4 Reasons Payroll is Better in the Cloud

BenefitMall is a Dallas company that provides payroll and benefits administration services to companies around the country. They also offer a limited number of HR services as well. Their strong point is cloud-based software that takes payroll out of the local office and puts it in a more modern environment.

Payroll in the cloud is an entirely different animal. It certainly looks a lot different to the end-user, but what goes on behind the scenes is even better. Cloud technology has advanced to the point where it doesn’t make sense to do payroll any other way. Payroll in the cloud is payroll at its best.

Any company still handling payroll with legacy software would do well to consider transitioning to the cloud. Here are the top four reasons for doing so:

1. Payroll Access from Anywhere

There are couple of things that make the cloud a better environment. First and foremost is electronic storage that completely separates data from the local computer network. That means payroll records stored in the cloud are kept separate from office computers. Employees do not have to worry about backups or maintaining the integrity of data on local hard drives.

Second is the fact that payroll in the cloud is accessible from anywhere. Because it is not hosted on a local network, management and payroll employees do not have to be in the office to access it. With an internet connection and a device to get online, payroll data and applications can be accessed during the commute, while on a business trip, and so forth. Access can be granted to company accountants and payroll staff as needed.

2. Better Integration with Direct Deposit

The vast majority of America’s workers now get paid via direct deposit. When payroll is run manually in-house, facilitating direct deposits is an extra step usually carried out with a separate piece of software. And even when direct deposits are integrated into legacy software, the function tends to be inefficient.

Direct deposit integration in the cloud is a step above. Payroll data is transferred among accounting modules seamlessly, triggering payments as soon as a payroll run is complete. There are no extra steps involved; everything is done automatically and in the background.

3. Self-Service Opportunities

In-house payroll can cause headaches for employees. Moving payroll to the cloud changes the game by offering self-service opportunities. Every employee is given access to his or her payroll information by way of a dedicated account protected with a username and password.

If an employee wants to see a record of the previous paycheck, he/she only needs to login to his/her account. He or she can download pay stubs and tax documents, look at year-to-date earnings and withholding, update his/her personal information, and more. All of it can be done without having to pay a visit to the HR department.

4. The Cloud Saves Money

If none of the three previous reasons is enough to sway you, this fourth one should do the trick: moving payroll to the cloud almost always saves money. It does so in several ways. First, payroll in the cloud is paperless. That saves money by cutting down on paper and printing costs.

Second, payroll in the cloud takes advantage of automation. That increases efficiency and reduces the time spent on payroll processing. Remember that time is money. And finally, cloud payroll saves time by minimizing errors and making it harder to perpetrate payroll fraud.

Payroll is better in the cloud. That’s a fact. If your company is still doing payroll with a legacy system, perhaps it’s time for a rethink.