The traditional payroll systems in the businesses was a hectic job for the professionals. The task requires collecting and managing several papers and information. Thankfully, all these tasks can be carried out today with the help of web-based and automated payroll systems.

The paperless payroll systems offer cost-effective and environmentally friendly ways to make business operations easy and quick. The online program allows its users to carry out payroll tasks electronically. They have replaced payments made by paper checks and recording the time and attendance on a printed timesheet. These features will save valuable time for accounting professionals to a great extent.

At the same time, using the paperless way of accounting will help small businesses to save a lot of time which can be used to work on more productive tasks and make a small business more competitive in the market.

Paperless Payroll Defined

The term paperless payroll refers to the way in which the entire payroll activity can be processed without using paper. The market today has several options for paperless payroll systems. All of these offers a different set of features and capabilities, keeping the primary features the same.

Paperless payrolls have several components. These may include keeping a record of the employee’s time, using the electronic method to make salary payments to the employees, delivering the paystubs to the employees, and generating electronic payroll reports.

 Types of Paperless Payrolls

If you want to include a paperless payroll system in your business, it is important that you consider all the payroll functions in your business that can be made paperless. These may include entering the timecards or the timesheets, generating the electronic paychecks, and using the direct deposits to transfer the funds. Consider each of the features and evaluate whether you can replace them with a new system or not.

The next step is to have a look at the different types of payroll systems so that you can make the right choice for your small business.

1. Electronic Payroll Records: The system lets you stay away from the paper clutter. It allows you to stay organized. It also helps the records to be accurate and in printable form.
2. Employee self-service (ESS) models: This model lets you share pertinent information on the web about your business. This may include the employee handbook, employment history and benefit options.
3. Electronic funds transfer (EFT): The system allows the payroll department to transfer wages without writing and sending physical cheques. For this, the employees need to provide their bank details.

Why should a Small Business use Paperless Payroll?

There are several benefits of having a paperless payroll system. The primary ones include increased security and ease of use. These records are available all the time, and you can access them at any time and from anywhere. Here is a list of some more advantages of using a paperless payroll system.

• Saves money: The paperless payroll system saves a tremendous amount of money. It is believed that using the web-based system can save you up to $2.87 and $3.15 per pay if you make all the payments electronically to the employees.
• It is good for the environment: Switching to this mode makes your entire payroll system environmentally friendly as you will require less paper in the business operations.
• It streamlines tax processes: The system allows you to streamline the tax reporting activities, saving you a lot of time and money. It ensures that you pay all the taxes at the right time, including all the local, state, and federal taxes.
• Efficient: The system allows you to save a lot of time and effort that you have otherwise spent on preparing the cheques for the employees, resolving issues related to loss of undelivered cheques, and handling the fraud issues.
• Reliable: The paperless payroll system allows you to make payments to the employees at the right time. Holidays or the occurrence of unexpected events will not affect your payroll processing activities.
• Ease of Access: The paperless way will make it convenient for you to access your employees’ payroll data. In fact, the system gives access even to the employees to have a look at the payroll data on their mobile devices.

Overall, the paperless payroll system makes you stay organized. It saves a lot of time and energy. The digital store feature offered by most of the payroll systems makes the entire process quick, convenient, and secure.