The changes SARS is introducing in 2010 will affect the content and frequency of what up to now has been an annual procedure.
Top selection tips
Tax and payroll expert Ron Warren, executive chairman of NuQ, says there are ten features to look out for in a payroll system:
- It must be easy to use. An hour’s training should be all that is necessary.
- The payslip should be easy to read and understand – in plain English, without any codes or abbreviations. If you need to ask what an item on the payslip means, the software does not meet this criterion.
- Changes in rates of tax, UIF, and other items should be sent to you electronically, and should not require programme changes.
- How often will you receive other legislative updates? Does the supplier guarantee compliance with all tax, UIF and other payroll related laws?
- Are reports in PDF format, and are they easy on the eye? If not in pdf format, they could easily be changed by unauthorised people.
- It should be easy to enter back dated transactions, without having to do any manual calculations. All transactions entered into the payroll should be date sensitive.
- When employees take leave, you should not need to give the system any information other than leave start and end dates. The system should take care of everything else automatically.
- It should be possible to generate tax certificates whenever you want, without having to restore a year-end file. The system should be able to produce urgent “manual” certificates on demand, making it unnecessary for you to ever enter manual tax certificates into SARS’s e@syFile system.
- It should be possible to start using the system live immediately once it has been installed, without having to do any customising. If you do have some slightly different requirements, it should be easy to copy and change existing earnings or deductions to satisfy those requirements.
- The system should be able to grow as your business grows, regardless of the number of employees and complexity of calculations required. You should never need to change payroll systems or get a more complex version of your existing payroll just because your business grows.
