intelligent

The research , in conjunction with Censuswide , surveyed 500 respondents who work for companies with 10 – 250 employees , with payroll management being all or a part of their responsibilities . The pandemic has changed how and where we work , with recent data from the Office for National Statistics showing a fifth ( 21 %) of working adults said they had worked exclusively from home – an increase from 14 %.

Payroll still a manual , timeintensive task

Almost a quarter ( 22 %) of those surveyed said they do not use payroll software to handle salary calculations . Worryingly , one in 10 still use spreadsheets to do this , leaving a huge margin for human error to occur . Only 11 % rely on manual timesheets to manage and calculate payroll .

These figures come as no surprise , given that over a third ( 37 %) of respondents said they spend around 12 – 17 hours a week managing payroll , which is a huge number of hours in a work week .

The average time spent on payroll is 14 hours per week – the equivalent to 87 working days a year .

Over half ( 51 %) claimed they do not use cloud-based software for people management due to security concerns . Budget constraints ( 28 %) and lack of training ( 19 %) are also listed as reasons .

Confidence is high , not all understand the function

The vast majority ( 82 %) of respondents are confident in handling the payroll function , with 68 % saying they feel supported by HMRC , demonstrating strong support systems in place – just 12 % do not feel supported by HMRC on payroll matters .

A large majority ( 82 %) believe organisations think the function is well understood by the whole company , which is positive . However , nearly 8 % think that payroll as a concept isn ’ t well grasped by the wider business .

Changing role of HR

Respondents were asked what areas of administration ( on top of their payroll duties ) if any , they were responsible for managing each year , and the contrast is clear :

• 46 % ( just under half ) of respondents said bookkeeping (– 10 % YoY comparison )

• 51 % ( over half ) of respondents said accounting (– 3 % YoY comparison )

• 33 % ( a third ) of respondents said office management ( no change )

• 33 % ( a third ) of respondents said HR admin (+ 5 % YoY comparison )

Jonathan Richards , CEO , Breathe , said : “ It is shocking to see how far we still have to go in stopping time-consuming spreadsheets for payroll and ensuring SMEs are investing in cloud-based platforms . By taking the burden off payroll and HR teams through using software for tasks such as payroll , they will have more time to spend on what is ultimately the biggest asset to their companies : their people . With accredited and security-complaint solutions on the market , it ’ s time for SMEs to ditch the spreadsheets and harness the cloud .” �