How a proper school payroll system can help your organisation

The easy option might be to stick with your current payroll software. However, these solutions can be clunky, somewhat outdated, and not tailored to the specific needs of the education sector. And we all know how intricate education payroll can be!

But fear not! In this article, we'll guide you through the benefits of adopting a proper school payroll system for your setting.

Let’s begin. 

Maximising efficiency: The benefits of a school payroll system 

Managing payroll effectively is crucial for all educational settings. These include academies, MATs, and maintained schools. A school payroll system can simplify and speed up your processes. This allows administrators to focus on other important tasks (of which there are many).  

Here’s some of the advantages of implementing a school payroll system optimised for educational settings. 

Simplified sickness and leave management 

In the academic year 2021/2022, national statistics revealed a higher incidence of teaching absences. On average, each teacher who took sick leave was absent for 9.3 days, up from 8.6 days in the previous year. 

While increased levels of absenteeism can negatively affect your students' learning, it also places an increased administrative burden on your school. 

A reliable school payroll system automates the calculation of sickness and leave. It utilises metrics like the Bradford Factor or customised triggers. This feature helps schools to monitor and reduce absenteeism. The result? Smooth operations and minimal disruption to teaching and learning. 

Streamlined employee self-service 

Teachers seldom have the luxury of even five minutes to enjoy their lunch. So they probably don't have the time to visit the school office and update their personal information or submit expense claims.  

As a result, many schools end up with outdated staff data and a mounting backlog of unprocessed expense claims. 

Employee self-serve functionality can empower your staff and simplify administrative tasks. With a school payroll system, staff members can:  

• View and download their payslips 
• Update personal information 
• Request a leave of absence  
• Submit expense claims  

They can do this from the comfort of their own home. This self-service functionality reduces paperwork, saves time and improves overall staff satisfaction. 

Comprehensive reporting and data analysis 

If you’re in the SLT, you’ll know how important data is – especially when it comes to those school governor meetings.  

A school payroll system offers a wide range of reports to provide valuable insights into staffing and financial data. These reports can include information on absence rates, turnover and headcount, and other KPIs.  

With this data, you can make informed decisions and identify areas for improvement. 

Centralised payroll management 

For settings with a dedicated payroll team, an in-house payroll system offers centralised control. This allows schools and MATs to manage payroll and pensions within one platform. As a result, you get more flexibility and better compliance with regulations. 

Integration with HR systems 

You may be unfamiliar with the term ‘HR system’ – particularly in an educational context. These systems seem to be prevalent in private sector businesses, but not so much in schools.  

HR responsibilities tend to be delegated between office staff and SLTs.  

These include: 

• Absence management 
• Performance management  
• Payroll  

However, a school payroll system that works with a HR system helps make things easier. It streamlines data flow and removes the need for entering information manually. This can improve accuracy, reduce error and enhance efficiency. It also frees up SLTs and office staff to focus on other things.  

With an integrated school HR and payroll system specifically for educational settings, you can: 

• Simplify leave management  
• Empower employees with self-service capabilities  
• Offer comprehensive reporting and data analysis  
• Enhance meeting and performance management  
• Provide centralised control over payroll processes 

Investing in a school payroll and HR system is a strategic decision. It can positively impact the operations and success of your setting.  

Why should you consider Access Payroll for your school’s payroll needs? 

At this stage, we want to respect your autonomy in making decisions, and we don't aim to influence your choice. It is essential to conduct thorough research and due diligence when selecting a payroll solution. 

At Access Education, we have a team of developers and account managers. They ensure the consistent performance of our payroll software for educational settings. 

In the next section, we will present some reasons why you might want to consider us as a potential payroll provider without imposing any bias on your decision-making process. 

Increased Oversight and Data Accessibility 

Managing payroll with Access Education Payroll gives you greater visibility and control over the entire payroll process. It allows you to access and retrieve data in minutes.  

This accessibility enables you to generate more detailed and tailored reports. Thus, you always have the necessary information at your fingertips.  

