Demand for outsourced payroll services has increased significantly over the past few years

Payroll can be quite a headache for any company, especially as it seeks to grow and achieve its goals. In fact, with organisations spreading their operations in multiple jurisdictions, and bringing more hands-on board, what was previously a routine task, may become an issue.

Luckily, KPMG has been helping local companies with their monthly obligations towards their employees for many decades now, becoming a trusted partner and leader in the sector.

Partner Clifford Delia and Associate Director Amy-Jo Portelli within the Corporate Accounting Advisory Department both agree that the advantages of outsourcing the payroll function of an organisation are multi-faceted, especially the larger an organisation gets.

“Demand for outsourced payroll services has increased significantly over the past few years,” maintains Clifford. “There are several reasons why this is true, but most significantly it is due to a growing number of challenges being presented by the composition of today's workforce, the highly dynamic legal environment, a constantly shifting tax and wage regime, as well as new realities presented by expats and remote working.”

Amy adds that an outsourced payroll function frees up human resources that would be able to focus on matters which are more significantly related to the core-function of the organisation in question. “A number of new clients indicated that they were choosing KPMG as their preferred provider of outsourced payroll services in order to free up time of scarce HR and Finance people, while ensuring more confidentiality.”

Confidentiality is a sensitive issue that may become a headache if mishandled. In fact, employers may wish to keep certain sensitive salary data away from in house teams and a professional outsourced service as offered by KPMG has managed to put many minds at rest.

“Our dedicated team of payroll and tax professionals guarantee that their payroll will be processed in absolute confidentiality in accordance with the highest quality standards and in full compliance with tax rules,” Amy explains.

“We have ample experience in managing payroll of local and international clients ranging from micro to large entities. By outsourcing payroll to KPMG, clients will get the peace of mind that payroll is processed on time and accurately,” Clifford continues.

This means that companies will once and for all stop worrying about a payroll executive becoming unexpectedly unavailable at the most precarious moments of the month, bringing about untold discomfort for the entire organisation.

“We take care of the complete process from data collection from the client's information systems, all the way to preparation and distribution of password protected payslips, leave management, immigration and tax registrations, payments of salaries and dues to Commissioner for Tax and Customs,” Amy expounds.

Moreover, KPMG assigns a dedicated relationship manager to each client who would fill the role of key contact person for all the payroll-related queries and requirements. “The designated key contact person would be familiar with all the peculiarities of the client’s payroll and corporate requirements. Naturally our relationship managers are supported by a team of experienced payroll executives, accountants and tax advisors who are the backbone of our entire system, and hence they are the reason why we confidently guarantee timely delivery and adequate redundancy,” Clifford ensures.

KPMG’s experienced payroll team has been providing the service for over forty years, yet it endeavours to stay updated with the latest technology and most significantly with all the important changes in tax law and any other policy changes that effect payroll.

KPMG is aware that payroll is a very sensitive area which businesses might wish to keep under close observation. Yet this does not mean an outsourced solution does not allow for close scrutiny. “KPMG also offers businesses the opportunity to have a real-time dashboard that allows them to follow how each member of staff is getting their remuneration. This also allows for optimised analysis of employee data, trends, and the generation of regular KPIs via powerful graphs and visuals.”

Employees may also benefit from real time online access to payslips, FSS documentations and other employment related data without any manual intervention from the client's or KPMG's end.

All solutions operate within a highly secure environment, which can reside either locally on the premises, or as cloud-based software solutions. In all cases, communication protocols ensure high confidentiality and compliance with all GDPR requirements.

KPMG’s outsourced payroll solutions are completely customisable according to the needs of any client, while sterling quality of service is guaranteed. “We operate a four-eyes review principle in all our processes, coupled with our extensive internal control procedures,” Amy notes.

“Moreover, with KPMG being present in most jurisdictions around the world, clients will be effectively plugging into an international global network of tax advisors, accountants, and lawyers, with all the advantages that brings with it. This certainly facilitates matters especially for businesses with cross boarder interests and employees operating remotely from different countries,” Clifford concludes.