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Payroll can be a complicated process that requires considerable time and effort, not to mention the expertise of someone who knows what they are doing. The payroll market has seen significant growth in recent years as companies become more aware of the benefits of outsourcing their payroll services.

While not always the easiest option to take, payroll outsourcing can be a powerful solution for companies that need help with payroll administration or want relief from the stress it brings. Outsourcing your payroll provides several benefits that can help your company become more efficient and competitive, as well as give your employees peace of mind.

This article will discuss the top seven advantages of payroll outsourcing and how your company can benefit from outsourcing its payroll responsibilities.

What are outsourced payroll services?

When your company outsources payroll, it takes on a solution where payroll specialists do a part or all of the work. You will receive outsourced payroll services, which means you outsource specific tasks to an outside company that specialises in this area.

Payroll is a professional and dedicated division of MASA, and our in-house specialists administer an excess of 12,000 worldwide payroll transactions monthly. Our outsourced payroll services in South Africa are focused on essential tasks, and we provide a cost-effective, enterprise-grade service that includes:

• Payroll Administration
• Capturing and reporting on leave and absenteeism
• Transfer of salaries and wages to employees
• Preparation, print and delivery of payslips
• Customised payroll reports for your business
• Ensuring statutory compliance by monthly preparation of the monthly EMP201: PAYE, UIF, COID, SDL, Union, bargaining council, garnishee and pension/provident fund deductions and payment to relevant bodies
• Preparation and submission of EMP501 and annual IRP5
• Assistance with all payroll related queries

By outsourcing payroll to MASA, you can rest assured that we can handle all aspects of the entire process and ensure compliance with statutory requirements. Our experienced team comprises client-first, operationally minded payroll specialists who bring their combined skills and experience to every client relationship.

Advantages of outsourcing your payroll

The objective of payroll outsourcing, like with any outsourced services, is maximising efficiencies. Payroll outsourcing is beneficial because it allows companies to focus on their core business activities while specialists handle the rest.

Rather than getting bogged down with administrative work like payroll processing, your company can double-down on its efforts and put more of its attention towards achieving business growth. Outsourced payroll services can bring significant advantages to your company, so let us explore seven of the most empowering ones.

Workload reduction

Outsourcing your payroll services means reducing the workload on internal staff and allowing them to focus on other important tasks that could benefit your business. It takes away some pressure from overworked employees who may be bogged down with administrative work like processing salaries and paying employees.

Payroll outsourcing also has a positive impact on staff morale because they can focus their attention and energy on more high-level work that contributes to achieving company KPI’s and objectives. It’s a win-win for both employers and employees.

Cost savings

Payroll processing can be costly because companies have to pay more for an employee or department with the necessary skills and experience. By outsourcing your payroll, your company can save money by utilising quality services from qualified experts on a flexible basis.

Payroll outsourcing cuts down on overheads, helping your company save money on things like office space and equipment, payroll processing software, internal administrative staff and more.

Improved accuracy of data

The continued exponential growth in technological innovation requires companies to remain at the forefront of their industries. Outsourcing payroll operations has proven to be an effective strategy for teams nationally and internationally because it provides flexibility and access to cutting-edge technology as and when needed.

Outsourced payroll services help improve the quality of information being processed by providing a more accurate view of what needs to be done at each step to complete all tasks effectively. This also ensures that all required documents are in place and that there is no room for human error, which can considerably impact the accuracy of your accounting information.

Risk protection

By outsourcing payroll services, you can mitigate risks because MASA will ensure that all statutory requirements are met for both employees and the company. Payroll outsourcing reduces exposure to various risk factors like litigation, fines and penalties, and damage to reputation due to non-compliance with laws governing compliance issues.

Data security is an essential part of any payroll process, and outsourcing to an agency like MASA reduces exposure to computer viruses and hackers and data theft.

