Employers have less than a month to change their payroll system if they are to meet the Inland Revenue Department's new requirements in time.
From April 1 this year, all employers must provide payroll information to IRD each time they pay their staff. This is a big change from the current system, in which employee tax details are filed just once a month.
Those who have never used payroll software – or who use time-consuming, dated payroll systems – may be feeling the pressure. The new process necessitates that tax information is provided each time an employee is paid, which can be up to five times a month in some cases.
Employers worried about implications of this new system for their business will be heartened to hear about PayHero, a new payroll system that automates the entire process and helps streamline all tax obligations, according to the CEO of payroll experts FlexiTime, Robert Owen.
This premium product was developed by FlexiTime and introduced to the New Zealand market early this year. The company has worked closely with IRD to ensure a seamless transition to the new payday filing system.
Owen says PayHero also makes other aspects of payroll administration much simpler: "It's a fully automated payday filing system, which has wider payroll and human resources functionality."
While payday filing may sound like more work for employers, the PayHero system makes the process more efficient and ensures tax obligations are always up to date. It eliminates the need for separate monthly tax filing, as this is integrated into the payroll process instead of being a separate task.
PayHero can be adapted to suit any employer's payroll needs – from salaried staff to shift workers. Those with staff who work variable hours can use the online time sheets to ensure hours and associated holiday leave entitlements are calculated correctly.
Working out public holiday entitlements can be difficult under the current laws. PayHero provides an automated system that calculates this using work patterns from online timesheets – meaning employers and employees can be assured it is correct.
"Employees can enter their hours, request leave and submit expense claims through an app on their mobile phones," says Owen. "Leave balances, holiday pay information and historical payslips are available via an online PayHero portal accessed from computers."
Key priorities when developing the PayHero system were ease of use and an attractive interface: "It looks good, unlike most other payroll systems, and can easily deal with varying levels of complexity when it comes to different pay entitlements," says Owen.
FlexiTime is a New Zealand-owned and run company in operation for over 10 years, with PayHero representing the culmination of over a decade of work in this field. Since its launch, feedback from early PayHero adopters has been highly positive.
Thousands of returns have been sent to IRD over this period; anecdotal evidence points to the fact that employers have saved time, allowing them to direct their energy towards other parts of their business.
"By making the most complex and admin heavy tasks easy and automated, we free business owners from the day-to-day stresses of running their team," says Owen.
PayHero is simple to use and get started – you just enter some basic details and log on to the system online. Those interested in trialling the PayHero automated payroll system will be able to access it for free up until July.
For more information on PayHero, please visit the FlexiTime website, flexitime.co.nz