What to review

We explain what good and bad looks like for 10 key areas

What good and bad look like

	What bad looks like	What good looks like
Functionality	Very basic software with absolutely no bells and whistles Lots of time-consuming workarounds Complicated, long-winded processes Inflexible when it comes to introducing innovation You’re often thinking ‘why can’t the software just do this for me?!’	Software that’s making life easier and streamlining your processes Intuitive and simple functionality Easy access to useful reports and analytics Employee self-service that’s intuitive Straightforward integration into other software
Reporting & analytics	Exporting data into excel and fighting with formulas Manual data manipulation that’s prone to mistakes Viewing information that’s already out-of-date Too much time spent wading through numbers Confusing insight, regularly asking ‘what do these numbers actually mean?'	Visibility of automated, real-time dashboards showing easy to read analytics like: Cost trends Spikes in overtime Contractor or casual staff influx trends Your company’s gender pay gap Absence trends (e.g. which departments are experiencing the most absence and when)
Customer service	Raising support tickets i.e. you’re unable to make calls directly to your support team Waiting hours, days, weeks to get answers - your query passed from one team to the next Dealing with unqualified individuals who don’t have the knowledge required to deal with your question Frustration, especially at the end of the month when you need quick answers	A dedicated account manager you can contact directly when you need help Local support team of payroll experts qualified by CIPP Fast response times, over the phone or on email Sense of relief that support is always available to you A payroll provider that’s accredited by CIPP’s Payroll Assurance Scheme
Automation	Lots of repetitive admin e.g. doing a simple task over and over, on a regular basis Regular need for confusing manual calculations Mistakes made due to human-error that are hard to fix	Rates are auto-applied to people’s pay – even complicated Statutory Sick Pay rates based on seniority and tenure Auto-run of static payrolls Workflows that save time e.g. when an employee submits a leave request, an email is sent to their manager to approve it Reminders automatically sent to team members to submit missed timesheets and overtime
Integration	Wasting time entering the same data multiple times into different systems Exporting data from one system, fiddling with it in excel, then uploading it into another system Data that’s out of sync and out-dated in both or either system Asking yourself ‘surely these systems should be able to talk to each other?!’	Seamless and accurate date flowing between Time & Attendance, HR, ERP, and Finance systems APIs with real-time connections Reduction in mistakes associated with inputting the same data twice Integration of other software e.g. an Employee Benefits platform
Holiday pay	An over-reliance on excel spreadsheets and calculators Lots of payslip queries – or complaints – saying ‘my holiday pay looks wrong’ Unfair pay claims via Employment Tribunals Lots of time spent fixing people’s pay	Simply set up your leave policy parameters and let the software apply the rates and calculate it all for you Little to no mistakes made Time-saved and a lot less headaches due to a huge reduction in employee holiday pay queries
User interface	Software that looks old fashioned and out-dated Difficult to navigate the parts of the system you don’t frequently use Regularly referring to notes and step-by-step system guides Constant influx of employee queries, requesting information they could be accessing for themselves	Software with a simple, clean look Intuitive navigation that makes it easy to find new, unfamiliar things Helpful prompts explaining things, or showing you what to do next New people in your team can pick up and learn how to use the software quickly Employees access their information with no help or input needed
Reliability	Software you sometimes can’t access due to unknown technical issues… Frustration caused by slow load speeds and freezing Employees regularly disgruntled because they can’t get into the system	Headache-free system access and use for you and your employees whenever you need it Never thinking ‘this system/my payroll provider are always letting me down when I need them most’
Accessibility	Paying for server upgrades Worrying about losing all your data Inability to access systems when and where you want, lacking real-time information Office based access only, with individual or special computers	Free to install, with no need for upgrades to the system Secure, cloud-based software that can’t be stolen from the office A system that your employees can access on their phones and at the weekend
Payslip accuracy	High influx of payroll queries and complaints to the team Regular mistakes e.g. new starters not paid, company sick pay not dropped to SSP, maternity leavers paid incorrectly, overtime missed etc.	More time to do the work you love, adding value to the business, instead of correcting mistakes. Stress free end to the month because you’re not worried about a surge of payroll mistakes.