Additionally, it allows for customisable visibility hierarchies. This ensures privacy and confidentiality while maintaining compliance. 

Deadline flexibility 

Having an advanced school payroll system enhances flexibility in meeting payroll deadlines. This is due to various communication channels, leading to increased adaptability.  

This alleviates the pressure on finance and HR teams who often face time constraints when dealing with evolving payroll data. 

Coordinated integration between operational teams 

Making all your processes streamlined helps different teams and software work together smoothly.  

For example, when you connect the school budget software with the school HR system, it ensures accurate budgeting. You can achieve this by incorporating HR changes and payroll data.  

Integration 

Access Education seamlessly integrates with our school budgeting software. It offers a complete end-to-end human resources solution.  

From budgeting for new team members to paying staff salaries, our software streamlines the entire process.  

When considering the functionalities of Access Education Payroll, we offer many capabilities. We have designed these capabilities to ensure smooth payroll processing.  

Our software enables you to:  

• Agree on an annual processing timetable  
• Balance year-end figures with relevant authorities 
• Calculate various payments (such as occupational and statutory), perform standard exception checks  
• Generate authorised payment files
• Distribute important documents like p60s and p45
• Produce comprehensive payroll reports and payslip
• Handle queries promptly through dedicated customer representatives 

Convenience and precision 

Additionally, Access Education Payroll: 

• Facilitates the reconciliation of statutory month-end figures 
• Handles scheduled employee payments and relevant tax or country-specific payments 
• Ensures smooth tax year-end procedures 
• Allows for the termination and roll-forward of payroll periods  

We also provide the convenience of uploading BACS/SEPA confirmations to our workspace. 

In summary, Access Education Payroll offers a comprehensive range of functionalities. These functionalities are designed to streamline your school's payroll processes. 

Streamlining Payroll: A comprehensive guide to school payroll systems 

So far, we’ve looked at the benefits of a school payroll system. We’ve also looked at some of the reasons why you might want to consider Access Education as your payroll provider.  

In this section of the article, we’ll delve into the key aspects of school payroll systems, focussing on: 

• Simplification of tasks
• Compliance
• Analytics 

When researching providers, you will often hear those terms being used.  

But what do they actually mean, and how do they relate to your school, academy or MAT? 

Let’s take a closer look.  

Simplification of tasks 

An educational setting is perhaps one of the busiest working environments out there. You have so many issues to deal with on a daily basis. It’s no wonder that HR activities like payroll can sometimes appear as an administrative burden.  

One of the fundamental aspects of a school payroll system is its ability to simplify processes. Its intuitive user interface means you can take care of payroll in a matter of minutes. This frees up your administrative team to focus on other (and let’s face it, more stimulating) activities.  

You are likely used to using your LEA-chosen payroll software. These systems are often clunky and dated – with very little functionality.  

A modern payroll system specifically catered for schools, academies and MATs is:  

• More reliable  
• Easier to use 
• Better able to provide data-driven insights  

Incorporating such a system into your school simplifies your processes and adds to a more productive workplace. Your staff can focus on their core responsibilities with greater efficiency and confidence. 

Compliance 

Along with the responsibility of having to source your own payroll, you now have to consider the issue of compliance.  

Non-compliance can result in fines – and when budgets are stretched already – you don’t want this headache.  

With a school payroll system, you can handle complex payroll tax calculations. Plus you can ensure compliance with tax regulations.  

These systems automatically:  

• Calculate tax deductions
• Generate tax forms
• Provide tools for generating payroll tax reports 

By automating tax-related processes, schools can minimise the risk of non-compliance and simplify their reporting obligations. 

Let’s not forget the issue of security, too.  

School payroll systems prioritise data security and confidentiality. They put in place robust security measures to protect sensitive employee information. This includes encryption, access controls, and regular data backups. With data stored securely in the system, schools can:  

• Maintain compliance with data protection regulations  
• Safeguard employee privacy 
• Mitigate the risk of data breaches 

Analytics and insights 

School payroll systems also offer a wide range of reporting and analytics capabilities.  

