Why transparency between payroll providers and customers is always needed

In the past, we've written extensively about why switching payroll providers can be a difficult decision for businesses. 

Not only can it be an extremely manual task, but it can also be a daunting adjustment for those familiar with a particular set of processes. 

For payroll providers trying to convince prospective clients to make the jump, the challenges remain pretty consistent. 

Not only do they have to provide assurances that their system will help make their customers' lives easier, but they also have to be on hand to support clients with queries during the first few weeks and months. 

In this short piece, we look at why transparency is so important when it comes to payroll and explain how we at PayFit have helped create a transparency tool to support customers.  

Why is payroll transparency so important? 

Payroll's taboo nature made discussions relating to it seem almost illicit. In fact, it's fair to say that transparency and payroll were two words that until relatively recently were rarely featured in the same sentence. 

However, over the last few years, payroll transparency has become more and more common. Government initiatives such as gender pay gap reporting have aided this change in process, but, perhaps most significantly, so has the attitude of employees. 

According to research conducted in CIPP's Future of Payroll Report 2020, the perception of payroll transparency is undoubtedly evolving as organisations begin to adopt more transparent pay strategies.  

But if payroll transparency is becoming more sought after at a government and employee level, why are employers increasingly favouring increased transparency? 

The COVID-19 pandemic increased financial pressure on many businesses as they looked to survive the various lockdowns and restrictions implemented. 

Organisations were forced to read into data and review expenditure and costs in ways that had never previously been required. The importance of understanding the cost of employment has also become of interest to those at board level seeking to understand how they could further optimise their business's efficiency. 

Within this context, an appreciation of the costs associated with payroll and the capacity to break down and understand payroll calculations has been increasingly prioritised by those administering payroll. 

How does PayFit support payroll transparency? 

At PayFit, we look to deliver payroll transparency in a variety of ways. 

Our software allows companies of all sizes to run gender pay gap reporting. Furthermore, we look to provide transparency for employees with our rebranded payslip—The Payslip of the Future. 

We believe that our customers should feel confident and at ease with their payroll processes. 

This is why we've recently released a new calculation transparency feature to help customers understand how calculations are managed in the PayFit app. 

The new feature is particularly useful for new customers transitioning from another payroll provider to our software.

What does the new feature do? 

The Overview page has been revamped to provide employers with a summary of employee information, total cost and monthly notes. 

The new page also allows admins to access several payslip items, including deductions, employer contributions, and year-to-date totals. 

Finally, the company reports section also has a new page called Payslip breakdown. Here, admins can search for employees and view the breakdown of their payslips. 

Interested in finding out more about how PayFit can help improve your company's payroll processes? 

Why not book a demo with one of our payroll specialists?