently outsource, all of the "leg work" is done in house, and our outsource bureau mainly provides a processing service. In addition, in house we would have a faster/shorter processing/turn around time, which is a particular "pro" for bringing it back inhouse.

We have 1,000+ employees and the majority (circa 90%) are paid by the hour, the remainder are salaried. We already have a relatively sophisticated operational system that (amongst many other things) handles time and attendance, timesheets etc, so I'm really looking for a core payroll system that can a) handle 1,000+ employees (with some scalability) and b) handle imports (e.g. Excel, .csv). Ideally we need to email payslips either direct from the system or allow an upload to something along the lines of PayDashboard.

We've done a summary review of a few systems, but these tend to be integrated with HR/time & attendance, which we already have sorted - so in short an overkill (and cost) for our current needs. The provider of our operational system does also offer a payroll solution/add-on, but that would tie us into the operational system which isn't future proof in the longer term. In an ideal situation we'd over hall it all together, but that's a task way beyond what we need to do for business and operational purposes at present.

Any recommendations greatly appreciated, thank you in advance,
Neil

What does your in house payroll specialist recommend? I take it you do have an in house person who fully understands everything to do with payroll?

 

[Newchodge]

Just out of curiosity, how long is the bureau turnaround time?

From experience, it's very useful to have a T&A system that integrates with the payroll software. It's saved me so much time in the past, so it may be worth looking for a payroll system that is able to integrate both with your current T&A system and any other T&A systems that you would possibly look at implementing in the future.

Failing that, one of the best payroll systems I have ever used is Iris Payroll Professional. Their upload process is simple, Auto Enrolment dashboard is seamless, and their payslip portal is easy to navigate.

Hope this helps!

I thought Iris was closing and moving everyone to Staffology?

 

[ProPayroll]

I thought Iris was closing and moving everyone to Staffology?

Looks like they're still operating as there's a link on Staffology to Iris Payroll Professional. It would be a shame if they did decide to get rid of Iris completely, as I think larger payrolls would favour the Iris platform over the Staffology one.

 

[Ozzy]

I thought Iris was closing and moving everyone to Staffology?

I cannot image they would do that.

I love that an ex-moderator here @DuaneJackson created KashFlow then sold it to Iris, then created Staffology and sold it to Iris, and I'm waiting to see what is next down the line.

 

[NHAccountant]

Hi,

Thanks for the replies.

Currently the turnaround with our bureau is good, in fact quicker than what most bureau's are able to offer. The T&A system we have works well with their system, we basically extract a .csv file which is then imported. The T&A we currently have is integrated into our operational system and in itself works very well, we will be upgrading at some point, but that's a few years away and we'd consider integration options at that time.

What does your in house payroll specialist recommend? I take it you do have an in house person who fully understands everything to do with payroll?

Yes we do have an inhouse specialists (one full-time and one part-time), they have made a few recommendations, but their previous latest role was managing the divisional payroll of one of the main utility/energy providers with a system capable of handling 10' thousands, so a system way beyond what we need. We already do most of the management of the payroll inhouse as it is, our bureau crunches the numbers and submit to HMRC, pension etc. we still manage and oversee auto enrolment, HMRC queries, gender pay gap reporting, BIK/P60s etc.

I have used Iris previously, but wasn't sure what there current offering was like. One of the best systems I've used in terms of robustness and tech support was a system called Actionfile Paypoint, they were acquired by Access who I believe rolled it into their own offering, but I've never been impressed with Access financial and accounting software.

Thanks again.