Administrators can generate various reports, such as:  

• Payroll summaries 
• Tax reports 
• Labour cost analyses  

These reports provide valuable insights into financial management. With accurate and detailed reports at their disposal, schools can make data-driven decisions. 

The importance of choosing the right school payroll system 

Selecting the right school payroll system is important to ensure ease of use for your team and correct payment of staff.  

In this section, we will explore the significance of choosing the right payroll system for your setting. We’ll also compare Access Education Payroll with other providers. These include IRIS Software Group, Civica, MHR Global, and Strictly Education. 

A reliable school payroll system goes beyond simply processing payments. It address the end-to-end lifecycle of employees within your educational settings. This facilitates efficient HR and payroll management.  

Comparing the key functionalities 

When comparing payroll systems, it is crucial to evaluate various providers. These include the likes of IRIS Software Group, Civica, MHR Global, and Strictly Education. Each of these providers offers their unique set of features and expertise in the education sector. 

Payroll software is often bundled together with HR software, but it can also be purchased separately.  

When integrated with school budgeting software, a payroll platform ensures that enough funds are available to pay staff salaries.  

Reputable providers offer solutions endorsed by bodies like the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals’ Payroll Assurance Scheme. 

Choosing the right system 

Choosing the right school payroll system is a decision that impacts your whole school/academy.  

Factors to consider are: 

• Cost  
• Ease of use
• Support services
• Data security
• Scalability 

Additionally, it’s worth gathering feedback from other schools or academies based on their experiences. They can offer valuable insights into user experiences and satisfaction levels. 

Ultimately, the goal is to select a school payroll system that aligns with your institution's specific needs. It is also important to ensure it provides accurate and timely salary payments. Reducing admin and enhancing efficiency are also important factors.  

Comparing school payroll providers: Is Access Education Payroll the right choice for you?

When it comes to selecting the ideal school payroll provider, it's essential to consider your specific needs.  

There are many platforms to choose from. Some cater to the education sector whilst others are more generalist. It's important to assess the functionalities and features offered by different providers.  

Access Education stands out as a cloud-based software solution. You can access our HR system, along with our comprehensive suite of school management software, at any time and from anywhere.  

The integration between Access Education's HR and Payroll software means your staff get paid on time (and correctly).  

You have the flexibility to manage your payroll in-house with your school staff or opt for our managed payroll service. With the latter option, our experts handle all the necessary tasks.  

We have a 99.9% first-time accuracy rating in paying staff salaries. We also have a 100% pass mark from the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals' Payroll Assurance Scheme.  

Effortlessly manage your school payroll with access education payroll: a comprehensive review 

The decision to outsource or manage your school's payroll internally depends on several factors.  

These factors include: 

• Time 
• Money 
• Personnel resource 
• Long-term goals 

If your school doesn't have a dedicated payroll team, outsourcing is often the recommended choice.  

Payroll is a complex process that impacts employees' pensions and pay. So, it's essential to ensure accurate and reliable management. In fact, many schools and MATs in the UK prefer to outsource their payroll to ease this responsibility. 

While outsourcing may come at a higher cost in the long run, it offers the advantage of relying on experts who specialise in payroll management.  

When considering outsourcing options, it's important to look beyond the price and consider factors such as:  

• Expertise in the education sector  
• Knowledge of school and multi-academy trust payroll requirements
• Customer reviews
• Case studies
• Commendations
• Reliability and accuracy ratings 

Access Education understands the varying needs of schools and MATs. Over 90% of our education customers choose our managed payroll and pensions service, recognising the benefits of outsourcing to our experienced team.  

However, we also recognise that schools may have future plans for growth and expansion. For this, we offer an in-house payroll system which you can put in place once a dedicated team is in place. 

We've designed our school HR and payroll software to adapt and grow alongside your setting. Whether you are a small school or a large Multi-Academy Trust, we have the solution that suits your specific requirements.  

Book a demo or get in touch with us to explore our payroll offerings. Whether you opt for our managed payroll service or our in-house payroll software, we've got you covered.