subject: How Sme's Should Evaluate Payroll Software Before Purchasing [print this page] For most businesses, there are a variety of possible choices, as far as purchasing payroll accounting software is considered. Yet, finding one that can meet the specific needs of an individual organization can be very challenging. Especially, when you consider the fact that that there are both traditional and open source solutions to choose from. To find the right software for your company requires that you use proven strategies, which have worked for numerous SME's. This will help you to find a software solution that will work well for your business over the long term.
Areas SME's should evaluate before purchasing payroll software.
Costs: One of the biggest factors that a small to medium sized business should consider is: the overall costs of purchasing the software. This means looking beyond the initial upfront costs, by focusing on the recurring costs of using the program (such as: the costs for integrating the different solutions together). This could include everything ranging from: Workman's Compensation to health care benefits.
Direct Deposit: Another common feature that many SME's prefer in payroll accounting software is: those programs that allow for direct deposits. This is an important feature, because it allows the business to be able to streamline the payroll process, by making automatic deposits into the employee's bank account. This saves everyone in accounting the added paper work of printing and distributing paychecks. At the same time, it allows all employees to have easy access to their funds.
Customer Service: Before purchasing any kind of payroll software, you want to ensure that they have outstanding customer support. This means that the company should provide 24 hour customer support and offer customers the choice of sending out a technician (if the problem cannot be resolved over the phone).
The Reputation of the Company: Prior to making any kind of purchases, it is imperative to investigate the company that manufactures and distributes the software. To do this you would want to contact the Better Business Bureau and see if the business has any outstanding customer complaints. This will tell you if the company's software would be a good match for your business.
Clearly, when you are investigation payroll software solutions for your business, you must ensure that it will work well with the organization. The above steps are just a few ways of determining, which software solutions would work well for any SME.
