Date
15 Jan 2025Category
What is payroll outsourcing and why should you consider it?
Outsourcing of payroll presents an opportunity for businesses. It’s an opportunity to not only save the company valuable time and money, but also to ensure the business operates a risk free, secure, and compliant payroll function.
The need to comply with regulations imposed by Revenue, and upcoming auto-enrolment for pensions from September 2025, means payroll is a complex and significant legislative burden, so there has never been a better time to consider outsourcing it.
A fully managed payroll service offers end to end processing of a company’s payroll, including the setup, administration and support for payroll, expense reporting and provision of e-Payslips.
Reduce payroll related costs
Companies can save money in a number of different areas when they outsource their payroll, including:
Save time through payroll outsourcing
Outsourcing payroll will give business leaders back time to focus on growing the business versus time spent on an administrative intensive exercise. We see many cases with clients who switch to us from an in-house provision where senior figures within the business are spending valuable time on payroll tasks.
Compliance peace of mind - payroll is more than ‘pressing a button’
When it comes to payroll, it’s often said that ‘it is just a case of pressing a button’. However, there is much more to it than that. There are multiple pieces of legislation which directly affect payroll so it’s essential that payroll staff are up to date in this ever-changing area. This takes time and resources but it’s crucial to reduce the risk of non-compliance. Market leading payroll software now exists, but this is no substitute for knowledge. Without the knowledge of what you are processing, there is the potential of opening the business up to risk of error and non-compliance. This will not only lead to possible penalties but also unhappy staff.
Outsourcing relieves businesses of the legislative burden and provides access to a pre-existing robust and comprehensive compliance process.
Eliminate the risk of a single point of failure
We have been approached by businesses on a number of occasions who require urgent, temporary support for a payroll run. This is usually because they have one employee who processes their payroll, and that person is then unexpectedly absent from work. If there is no back-up support and knowledge within the business to cover this period of absence then who will step in and process the payroll, and more importantly, correctly? It’s not best practice to function with one single point of failure and by outsourcing payroll this risk is eliminated. Businesses can take comfort that every pay-run is covered by payroll professionals who have comprehensive knowledge of their payroll.
Access to trained and qualified staff
Azets outsourced payroll staff are trained and hold qualifications with the Irish Payroll Association accredited by QQI on the National Framework of Qualifications. Having trained and qualified staff will ensure that when businesses outsource their payroll, they have trained professionals looking after this crucial business function.
At Azets, we work seamlessly with our Employment Tax colleagues and bring real added value to the fully managed payroll provision.
The Azets Ireland payroll team have recently been named Payroll Service Company of the Year for 2025 by the All Ireland Business Foundation.
Safe and secure storage of data
It is essential that all payroll related data is stored in a safe and secure manner. With some in-house operations retaining data on paper and using unsecure storage methods, it enhances the risk of a data breach which can have severe consequences both financially and reputationally.
The introduction of GDPR regulations gave employers yet more to think about in relation to the security of their data and the need to ensure compliance to avoid significant penalties. Given that the majority of personal data is held within payroll, it is essential that businesses are aware of their responsibilities in relation to GDPR.
A fully managed and comprehensive outsourcing service will utilise the latest cloud-based technology to help ensure that business and employee data is safe. Outsourcing payroll to Azets means your data is held securely and safely.
Get in touch
For more information on the benefits of outsourcing or to discuss your requirements, please get in touch with a member of our specialist payroll team.
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 |
 |
|
Susan Wylie |
Jennifer Kelly |
Anne Marie Fagan |
|
Partner |
Director |
Payroll Manager |
