Why your payroll process must be optimised

Most employees would agree: payroll is the most important task performed by the finance department. Finance pays salaries – so it is clearly important that payroll processes work efficiently and effectively. If issues arise, disgruntled employees become less productive and may stop working altogether. 

While it may sound simple to issue paychecks, finance departments within local governments face a number of challenges come payday:

• Misread forms. Many local governments require employees to submit hand-written time sheets. If a sheet is misread, it can lead to an incorrect paycheck. When an employee’s payroll stub does not match with expectations, this can cause anger, stress, or even legal action;
• Improperly applied regulations. There are many specific payroll categorizations required for different employees. Finance personnel must be knowledgeable about such rules; a simple mis-categorization of employee work can lead to compliance issues;
• Scalability issues. The payroll process can take a long time with a paper-based system, which is exacerbated by larger numbers of employees. When staff numbers grow this can put a strain on finance team members. This can lead to mistakes, unpaid workers, and possibly non-compliance;
• Employee disputes. Employees may raise disputes due to incorrect payments or non-payment claims. Resolving these disputes can be difficult and time consuming if the pertinent documents are not easily accessible.

Ricoh has designed payroll systems for numerous local governments with one thing in mind – eliminating current challenges:

• We deploy a comprehensive ECM solution which stores all payroll records, including time sheets, in a secure electronic repository or on the cloud. Employees will be able to submit time sheets electronically, from anywhere. Finance personnel will then be able to search for and retrieve this data simply by using keywords.
• Our software includes automated business processes which alert pertinent individuals when their input is required and ensure compliance.
• We realize the unique needs of local governments, having worked with several across Canada. Integrated compliance requirements enable workers to easily categorize records as defined by regional laws, ensuring they meet retention periods.
• Our system is extremely scalable. As data is digitized and automated business processes begin, employees will be able to complete payroll quickly and easily, whether there are 2 employees or 200.
• Easily retrievable data helps to eliminate employee disputes as all parties will have access to the same data. Activity logs increase transparency by detailing who entered the data and when; this data can also be used for further optimization.

By working with Ricoh, your government can optimize its payroll process – something everyone in the office will appreciate.