How long should you stay with one payroll provider for? (Your loyalty may be costing you…)

So, you’ve found the payroll provider that ticks all your boxes.

They process salary payments on time, rarely if ever make any mistakes, they remit the right amounts to the right institutions at the right time…and you know the whole team by name; they’re always available to take your calls. All in all, a well-oiled machine that took time to set up, but is now working as it should.

So there’s no point in changing a winning team, right?

Well, your loyalty may be costing you in many ways…

The pitfalls of blind loyalty to your payroll provider

Payroll is not a one-time process. It evolves with time, technology, and your own company’s growth. And while a payroll provider may have been the perfect fit for your company 3 years ago, you may just have outgrown it now.

Of course, it is also perfectly natural for you to feel loyal to a service provider who has served your business for an extended period of time. But the well-being of your business comes first, which is why you may want to re-evaluate your choice of payroll provider… Here are a few reasons why your loyalty may be costing you:

Payroll & Technology

Payroll technology is always evolving. Where before, traditional, paper-based systems were the norm, digital processes now reign supreme. Some payroll providers, like Africa HR Solutions, also offer an Employee Self-Service system for their clients to use. This not only reduces the burden on payroll teams, but it also facilitates processes like leave application for both employees and their managing officers.

Now imagine if you had partnered with a payroll provider who never made the switch to these digital models. Your business would be losing out on major improvements made in the field of payroll – and your payroll would still take much longer to process and would be riddled with human errors.

Far beyond paper-based payroll, payroll providers are now testing the waters with the introduction of newly born AI technology.

So, you must ask if your payroll provider is future-proofing its services? Otherwise, you may forever be stuck in the early 2010s?

Payroll & Your Business Needs

Since partnering with your payroll provider, your company has not remained static. It has grown, perhaps extended its range of services, hired more employees, offered them more benefits… The point is, your company is not the same one it was a few years or even a few months ago. As such, your needs are also different.

A solution that fit your needs perfectly in the past, may now fail to cover them once they have evolved.

As such, regularly assessing the business compatibility between your payroll provider and your Organisation is crucial.

Otherwise, in the best-case scenario, you might miss out on improvements for your payroll. In the worst-case scenario, your payroll needs might not be properly met. Do you perhaps need greater reporting capabilities? Or are you planning on hiring significantly more workers? Your payroll provider should be able to handle such requests.

Otherwise, you are left vulnerable to risks of employee dissatisfaction, non-compliance and more.

Payroll & Cost-effectiveness

Blind loyalty may be costing you…literally. Many payroll providers offer a standard rate which usually never lowers, but rather increases with the years.

While loyalty is convenient and saves you the trouble of looking for and making the switch to a new payroll provider, not looking into alternative options also has its downsides. Mainly that you might be losing out on possible cost savings. Where a payroll provider who has worked for years with you might feel comfortable charging your company more significantly, other providers on the lookout for new clients may offer incentives and more affordable solutions.

Sometimes, it is not even a matter of saving on costs…but rather of obtaining more value for the same amount of money paid. Payroll providers like Africa HR Solutions, for instance, offer added value through perks like a single point-of-contact for all your needs, 100% guaranteed compliance, and a steady presence in 45+ African countries.

These client-centric benefits can make a world of difference, significantly reducing the amount of time and effort you spend on your payroll. Naturally, this enables you to dedicate more resources to your company’s growth.

When is the right time to change payroll providers?

So, how can you determine if it's time to let your present payroll service provider go? There is no set time, rather a constant need to re-evaluate the supplier’s contributions to your company. These few factors can, however, help you identify when something is wrong with your payroll provider:

Lack of Innovation

Has your payroll provider added any noteworthy improvements or new features to their offer in recent years? If not, you may be missing out on significant technology upgrades, among other things.

Inadequate Customer Service

If you're having trouble getting in touch with customer service or if there are still problems with your payroll provider, it might be time to look for a more dependable and responsive payroll partner.

Compliance Issues

It could be worthwhile to consider a payroll provider that provides extensive compliance tools and help if you're finding it difficult to stay on top of evolving tax rules.

Over 600 companies in Africa trust Africa HR Solutions. Here’s why you should, too:

At Africa HR Solutions, we constantly improve on our services.

Recently, we introduced a free life insurance benefit to all our EOR clients across Africa, and partnered with global insurance company Unisure to bring world-class insurance plans to African workplaces… We have also made our payroll offer even more flexible and adaptable, allowing for different payment schedules, adapting to our clients’ existing payroll systems, meeting the payroll needs of companies across different markets…

We have proven, through and through, that we are a reliable payroll provider with an eye perpetually trained on the future and its many possibilities.

Partnering with us means accessing all these exciting possibilities, and no longer worrying about your payroll, however complex or time-sensitive it may be.

Get in touch with us now so that your loyalty can be well and truly rewarded!