Things To Consider When Outsourcing Payroll Services

January 9, 2023

Whenever outsourcing is mentioned, there is always a debate about whether it is morally right to give jobs that can be done onshore or offshore – all for the sake of saving a couple of bucks.

For those businesses that have decided to look into outsourcing to give their business what they need and still be able to compete with other companies, there’s a couple more things to consider before diving into the outsourcing world.

There are always a couple of things to consider when outsourcing backend services, specifically when it comes to payroll. You need to create a plan when thinking about outsourcing or else everything could fall apart and all the aspects you’ve been told about or read about may not happen for you.

As a business owner or leader, you should think about the benefits outsourcing brings you, the day-to-day operations of the staff, and the processes required when dealing with outsourcing staff, also known as remote staff.

The Benefits Outsourcing Brings

Seriously consider what outsourcing brings to the table for your company specifically. The basic benefits fall into two camps: saving time and saving money.

Saving time is the benefit that people often overlook in the beginning. The amount of time saved usually ends up being significant enough to warrant more remote staff hires. In the case of payroll services, small businesses have a finite amount of resources to hire, meaning people have to wear different hats. On occasion, finance departments are made up of a single financial professional, meaning one person does everything – accounting, bookkeeping, AR, AP, and payroll. With every aspect being as important as the others, it would be beneficial to have dedicated professionals for each one, but this isn’t possible if your funds are limited.

Outsourcing your payroll to a more cost-effective country like the Philippines means your financial staff has fewer responsibilities on their plate and frees up time to focus on other critical areas. Having to rush to finish payroll for the month becomes a thing of the past with a remote payroll officer.

While this new addition to the team may seem like a huge financial commitment, it’s actually significantly cheaper to outsource backend positions. In the US, a Payroll Specialist makes an average of $2,772 a month while the same position in the Philippines makes P27,180 a month, which is roughly equivalent to $487.62 a month at the exchange rate of P55.74 to the dollar. This means you can hire about 5 Payroll Specialists in the Philippines as opposed to one in the US.

The Daily Tasks And Job Description

If you’ve never spoken to an outsourcing company before, be aware that you will be told multiple times that in order to succeed you need a plan. This plan starts with figuring out exactly what you want your remote staff to do and what their day-to-day will look like once they’re operational.

Figuring out exactly what you want your remote staff to do seems simple enough, until you have to break it down into a job description with specific requirements. Aside from making it easier on the recruitment team of the outsourcing company, it benefits all parties involved.

Narrowing down exactly what you want a Payroll Specialist to do seems relatively easy, given that you can do a quick Google search and find numerous generic ones. This works if you want your staff to handle generic tasks. In the event that you want them to do more specific things, you have to take a look at what your current financial professional is doing and what they do on a day-to-day basis.

If you could create a mock schedule of what you want your remote staff to do on a daily basis, you can get a better understanding of what you’ll need to provide them in order to have everything done properly. For example, if you need your Payroll Specialist to check timesheets in order to make sure the payroll is accurate, you’ll need some way to share the timesheets. Requirements like this will change the processes that are required for your remote staff to function.

Refining Processes For Your Remote Staff

As all business leaders know, creating and developing processes takes time. Quite often, a considerable amount of trial and error is involved and the same is true for remote staff. They have an added step as they aren’t within walking distance of you, which means communication methods must be ironed out.

First and foremost, processes must be set up for communication. A primary and secondary method of communication is a must for Payroll Specialists as any sort of issues must be brought up and resolved as soon as possible.

Scrambling to implement lines of communication during a crisis is a nightmare and can be avoided if the proper processes are put in place before it happens. Whether you elect to use a team chat application as a primary form of communication is up to you, but having a backup, even an informal one such as WeChat or Facebook’s Messenger should be taken into consideration.

In line with figuring out what your remote Payroll Specialist will do on a day-to-day basis, you should figure out exactly how the work will be completed. To get more details on how to do this, consult with your outsourcing company. Many businesses availing of remote Payroll Specialists allow them to access the company HRIS or related documents.

Another common way to share necessary documents is through cloud services. Cloud storage can be used to host folders of timesheets, payroll sheets, compensation and benefits documents, etc. Sometimes businesses will elect to host a server at the outsourcing company of their choice and have their staff connected to it, giving them access to all pertinent documents. No matter what the choice is, it is imperative that these methods are decided before you hire staff.

The Wrap Up

Having a plan is the key to successfully making use of outsourcing. Your remote staff can only do so much without proper direction and tools. Making sure you lay the groundwork for their success is directly linked to your success.

Many others have chosen to outsource their payroll services abroad as a way to extend their budgets and get the most out of their investment. Making sure that you create a proper roadmap for your staff should always be the first step towards joining the multitude of businesses making use of remote professionals such as Payroll Specialists.

Iohan Chan

Iohan loves short walks in his room and the joys of the great indoors. He joined the marketing world in 2021 as a content writer, making the transition from a recruiting position which gives him a unique perspective on topics regarding job positions. As a content writer for a remote staffing company, AKA a full-service BPO, AKA an outsourcing company that does more than just call center work, he's usually hunkered down on his laptop researching new topics or interviewing professionals for their views and opinions. He favors a more archaic and down-to-earth style of writing because he firmly believes that if you have to look up every other word in a piece of writing you're reading, chances are you're going to close out of it and go read something else. When he's not working, he's either skating or doing martial arts, and when he's injured from the previous activities, you can find him in his room playing games.