Defining business goals, what is a successful payroll department?

How would you define a successful payroll department?

Whatever business function you look at, you need to measure performance and determine whether the department is successful.

For example, sales teams measure success by the amount of revenue they make for the business and marketing is judged based on the number of leads they generate.

But how is payroll measured?

Historically, payroll had two simple factors that determined success, accuracy and delivering on time.

However, payroll has added capabilities and business benefits that are often overlooked and aren’t measured which severely impact whether the department is successful.

How should payroll success be determined?

Recently at IRIS World 2020, Jason Davenport, Chairman of CIPP, touched on the topic of measuring payroll success, stating,

“A successful payroll service, whether it’s in-house or a bureau, is determined on how they can use data to improve the business.”

“The department serves a purpose in terms of the delivery of payroll and the impact that has on every employee. But more importantly, there is a whole host of data that can be harnessed and used to the benefit of the business in terms of review and consideration projections for the future.”

“I see it as two separate sides, you have the day-to-day delivery that has to be complete, and you also have the future view aspect that allows you to service the business better.”

Why are some payroll departments struggling with data utilisation?

While the reporting aspect of payroll is a huge benefit and plays a fundamental role in ensuring a successful department, we found a significant amount of businesses are struggling to achieve it.

This is due to businesses relying on outdated technology and archaic processes such as spreadsheets.

Outdated technology simply doesn’t have the functionality to run reports, severely limiting what you can achieve with your data.

Archaic processes require so much time to effectively analyse and utilise the data that most businesses simply don’t have the time to even start the process.

What solutions are available?

Our modern payroll software, IRIS Payroll Professional provides businesses with a powerful and flexible solution designed to support complex and convoluted payroll requirements.

With IRIS Payroll Professional, you’re able to utilise either pre-built or bespoke reports, saving departments time and resources, while enabling enhanced strategic business decisions.

You’re also able to favourite your most-used reports and add them to relevant screens further streamlining the process and making sure the reports will be right there when you need them.

For more information on how IRIS Payroll Professional can help you utilise your data more effectively check it out here.

Payroll is an essential function within any business. As well as payroll management software, we offer a wide range of other business essentials to help increase efficiency including our cloud accounting software, IRIS KashFlow, and cloud-based HR and payroll software - IRIS HR Professional.