WHAT ARE THE FUNCTIONS OF
PAYROLL vs. HR
Payroll and HR go hand in hand.
Sometimes, though their departments are separate and rightly so.
This article will explore the difference between payroll and HR.
How does payroll deviate from HR and what are its areas of overlapping?
What are the Functions of Payroll?
The function of payroll is usually to calculate and pay employees' wages and salaries.
In addition to that though there can be some very specific functions of payroll admins which relate directly to having workers get compensated.
- Verification of new employees and their accounts.
- Often, new employees will be onboarded into their payroll system. They may have an employee number and their benefits and social security are loaded into the pay master’s system.
- Setting up government payments.
- The benefits including social security, medicare, insurance, and 401k’s are also accounted for directly in the software of the payroll administrator.
- Manage payroll and other accounts.
- Payroll administrators manage the facilitation of payroll and they may also be responsible for collections if a company has those specific functions too.
- Mails out W-2’s.
- W-2’s are paramount for noting the amount of income taxes to be withheld in a given tax year. If there is a separate payroll person, those people will also be assigned in sending out the W-2 forms.
- Reviews timesheets and collaborates with HR.
- Payroll staff also review timesheets and they are the final word in the doling out of the gross pay of an employee for a given pay period. They may collaborate with HR, but usually, if your timesheets are recorded by HR, they are often processed by the payroll people also.
What are the functions of HR?
HR’s usually are concerned with the human capital component of the workforce.
They have several job functions, many of which coordinate with payroll, but they’re usually here to oversee that your employees are in check and their needs are met.
Enters new hires and facilitates onboarding
They are the first line of contact in recruitment and deployment.
Onboarding is the process of putting their names in your HR and payroll database.
Once the payroll has these, your new hires are often already a part of your company.
Talks about employment contracts
HR are the ones who talk about employment contracts and discuss the job responsibilities and policies with the employee.
They can also talk about their salary ranges, bonuses, and commissions.
The payroll officer handles the transactions, but HR provides details to your new hires.
Processes changes to tax and direct deposit
If there are changes in the bank accounts or other remittances, HR usually gathers up the paperwork, electronic or otherwise so these will be prepared for when payroll is ready to make their move.
Works with payroll to resolve timesheet issues
If there are problems with the timesheet, HR typically works to resolve these so payroll will have no problems facilitating the changes in a given pay period.
How Payroll and HR Overlap
Payroll and HR tend to overlap because they work hand in hand in making sure that employees are paid, they are performing well, and that their performance is accurate with their compensation.
Employee performance, pay, and the interval of pay periods are all monitored by HR.
The payroll facilitates the movement of funds so employees will receive their dues and that payments are remitted to the right government agencies.
Often, HR’s will be the ones to coordinate these payments.
Payroll and HR functions are hugely administrative in nature but the HR function which goes together with pay periods and pay administration is deployment.
HR Recruitment may not be as involved in payroll as their deployment officers or HR generalist counterparts.
Can you Outsource Payroll and HR?
Yes, you can!
In fact, if you can’t handle it all yourself, you’re encouraged to outsource your payroll and your HR functions.
You may hire an HR specialist who is good at compensation and benefits, so that way they can serve as your payroll officers.
Conversely, you can hire an accountant or bookkeeper to facilitate these changes while you, the owner can serve as the HR too.
If you want affordable outsourcing, then you may opt for a reliable Offshore Outsourcing Company so you can start establishing your Remote Payroll team.
Get a company that will give you full creative control.
How to Do it Yourself
Generate pay stubs online
Generate pay stubs through an online pay stub generator.
Using an online pay stub generator is a great way to make sure that you’re accurately recording the gross and net pay of your employees.
Online pay stubs also have auto calculations making your work much faster.
Know your state and federal taxes
If there are specific laws for your state and federal payments, then be familiar with them.
You must not fudge on these payments because the IRS will come after you if you try to cheat on taxes.
Get to know your employees
Hanging out with your workers, knowing when they’re on the field or not, little things about their routines are paramount.
They help you track their activity.
So mentally, when it’s time to prepare their pay stubs, it will be automatic because you’ve taken the time to know your employees.
Hire part-time employees
If you are not ready to work with a fully-fledged team, then you can hire part-time employees to make sure that your workload is manageable.
For that, you will be hiring independent contractors.
Keep in touch with whomever you work with so that you can get the services you require when you need them.
