Payroll in the cloud – making life easier for SMEs
Five years since its inception, the cloud is making life easier for start-up businesses and SMEs according to Sandra Swanepoel, director, Softline VIP, a leading HR and payroll software and services provider in South Africa and across the Africa continent.
Payroll legislation is often a challenge for small businesses especially during tax season. Swanepoel says payroll software’s move into the cloud, and the affordable pricing of cloud applications, has enabled companies to access a payroll system even if they employ two people.
“In the past, most startup businesses would utilise manual processing until they reached at least 10 or 15 employees. A downside of this approach was the added stress of managing E@syfile submissions and issuing of tax certificates. As a result, the average size of a company now using a cloud –based payroll solution has come down to as little as 5 people,” says Swanepoel.
She says that ease of use is definitely one of the drivers for a small business when considering a payroll application. “We offer SMEs a “try before they buy” option for the first month. This gives them the opportunity to experience the ease of use and tremendous time they save when using an online payroll application compared to manual calculations.”
In addition, tax calculations and printing of professional payslips will reduce a significant burden for the small business owner and assist them to focus on managing costs and running their operations. According to Swanepoel, the biggest value for small companies lies in the time they save and peace of mind they are guaranteed when using software that is compliant with all legislation. She cites an example where VIP added leave functionality to its payroll application, allowing users to be instantly compliant with the basic conditions of employment where it pertains to annual, sick, maternity and family leave. “Companies can now also load leave transactions and link sick leave notes and applications to employee records. This will save them money and time as well as reduce the immense stress caused by managing manual leave systems,” concludes Swanepoel.
For more information visit www.liquidpayroll.co.za.