It’s challenging to manage payroll, benefits, HR and payments.
That’s an understatement, no?!
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PaymentEvolution is trusted by over 20,000 Canadian businesses for their payroll, benefits, HR and payments needs. Join them today!
Attention accountants and bookkeepers with multiple payroll clients - you know how challenging it can be to manage their payroll, benefits, HR, and payments. You have to switch between different software platforms, keep track of deadlines and compliance issues, and deal with data entry and errors.
Yuck! Ewe! God bless all of you who are knee-deep in the world of payroll!
I salute you, and you have my admiration! I rarely take on a client where I am in charge of managing payroll. I just graduated* my last complicated one; I now only have payroll clients with automated salary pulls (even I can’t mess that up). I know my limits, and bringing value to my clients does not include touching their payroll. They must have simple payroll or be large enough to “have people for that”.
Payroll is a beast.
Payroll is not akin to managing client receivables & payables, inventory & multi-currency, class tracking & projects - you know, all the usual accounting processes. And it’s certainly not like clearing bank feeds and reconciling!
In… the… least….
With payroll, you are managing the intricacies of human lives. It is a huge responsibility, and a complicated one, to look after payroll for your clients.
Paycheques can’t be delayed and must be accurate in every detail
Hiring is complicated with contracts, benefits and platform adoption
Terminations must be timely, and kid-glove handled
Taxes are being withheld and submitted on behalf of people who have no control over the ramifications of poor payroll practices
The impact of corporate and sales tax missteps affect the business owner(s).
The burden of payroll tax blunders will impact many individuals.
Take the example of a young fella I know, Joe; he is a framer. Construction company owners can be great at building physical structures but often not so great at building business structures. Joe worked at one such company. Great guys, great work, but they did not submit any T4s (W2s for my American friends) to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).
Joe received his paper T4, and filed his taxes accordingly and on time. But because the contractor did not submit the Company T4s and Summary to the government, Joe is now battling with the CRA to prove that the T4 is genuine and that the construction company withheld taxes from his paycheque (we don’t know if they didn’t remit, but they most certainly did withhold).
Joe is panicked because the CRA has reassessed his taxes - to the tune of $6,700 owing! That’s a lot of money for a young guy, and the whole thing is turning into a colossal drag for him.
He needs to produce paystubs
Which he doesn’t have because he moved and purged them
They were paper, not electronic direct-deposit slips - which would have resolved this immediately
He can only close his case if he can get the cheque deposit images from his bank to prove that the deposits were less than the total of his income
I think we can all agree to get deposit images from the bank going back three years is not moving along smoothly
He needs to file a formal Employee Complaint Letter
He doesn’t want to do this because he feels bad for his former employer
His former co-workers are in the same boat, and they are mentioning each other on the Employee Complaint Letter they need to submit, but collectively they feel terrible for doing this
They are getting over it, though, with owing so much to the CRA
He needs to spend time and emotional energy contacting the CRA
Joe is luckier than most in this situation, though. I am his authorized representative and got him a resolution extension because I know my way around the CRA. Time is on his side, ish. He will resolve this, but even appearances of government indebtedness will impact one’s credit rating, so he needs to get this mess cleaned up.
This is only one story, of countless tales, of how payroll missteps impact many lives.
Payroll compliance is critical; you must have tight processes and programs to manage it.
You need a cloud-based platform that lets you provide all these services for your clients within one dashboard.
This is the only way you can reduce errors, streamline your workflow, increase your efficiency and grow your revenue.
What features should you look for, and what are the benefits of using a single, cloud-based platform for your accounting practice?
Government remitting & reporting done seamlessly & compliantly
Employee direct deposit with electronic stubs
Employee records stored securely in the cloud and anytime access from any device - by the employer and their employees
Client communication through chat or email within the program
Affordable and flexible benefits plans for your clients that suit their needs and budget
Customizable plans for each client or choose from pre-built packages
Enrolment, claims, and billing managed online
Client HR tasks like hiring, onboarding, performance reviews, and termination managed
Payments accepted online with debit or credit cards or third-party payment services
If even a few of these features had existed in Joe’s employer’s payroll processes, Joe would be a happy young man right now. And the business owner would not be up to his eyeballs, in a heap of CRA trouble.
A program like Evolv from PaymentEvolution checks these boxes, plus:
You can seamlessly migrate from any payroll software to Evolv and take advantage of its top Canadian payroll features
You can integrate with popular accounting software like Xero, QuickBooks, Sage, and FreshBooks
You can easily create T4s, T4As and ROEs, and submit them online to CRA
Evolv, by PaymentEvolution, is designed to make your life easier as an accountant or a bookkeeper. It's simple to use, secure, supportive, plus, it's cost-effective** - you only pay per employee per run.
From fast and accurate payroll to affordable benefits and direct electronic payments - Evolv lets you focus on running your business.
If you want to learn more about Evolv and how it can help you save time and grow your business, book a demo today! Payment Evolution will show you how Evolv works and answer any questions.
It’s up to us, as accounting professionals, to bring the magic of cloud payroll programs to the attention of SMBs.
In the end, payroll is not just about numbers and calculations. It's about people, their livelihoods, and their families. As an accountant, you have the power to positively impact your clients' businesses and the lives of their employees. So keep learning, growing, and striving to be a stellar payroll professional.
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