Expert workflow

MASA’s workflow is based on ISO and international best practices, and our payroll processes rely on efficient mechanisms to capture essential salary information from employees on a timely basis. Outsourcing your payroll ensures that your company’s data will be captured and reported regularly, giving you a more accurate view of financial performance.

Payroll outsourcing also provides timely delivery of management accounts to key stakeholders, which is beneficial for the business because it allows them to make crucial decisions based on reliable data.

Flexibility

Payroll outsourcing provides flexibility because MASA will develop a payroll solution specific to your business requirements so you can achieve your desired results. Your company gains access to cutting-edge technology and services as and when needed, bringing a sense of security and peace of mind that you will never be left behind during challenging moments.

Ultimately, payroll outsourcing offers a wide range of payroll solutions to suit your business needs and budget. This flexibility allows you to achieve company goals more efficiently and effectively without worrying about administrative tasks like payroll management or compliance issues that could impact profitability.

Expert management

Outsourcing your payroll provides you with access to a team of highly skilled professionals whose primary focus is to provide the best possible payroll service.

Your company gains access to on-site payroll administration and expert paycheck management services, which reduces your exposure to risk factors like litigation fines and penalties and damage to reputation due to non-compliance with laws governing compliance issues.

At MASA, we don’t miss pay runs or fail to resolve queries immediately. We are acutely aware that non-payments, late payments, errors and unresolved issues impact heavily on our staff and our clients and work to complete all payroll processes correctly and on time, every time.

Putting the power in your hands

Outsourcing your payroll offers the competitive edge that your company may need to survive and thrive during these times of economic uncertainty. It gives you the power to focus on your core business, knowing you have a trusted payroll partner to help you achieve your goals.

MASA has an extensive network of regional offices that allow us to operate with unmatched efficiency both nationally and internationally. If you are looking to outsource your payroll, we are the preferred payroll specialists ready to empower your company through our expert services.

You can visit our website for more information and contact MASA for your payroll outsourcing needs.

Staffing solutions are a core part of any business, which is why 59% of worldwide companies use outsourcing to reduce expenses. Effective outsourcing allows businesses to lower overhead costs, expand outwards, have greater focus, and improve service quality – all of which lead to a healthier bottom line.

Essentially, you need qualified and skilled individuals to get the job done, and if you don’t have them on your team internally, outsourcing is your best bet. But with so many staffing agencies out there, how do you know which one will be right for you?

In this article, we’ll explore three benefits of expert staffing solutions that Measured Ability South Africa (MASA) offers companies.

Cost Saving

Through economies of scale, an outsourced service provider like MASA can run a more cost-effective staffing operation than an in-house process by leveraging expert staffing providers, administrators, HR & IR practitioners, and more.

Around 70% of businesses surveyed by Deloitte say they use outsourcing as a cost-cutting tool. We have geared every component of our outsourcing solution towards efficiency and cost-effectiveness, absorbing the vital costs for clients at every step of the way.

With an operationally-minded and entrepreneurial mindset, you can rest assured that our team provides only the most necessary services – minimising budget wastage and maximising every rand you invest in the staffing process.

We tailor each staffing solution to fit our client’s unique needs, covering essential costs, tasks and processes such as:

Payroll

Payroll processing is a core business process that can be time-consuming and laborious, resulting in lost productivity and money wasted if you’re relying on inefficient or outdated methods.

By outsourcing your payroll, you can take a significant load off your business and free up precious time, allowing you to focus on more strategic tasks during the staffing process.

Our payroll services cater for:

• Staffing required (e.g. Accountant, financial manager, bookkeeping HOD, payroll HOD)
• Software and licensing (e.g. DBIT payroll, Microsoft, Pastel accounting, Sophos anti-virus, software support)
• Hardware (e.g. Server, laptops, VoIP phones, hardware support photocopier)
• Ops Cost (e.g. Phone line rentals, payslips, printing, bank charges, EFT fees, rental, electricity, landlord costs, repairs and maintenance, etc.)

