Tired of tedious employment troubles? MYOB is here to help
When it comes to employer obligations and paying staff, it can sometimes feel easier tearing your hair out (even harder if you don't actually have hair).
Fortunately, we have software providers like MYOB who this month have been meeting with small business employers across New Zealand to help make the whole process much easier for SMEs.
Launching in Auckland, the recent seminar series worked its way down the country to introduce the rollout of MYOB's next-generation payroll solutions. This is in addition to explaining the new legislation, payroll compliance changes, employment law and provide advice on meeting employer obligations.
James Scollay, MYOB general manager for SME Solutions, says that employing staff can be one of the biggest pain points for a small business owner.
"Our research has told us that almost three in four SME employers struggle with issues related to employing staff," Scollay says. "Understanding their employer obligations, dealing with compliance, reporting and record keeping requirements are just some of the challenges they frequently face.
The new financial year also brings new compliance requirements. From April 1, the Health and Safety Reform Act and proposed Employment Standards Legislation Bill come into effect and include changes to paid parental leave and zero hour contracts.
"MYOB's online payroll software is designed to mitigate the stress of managing payroll; it's tailored for New Zealand businesses and is automatically up-to-date with payroll compliance including IRD changes, Holidays Act requirements, ACC, Student Loan and KiwiSaver rates," says Scollay. "This means business owners can leave the payroll grunt work to us and use the time saved to focus on being great employers."
MYOB estimates that its software is used to pay over 30 per cent of the New Zealand workforce. And the size of your business is irrelevant - MYOB covers payroll for businesses from 1 – 20,000 employees.
What is MYOB Essentials Payroll and MYOB YourPay?
In line with their ongoing investment into payroll in New Zealand, MYOB's latest extension of their product offering for employers was released in March.
"Essentials Payroll is an online payroll system that can be used as a stand-alone product or integrated with our popular Essentials Accounting product," Scollay says. "It helps employers pay their staff quickly and accurately in three easy steps and collaborate with their accountant or bookkeeper to manage the process.
To break down the barriers of communication between employers and their staff even further, MYOB YourPay is a mobile web app, allowing staff to complete timesheets and receive their payslips online.
Jeanine van Kradenburg, owner of the Kapiti-based business Party Perfect, has binned her stacks of illegible paper payroll sheets, and now describes both MYOB products as "life-changing".
"[With] MYOB YourPay, sorting out timesheets and payroll has never been so simple," van Kradenburg says. "The app makes it so quick and self-explanatory for my staff to enter in their timesheets and when I open up my [Essentials] payroll it is automatically populated into the system. Essentials Payroll then helps me to work out their pay easily. I do everything online now and my accountant can access my business data easily if I need anything. It really is wonderful!
Scollay says "MYOB believes working to reduce payroll complexity and ensure compliance for New Zealand businesses of all sizes will make a real difference to the local economy. If we can make the key processes of employment much easier, and less time-consuming, it will not only free up time for small business owners, it will also remove one more barrier to employment and growth in the small business sector."
If you would like to know more about the essentials of the employment lifecycle from pre-employment to ending employment, click here to download a copy of MYOB's Essential Employer Guide.
