Saturday, April 21, 2007

More Than a Paycheck!

Why should we have to accept a software developer’s idea of how a payroll system should be structured?  Most payroll systems available today are very limited in how payroll functions are computed and then reported.

For instance:  We have to accept their definition on “types” of pay; i.e., regular, overtime, double time, night differential, etc.  What if you need to calculate and report a type of pay that the software developer did not plan for?  What if your calculation is dependant upon historical data such as the accumulation of Month-To-Date regular hours?  The historical detail is gone too soon in some systems.  What about payroll deductions, such as health insurance, retirement, investments, and wage attachments?

The ability to report this information is just as important as the payroll function itself.  Most payroll packages have a simple departmental reporting structure, and that’s it.  Additionally, historical information is more than likely retained in summary records (see “Can the Buckets”).  You may not have access the detail data via this summary operation, and the report-writer software provided with these types of packages is generally weak.  Unless you have an I.T. department with the right reporting tools and plenty of spare time (yeah, right!), you may not be able to retrieve the particular information your management needs when they need it.

We need to demand that payroll systems be designed to include the ability to build your own methods of payment, calculations for payments, taxes, deductions, etc.  Why can’t we get a user-friendly, powerful report-writer as part of the system?

Payroll is more than just a paycheck!  Help!