By looking at the total time spent on in-house payroll management each pay period compared with outsourcing, it’s easy to see why so many companies are choosing a more professional, hands-on staffing solution.

Daily Operation

It may seem counter-intuitive to outsource your company’s daily operations, but this is a powerful investment that pays dividends over time. In the long term, delegating these tasks to MASA saves you money and results in even better outcomes for your company.

We handle daily operations such as:

• Staffing required: Operations manager, recruitment personnel, site managers, ops dispatch drivers, nightshift drivers.
• Vehicle instalment, repairs and maintenance, fuel, insurance. Criminal checks, PPE issue and return, timesheet administration, printing and photocopying.
• Hardware and software support, purchase and licensing; laptops and photocopier.
• Rental, electricity, landlord costs, repairs and maintenance
• Recruitment criminal checks, advertising, vetting

Companies can focus more budget and resources on improving their offerings with these payroll costs, daily operational costs, and additional costs handled. Also, MASA is not subject to costly corporate head-office structures. What you pay us is what we re-invest in your site through infrastructural and operational spending.

Workload Reduction

One of the core reasons most companies outsource is to take the load off and reduce pressure on an operational end. An internal team or workforce has its limits, so companies can significantly reduce workload and boost productivity by outsourcing to an expert staffing agency.

MASA structures operations through innovative, customisable workflow processes based on international best practices. The massive technological advances of today are accelerating the pace of business, and outsourcing is the only solution that provides the flexibility to contend in the modern global arena.

Further Cost Savings and Work Load Reduction

MASA also absorbs the costs and tasks centred on:

• Human Resources and Industrial Relations: Full recruitment process, vetting, site administration, dismissals, CCMA attendance and liability.
• Risk management: Reduced liabilities – Contractual, CCMA, insurances, strikes.
• Administration: VAT, PAYE, SDL, leave pay, sick leave, PPH, council levies/returns and provident funds, loans (ad-hoc, weekly, monthly salary payouts)

As good as your team is, not every member has highly specialised knowledge in their field. Outsourcing your staffing can ensure that you get trusted experts on the job to complete specified tasks and take that extra workload off your business.

Risk Mitigation

MASA’s vetting process is fully compliant with current legislation in South Africa. We use a rigorous screening procedure for all our staff members across all technical areas of expertise needed by companies today. Our team works hard on this groundwork so your business can focus on its core competencies and reduce the inherent risk involved in staffing.

By hiring the wrong person, you are exposing your business to legal repercussions, fines, or even closure. Partnering with a professional staffing agency can also dramatically reduce loss through theft and fraud, due to the thorough vetting procedures implemented by our team of experts.

Our vetting process is fully compliant with current legislation in South Africa. We use a rigorous screening procedure for all our staff members across all technical areas of expertise needed by companies today. MASA’s critical points of risk mitigation include:

• Insurances

• Indemnification

• On-site risk management

• Theft and stock loss

We also leverage HR and IR administration specialists to ensure that your company is fully compliant with legislation. Companies can draw on our risk management and insurance expertise for advice and guidance to mitigate risk exposure as much as possible.

The smart staffing solution

MASA’s staffing solutions in South Africa is a powerful and unique one chosen by forward-thinking companies looking to gain an edge. We are the ideal staffing agency to partner with for any company looking to reduce costs and workload while increasing productivity.

MASA offers a personalised staffing solution that empowers businesses of all kinds. Our constant innovation and a drive to maintain the best practices worldwide make us uniquely qualified as a leading staffing agency.

Contact MASA today to learn more about our staffing services and begin developing the best solution for your needs.

Whether you are looking to solve staffing issues or payroll maintenance, develop a new and more effective business strategy, or just becoming become more efficient all-around – the truth is there is a lot to take care of, and this is where finding the right outsourcing agency comes in.

But truth be told, you will only find out how good they are after you have used them. So, what do you need to know when choosing the best outsourcing agency to partner with you?

