Every educational establishment has a lot on its plate these days. Handling the payroll of its employees is one of them and is a rather cumbersome task. However, it can be simplified by hiring the services of a school payroll provider. Instead of the school staff the payroll provider will take charge of the service.
Schools traditionally use their Local Authority as a payroll service provider. But with many specialist education payroll providers available now, many schools are opting for these payroll specialists, as they are a lot less expensive and a lot more responsive than the Local Authority.
Schools have been created for the sole purpose of providing education. Though schools tend to be business oriented and try to make money to plough back into their activities, the main aim and purpose is education. Payroll is a financial function and the school need not waste time on this function. Rather they can outsource their payroll to providers who can provide a cost effective solution. Once the financial task is outsourced, the school can use the time to do what it does best, i.e., educating its pupils.
There are many types of school payroll services available but the best service that a school can expect is through the managed service. The managed service takes away a lot of headache for the school management.
A managed school payroll service usually works in the following fashion. A timetable is scheduled and the payroll provider gets the necessary data from the school. The provider then validates the data and if there is any doubt the questions are raised. Once all the questions are answered and the data is clear, the initial payroll report is created. The school gets the report and checks it for any errors. If errors are found the provider corrects them and once the school authorises the report, the payslips are generated and payment is made. Pension payments are also generally a part of the managed service.
Remember that school payroll services are quite different from other business payrolls. Though the work is similar, the deductions, pensions etc., make the education sector different from others. Hence the company that provides school payroll services needs to be totally in tune with the education sector. The payroll team needs to have the requisite experience in handling school payrolls. So make sure that you check the experience and if necessary ask for testimonials from other schools.