The application should be easy to setup. This entails having the instructions for initial installation as well as for any upgrades that are done for security purpose. Support that may be required during installation or during the operation of the application should be provided by the vendor. This may range from online support to telephone inquiries. Ease of use should be evinced from the interactive interface that has icons drawn to denote the work it does.
Integration is another feature that makes the payroll accounting solutions an essential for business. Contact information can be drawn from the employee record system, bank accounts can be integrated for depositing salary (or wage) to the account of the employee based on the total working hours and any impending vacancies can be known beforehand. The working hours, meanwhile is also calculated by assessing the entry and exit time as entered by employees themselves. Management has to input the provisions regarding the employees like holiday, leave and insurance provisions. Calculations from the raw data is done by the application itself. The effort that the management puts into payroll calculation can be seen to have been drastically reduced.
Year-end filing for tax purposes is also done by the application once the rates affecting the business is input by the management. Various contributions by the employer as well as the deductions from the account of the employees. Social security tax, federal unemployment tax, state unemployment insurance etc. The rates change annually and therefore the app should update the rates so that compliance to the law is made. Further, a business may have branches in different states with their own rates which should be accounted by the app.
Reminders are another features that prompts the management to make the payment. Moreover, the application can automatically transfer the funds to the state account on time relieving the management of the extra effort required for that end. Newly hired personnel should also be reported to government.
Payroll apps should also have provision for 1099 contract worker so that employees and consultant are differentiated. This avoids the business getting into payroll fraud. While internal control measures should be installed by the management, it should be complemented by the app.
The raw data as well as the processed data should be encrypted with the best possible means ensuring protection from unwanted intrusion. Online backup of the data ensures that natural calamities would not hamper the data.