1. Money talks, business walks

When you talk in pure business terms, an outsourcing solution needs to improve your business’s bottom line through reduced operational costs. If you don’t see this happening anytime soon, the chances are that you’ll end up spending more than you end up saving.

You don’t need to be an expert analyst to figure out where you’re heading. All you’ve got to see is whether outsourcing will help you reduce a significant amount of your monthly costs in hiring employees and equipment. At the same time, you will also need to balance the quality and quantity of the services provided by the outsourcing agency.

For instance, if you contemplate outsourcing your payroll, you need to calculate if carrying out this function internally takes up more resources and costs than outsourcing it. If the money makes sense, you are heading in the right direction.

READ MORE: Recruitment Agencies Cape Town

2. Is the price right?

We already discussed how cost-cutting by hiring talent in a low-price tag is one of the most common reasons companies outsource. You’ll get several agencies offering their resources at a competitive price.

However, instead of going for the cheapest outsourcing solution, do a little bit of shopping around. Compare and find out what are you going to get from other agencies as well.

For instance, some outsourcing agencies will also offer customer support at no extra charge, which is a great deal. Remember, however, that although the price is an essential factor, it should not be the ONLY factor that helps you zero in on a decision.

3. Are they on time?

Timeliness in outsourcing is as vital as the costs. The last thing you want is bottlenecks, as this can lead to missed deadlines, and but the money you intended to save could go out the window.

Just to save yourself the headache, make sure you brief your selected outsourcing agency as well as you can, and then there is no way it can backfire on you or be used as an excuse for poor work. You want your money to work for you, so you need to brief well and handle queries upfront.

Going back and forth with your outsourced service provider is a sure way to waste valuable time and dampen your overall productivity. The goal is to gain the most out of your partnership by reducing the time spent on the outsourced tasks and not the other way around.

4. Do your research

Before you sign on the dotted line, make a point of conducting in-depth research on your choice of outsourcing agencies. In today’s digital age, having an informative website that describes key offerings in detail is essential for any outsourcing agency. It is one of the easiest ways to contact them directly, and if they don’t have a website, this may be a signal to find another company.

Do some digging and find more information about the outsourcing agency, the infrastructure, safety practices and the team that works there. Find a reference who has worked with the agency before and ask how their experience was. These practices will help you assess the service providers’ reliability and ensure that you choose the right outsourcing agency for the job.

5. Put a face to a name

You can’t just have blind faith in the outsourcing agency for hire, even if you’re saving significantly by hiring them. Find out all that you can, including the team members who’ll be working on the projects and who’ll lead that team.

Contact the prospected agencies directly to learn more about the people behind the solution. Setting up a meeting with their HR or sales representative is a crucial step to take once you have narrowed down your list of outsourcing agencies.

If you can, visit one of their branches to do some in-field research. You can learn a lot from how their staff treats you as a random walk-in prospect, compared to how they treat you over the phone or in a video call.

Set a high standard

Lastly, if you find that the company has inadequate quality control measures or does not have any backup plan for missed deadlines, it is better not to hire them at all. If they fail to present promptly and consistently in to your initial meetings or fail to meet the earliest deadlines of the project, it is better to cut your losses sooner than later down the line.

The most effective way to solve your human resource problems is with the right multi-service human solutions group. MASA is a leading national and international employment and staffing agency that is here to support, empower and drive your business forward.

Visit our website today for a comprehensive idea of what we do, and contact us to take the next step towards your ideal outsourcing solution.

With the competitiveness of today’s job market, finding the right employees for the job is a complex process that is sometimes overlooked. Many companies have made a habit of hiring the wrong candidates for their positions, leading to high staff turnover rates and poor performance. 

A recruiter’s main goal is to help companies avoid these hiring mistakes by providing the strategy and experience required to achieve success in the hiring process.

This blog post outlines the top mistakes businesses make when hiring new employees and how recruiters can help improve the hiring process.

