Are you also stuck in the web of Australian payroll regulations? Don’t worry you are not alone.
Most Australian businesses spend hours on manual calculations and worrying about changing taxes. Moreover, complying with Australian employment laws and regulations can be a headache.
This is when payroll accounting software comes in:
- It keeps you on top of all the changing taxes and
- Takes you out of the breeding ground of errors and miscalculations.
Want to know how? Dig into this blog to learn why you need payroll accounting software for your Australian business.
What is Payroll Processing in Australia?
Payroll processing is the management of payrolls, which include taxes, benefits, and employee remunerations. An employer calculates and distributes its employees' wages in an organized manner.
Thinking about payrolls may sound exciting at first. However, accounting services in Australia are unique yet complex.
The Australian payroll system follows certain steps:
- The employer calculates the employee wages based on worked hours, overtime, and other allowances or bonuses.
- Next, the income tax, superannuation contributions, and other legal payments are calculated. These are then deducted from the employee wages.
- After all the calculations, the employer generates pay slips that include information on taxes, deductions, and gross earnings.
- Finally, the employer submits the payroll reports to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) via Single Touch Payroll (STP).
This entire procedure is important and must be done thoroughly. Any errors in employee payment or award classification can lead to severe consequences, such as business bankruptcy and criminal charges.
What is Payroll Accounting Software?
Payroll software, or payroll systems, automates and streamlines necessary payroll procedures. Payroll accounting software can be on-premise or cloud-based software solution.
Every payroll software is different from the others, but common features include:
- Employee information
- Defined payment periods and related payroll schedule
- Information about taxes and other deductibles
- Paycheck data for analysis
- Payslip distribution to employees
- Capabilities for Payroll compliance
The payroll accounting software can be modified based on how taxes are filed in each country. For instance, accounting payroll services in Australia require features like Single Touch Payroll (STP) reporting.
Why Australians Should Consider Using Payroll Accounting Software?
Whether you are a business owner in Australia or some other country, payroll management is an important aspect when running a business. Accounting services in Australia, especially, are complex and subject to regulations.
You would not want your business in jeopardy solely because of payment management oversights. Therefore, consider investing in payroll accounting software or Australian outsourced bookkeeping services.
Here is an example of how you might benefit from payroll accounting software or outsourcing accounting Payroll Services:
Imagine a situation where one of your employees works 35 hours weekly. The hourly rate for the employee is AU$23, and the overtime rate is 1.5 times the gross income. The employee works an additional 6 hours every week. Furthermore, the company has 100 such employees.
Consider the circumstances presented above and ask yourself why you should not invest in payroll accounting software.
There are many benefits of outsourcing accounting services or investing in payroll software for your accountants. To learn more, explore the benefits below and streamline your business operations.
6 Benefits of Using Payroll Accounting Software to Streamline Business Operations
There are several advantages to using payroll software for accountants to handle internal payroll processes. Among the prominent ones are:
1. Saves Time and Money
As discussed, accounting services in Australia can be rough. Managing finances often gets hard.
Moreover, businesses find it difficult to manage their payrolls with complex accounting payroll services in Australia, including
- Modern Awards,
- National Employment Standards,
- The national minimum wage,
- Superannuation obligations, and more.
Thus, payroll accounting software eliminates your manual payroll processing work. The software automates all the intricate calculations, processes, and tax deductions.
What used to take days can now be done within a few hours, significantly reducing the time on payroll tasks.
Moreover, a poorly managed payroll service could result in penalties and reputational damage. The software works efficiently and accurately, saving you unnecessary monetary loss.
2. Provides Data Security
Every business owner, including you, wants your business and its operations to advance and be successful. However, with increased productivity, you are prone to hire more employees.
As the number of employees increases, the amount of employee data doubles. Manual calculations and data entries are always prone to data loss or breaches.
However, payroll accounting software comes with robust security features. These features help you protect your employees' sensitive data and ensure compliance with Australia's data protection payroll regulations.
3. Prone to Fewer Mistakes
The 2023 Payroll Survey results show that around 55% of payroll professionals report increased workload since the epidemic. As payroll manual processing time grows, so does the possibility of inaccuracy.
Payroll software guarantees that all employee earnings, taxes, deductions, and other expenses are correctly computed.
Furthermore, payroll software can synchronize leave balances, overtime calculations, attendance tracking, and hourly extra hours. Leading to fewer mistakes and happy employees.
4. Employee Satisfaction
Several accounting payroll services include features such as self-service portals for employees. You simply have to give your employees access to the portal to use these.
The portal allows your employees to access their pay information, tax records, and pay stubs. They can examine and manage their payroll details anytime and anywhere.
This not only benefits your HR team or accounting department but also gives the employees a sense of satisfaction.
5. Automatic Calculations
Using a payroll system remarkably reduces the risk of probable errors made by human factors. The accounting payroll software gets automatically updated with the latest tax rules according to the ATO.
The automated updates remove the chance of tax-related errors. It also ensures that the correct amount of income tax, social security contributions, and other deductions are taken out of employee paychecks.
6. Scalable for Expanding Businesses
If you are planning to expand your business, payroll accounting software can offer many benefits.
Of course, there are many outsourced bookkeeping services in Australia, but global payroll operation comes with challenges with expanding business beyond borders.
Having a single platform for all accounting payroll services is always a good idea. Instead of managing cumbersome payroll-related operations from various locations, you as a business owner can focus on more intricate business processes with a single software.
In the End
Payroll accounting software can transform your organization's financial management system. With the technological advancements, adapting to accounting payroll services has become necessary.
Investing in reliable payroll software will help you manage your payroll effortlessly, increase efficiency, and reduce workload.
So, if you are looking for a hassle-free financial management service provider or any other accounting service needs in Australia, contact our experts at Augmented Systems.
