Article

What are the benefits of managed payroll?

Certified payroll professionals can provide payroll confidence

February 01, 2024

Key takeaways

Payroll processes are becoming more complex, with several emerging challenges.

Managed payroll services can protect the continuity of the function.

The right provider can deliver several benefits, including efficiency, scalability and accuracy. 

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Managing the payroll function has become more complex than ever, with several emerging demands, from maintaining privacy and keeping up with evolving technology capabilities and employee expectations to attracting and retaining qualified payroll personnel.

When protecting payroll continuity, one of the best things you can do for your business is tap into the experience, security and reliability of professionally managed payroll services for some or all of your payroll functions. A reputable managed payroll service provider can offer a range of benefits, including improving efficiency, accuracy, security and supporting business continuity. Plus, it can provide critical tax advice and year-end support. 

Maintaining control of your payroll services

Tapping into the payroll services experience, knowledge, software system experience, and the reliability of a professional, certified payroll team gives you better accuracy, accountability, payroll compliance, security and business continuity. Full or partially managed payroll service choices allow you to control the pieces of your payroll you want managed with on-call customer service. 

Reputable managed payroll service providers consider your specific needs, saving time and empowering your team to do what they do well. During the process, you retain control over policies and procedures while the professionally managed payroll team securely covers creating a more efficient, accurate, secure and compliant process. 

Enhanced accuracy and decreased risk

Several obstacles can pop up when making sure your payroll is accurate. With varying tax rates, pay scales and withholdings across geographies, getting time tracking and other payroll services just right can be tricky. Investing in managed payroll services helps increase accuracy so your workers get paid correctly every time. 

Additionally, contracting with a managed payroll provider can ease compliance risk. Managed payroll teams are often fluent in both U.S. and Canadian payroll tax, as well as interpreting how new and changing tax laws affect your employee population. 

Keeping current with ever-changing federal, local and state tax regulations is essential—especially for national and multinational businesses—and managed payroll services can support this goal. Performing regular audits and staying in compliance avoids costly penalties and wasted time.

Managing payroll costs and time

By passing the time-consuming, tedious chore of payroll processing to a quality managed payroll service provider, your company can relieve your team from the significant administrative burden and free up staff to focus on more strategically oriented work. 

Another perk of a full-service managed payroll services team is not having to recruit and train new payroll talent when a payroll department employee moves on. Managed payroll gives you dedicated support that comes with backup staff, preferably two layers, to ensure payroll continuity no matter what happens with in-house payroll.

Tip: When performing due diligence on a potentially managed payroll services provider, remember
to ask about how many layers of backup they provide to protect your payroll continuity.

Getting started with managed payroll services

Experienced, certified, and knowledgeable payroll professionals deliver results for clients. Working with the right provider can make your payroll process efficient, accurate, compliant, secure, and fully protected, creating a payroll foundation that can seamlessly adjust to your company’s future goals and growth.

Learn more about the benefits of payroll outsourcing and how RSM’s managed payroll services team can optimize your function. Or, reach out to the RSM payroll outsourcing team with your questions.   

RSM's professional affiliations and certificates in payroll

PayrollOrg (formerly American Payroll Association)

National Payroll Institute (formerly Canadian Payroll Association)


Fundamental Payroll Certification (FPC)

Certified payroll professional (CPP)

RSM contributors

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