Groups » Managing Payroll

How to Manage Your Payroll as a Law Professional

• Jade Anderson
  Sep 24 2018, 08:17 AM
  One of the most important tasks that a business undertakes is payroll. Every employee deserves to be paid correctly and on time - even when times at your firm are tough. Although you likely have an employee dedicated to the task, or you might do it on your own, payroll is quite complex and requires a lot of attention to ensure you don’t fall behind.
  
  We’ve listed a few tips and tricks to help manage your payroll at your law firm a little more easily and effectively. Reduce unnecessary stress and take a look below.
  
  The Challenges
  
  In general, the thought of paying employees at your firm doesn’t seem like it would be very complex or difficult at all. All it is paying your employees, right? The answer to that is a little tricky. Payroll at a law firm is paying your staff, yes, but it’s a whole lot more than that. Let’s take a look below at what else is involved.
  
  Firstly, you’ll need to pay your employees typical wages. Once this amount is worked out, there is also the requirement of determining the correct benefits as well as taxes and even superannuation payments. When you dig a little deeper, payroll does become fairly complex and tedious.
  
  It’s also important to remember that you shouldn’t do any guessing when it comes to paying employees. You must follow all legal requirements as well as contractual agreements or you might find yourself in trouble with the law or even your employees. To make sure that everything is getting done correctly you should make sure that you certainly understand the basics as well as the complexities.
  
  Lastly, the storage of documents and records. It’s a legal requirement for you to store all documents regarding employee pay as well as business incomes and more. This way if there is a government audit or an internal audit you’ll be able to supply any details that might be required.
  
  Be Sure to Learn the Basics
  
  In line with understanding the basics and complexities, you or your payroll employee should certainly undertake a course in accounting, finance or specifically payroll. This way you’ll be confident in doing employee payroll and you’ll also be meeting regulations. Depending on your location, you might be required to delegate all payroll tasks to a certified accountant.
  
  Courses like ones from Upskilled go over all of the necessities as well as how to prepare, update and store employee wage documents and more. This way you, or your payroll team, will be able to get your law firm’s payroll done more efficiently as well as correctly and compliantly.
  
  Software is Your Best Friend
  
  As with almost every work process, software simply makes everything easier. If you’re having trouble managing your team’s payroll then payroll software is certainly going to be the best solution. You have so many options when it comes to payroll software and some even do all of the tax deduction and benefit allocation for you.
  
  Make sure to look for authorised and trustworthy platforms, however, as you’ll be able to rely on these to keep your payroll data safe, updated as well as deal with the data correctly. You don’t want to have incorrect deductions or payments made.
  
  A typical all-round payroll software platform will help with the following:
  
  Managing both client and employee accounts
  Easily making changes or additions to employee pay
  Sick days or leave tracking
  Automatic report creation
  
  Follow All Regulation
  
  Regulations that govern payroll are often changed, refined or removed altogether to make way for new ones. That means that you should always be on the lookout for any changes to payroll law so that you or your business isn’t hit with a penalty or sued by an employee. Falling into line with regulation is also vital in ensuring that you aren’t a target for auditing. Even if you haven’t done anything wrong, being audited is simply a long and arduous process.
  
  To make sure that you’re in line with all relevant payroll regulation and taxation laws you can head over to payrolltax.com.au.
  
  Be Simple and Efficient
  
  You’ll soon find that payroll is complex enough on its own. Don’t further overcomplicate it by adding in paper cheques or even cash. If you do have cheque payments going on, switch them over to direct deposit and you’ll notice that makes the process a whole lot easier.

  [Edited Dec 12 2018]

  
  

Reply

You have to be a member of "Managing Payroll" in order to reply.

Join