At this stage, it’s impossible to deny the benefits of remote work. As well as significantly reducing office overheads, remote arrangements can open broader talent pools, boost productivity, and lead to generally happier employees.
But entirely remote arrangements aren’t without their problems. As well as setbacks with general things like day-to-day communication and recruitment drives, many managers experience isses with remote payrolls.
This may come as a surprise because it’s easy to assume that paying employees is the same regardless of where they work. But this isn’t the case. Treating remote payroll in this way could quickly cause you a headache due to the following stress-filled mistakes.
# 1 – Overlooking payroll rules
Depending on how far afield remote employees happen to be, remote payroll requires the consideration of location-specific payroll rules. Failing to factor this could quickly see you falling foul of legal issues that include minimum wage laws and tax requirements in different remote working locations.
To ensure you’re fulfilling your monthly payroll obligations at all times, you must stay informed. In some instances, sticking to local remote hires is the safest way to do this. But, if you are hiring further afield, always research in advance, or speak with a financial legal advisor, to make sure that you’re providing everything your remote employees are entitled to where payroll is concerned.
# 2 – Losing track of invoices
In-office payroll is relatively easy to manage because members of your team can hand invoices directly to you whenever necessary. For remote workers, the need to send invoices, often in multiple files, can quickly result in lost invoices and missed payment dates. This can be incredibly frustrating for your remote team, and chasing down those lost files could add hours to your payroll process.
Luckily, you can overcome this issue if you use specific software for remote invoicing. Options like Zoho Finance make it far easier to handle all remote invoices from one accessible platform. Simply make sure to work with expert Zoho consultants who can help you get to grips with this invoice collection, and even integrate your payroll software so that relevant remote invoices go straight into the pot each time.
# 3 – Failing to account for overseas variations
Remote employment doesn’t always involve overseas hires, but it can. And, if you hire overseas without considering things like time differences and differing currencies, then you could quickly find yourself in trouble. As well as failing to pay those remote employees on time, you could even end up paying more than agreed rates or underpaying by some margin.
Luckily, there is now software that can handle these changes for you by automating payroll based on set time zones and chosen currencies. Equally, outsourcing financial advisors who are experienced and located in the country in question can help you to ensure reliable, correct payments that are always on time.
Remote payrolls can easily cause you a headache if you overlook these pain points. Make your remote journey pain-free at last by perfecting remote payments every time.