How to Avoid Working Late as a Payroll Practitioner

Balancing work and personal life is challenging when you’re a dedicated mother and devoted wife; I’m often managing schedules and extra-curricular activities on top of an at times hectic work-life as a senior payroll administrator. Luckily, I have a great, understanding husband who helps out with a lot, but he can’t help me with my pressing work deadlines. From ensuring payroll is accurately delivered on time to the entire workforce to handling unexpected last minute payroll changes, my job is not easy. Thankfully, I’ve learned a lot and gained experience over my 20-year career. I want to share an important tip to avoid working late as a Payroll Practitioner – leverage modern HCM technology.

I’m fortunate to work for a great employer, The SSI Group, LLC. We develop billing software for the healthcare industry which has transformed over the years. Much like the billing software The SSI Group offers, the applications that I rely on today to deliver accurate pay for our employees across multiple states have greatly evolved.

I remember the old days when I used to process payroll through paper and if I lost one single sheet, that was the end of an accurate payroll. It was chaotic and stressful to say the least. Then came Excel spreadsheets. It was huge step over paper that many organizations are still relying on but it was still extremely time consuming and tedious. Now, we’re in the age of modern HCM technology. Today’s solutions enable Payroll Practitioners to work more efficiently, all while helping in balancing their work life.

The Benefits of Modern HCM Technology

When The SSI Group decided it was time to implement a new HCM solution, I immediately knew my work life balance would change for the better. Not only did I have to manage the schedules of my household, I needed to find time to manage the added responsibilities of being the appointed District Director of Area Four for the ALSHRM State Council, a position that I hold close to the heart. Finding time to manage it all was previously a huge challenge, but now it no longer is an issue because I have the help of technology on my side. Our new HCM solution enabled me to work more efficiently as a Payroll Practitioner in the following ways:

Simplifying Payroll Reporting

As I’m responsible for a variety of reports, from daily, weekly, bi-monthly and monthly, I’m now able to pull all the required data that I need, create the reports, and easily disseminate and share the information amongst my colleagues more quickly. Reporting no longer was a task that consumed a lot of my daily time, it was now easier to facilitate and manage. I could now focus my time on other important business matters and get back to my family.

Automated Workflows Provide Efficiency

Prior to 2013, The SSI Group heavily relied on paper and manual processes. I found myself always checking and double checking work and waiting for approvals. This was a time-consuming method which required a lot of unproductive time and working extended hours away from my family. These outdated and inefficient processes that were in place were now eliminated and I was now able to do my job with greater ease. With our new solution in place, I said goodbye to all those moments of working late, skimming through paperwork and looking for inaccuracies.

Payroll Accuracy and Confidence

When you have a solution in place that can mitigate the complexities of multi-state jurisdictional pay laws and the capabilities of embedding pay rules to support on-call employees, life becomes easier. The task of managing and processing payroll timely and accurately becomes less stressful and less complicated. I’m now able to process my payroll with confidence knowing the fact that it’s done right and on time, which at the end, enables me to have more time to spend my family.

Today’s modern HCM technology enables Payroll Practitioners to get away from the old ways of payroll processing. I hate to admit it, but we were part of the 47% of companies that had HR software that was over seven years old. But not anymore. By leveraging modern HCM technology, we’re now able to work smarter and make sound business decisions. I’m extremely thankful that my organization recognized the potential value in switching, as it has helped improved my work life balance. So, if you’re a Payroll Practitioner that isn’t leveraging a modern HCM solution, position the imperative need for your organization to make the change, because the longer you wait, you may be spending more precious time away from your family.