Not asking the right questions

This one may seem quite obvious, but one misunderstood question can throw off an entire interview, even with a qualified candidate. Complex questions don’t always produce the answers needed to evaluate a candidate’s knowledge or experience. 

Also, hiring managers may sometimes ask questions that simply do not make sense, either because of a language barrier or because the question falls outside the context of the position at hand. 

Outsourcing agencies are skilled at researching job roles and coming up with the most relevant questions to test and evaluate candidates before and during the interview process. 

They know when to ask open-ended questions that allow for a candidate to fully express themselves and showcase their personality (e.g. Can you tell me more about yourself? ), versus when to ask closed-end questions that elicit a specific response (e.g. What is the standard procedure for handling Error 404 support requests?). 

Not communicating requirements effectively

Hiring managers often miscommunicate or fail to specify the main skills and experience they want in their new hire. Recruiters are able to understand the unique requirements of hiring managers and develop accurate job postings for each position. 

A good job post will filter candidates from the onset and attract the most relevant responses from qualified applicants. Asking well-researched screening questions for a position can increase the quality of each applicant by filtering out candidates that may not be a good fit for the role. 

For example, an unqualified candidate is more likely to apply to a broadly described position over one with clear requirements and emphasis on must-have skills for the job. It is the ability to nail these small but important details that make recruitment services a valuable investment for your hiring needs.

Poor screening process 

Screening candidates is a crucial part of the hiring process that hiring companies may not always get right. Recruiters are skilled at taking candidates through a rigorous, holistic screening process, focusing on key factors, such as:

• Must-have skills and qualifications for the position 
• Good-to-have or desired qualifications
• Knowledge of the company and industry
• Company culture and personality fit

On average, conversion rates for the average hiring process are around 12% (application to interview), 17% (interview to offer), and 89% (offer to acceptance and placement). This means that most applicants will be filtered through based on their CV’s, leaving only the highest quality candidates for interviews, and ideally, ending with the best candidate for the position. 

Recruiting is about more than just finding someone for an open position; it’s also about making sure that the company connects with an individual who brings value to the business, sticks around for a while and does their job well. 

On another level, job postings handled by an outsourcing agency can help companies find top candidates who might not have applied for the job. Depending on the position, there can be a significant amount of competition between hiring companies to fill roles that are in high demand. Experienced recruiters know how to position a company in the right place, at the right time, with messaging that speaks to the needs and expectations of highly sought out talent. 

Not being transparent enough about pay 

Attracting top talent is one thing, but successfully negotiating and hiring them is another. One mistake that businesses make is not being transparent on what is often the biggest deal-breaker: how much they are willing to pay the candidate. 

Traditionally, negotiating salary is left for the final stage of the hiring process once a candidate has already accepted the offer. However, top candidates usually have multiple offers to consider, and may catch hiring managers off-guard with higher salary expectations. Negotiating with top talent, and any candidate for that matter, is a necessary part of the hiring process. A recruiter can help smooth things out by conducting research into the relevant position and making hiring managers aware of the standard pay. 

Recruiters can also share the salary expectations of the candidate to the hiring manager, and vice versa, and help negotiate a mutually beneficial agreement that everyone will be happy with. Being transparent with pay can increase acquisition rates in situations where the estimated salary range is higher than normal in that particular industry, making it a more desirable position.

Ultimately, companies need to be careful when hiring new employees because they are committing valuable time and resources for each potential acquisition. Recruiters have an edge in the recruiting process by providing insight into what qualities that businesses should look for in their potential hires, as well as help them find those candidates through recruitment strategies that work. Gaining the right outsourcing solutions is crucial to many businesses because it opens access to more qualified employees who might not otherwise apply for jobs with them. 

Recruitment efforts often pay off if they’re done correctly and carefully, but can be unsuccessful if companies make the common hiring mistakes that are listed in this blog post. If you have any questions about the topics covered in this article or would like further assistance with hiring your ideal employee, contact us here for the best staff outsourcing services.