Average UK pay run takes a whole day, while Aussies complete it in less than two hours

New research from payroll, employment and HR platform Employment Hero shows the average UK pay run takes an entire day – far longer than in Australia and New Zealand, where it takes on average less than two hours.

The survey asked 313 professionals at UK accountancy, payroll and professional services firms how long the average pay run took.

Data note: Percentages may not total 100 due to rounding.

The median time was one day, with 59% of respondents saying it took one day or longer. Just 8% said it took less than two hours – a massive shift from Australia and New Zealand, where 71% of pay runs are said to take that long.

The UK has seen a series of changes to payroll legislation in recent years, including the introduction and removal of the social care levy, investment zones, IR35 changes, and pension shifts.

This maelstrom of shifts has added to the stress of the pay run.

Asked what their top three challenges were when complying with payroll legislation, UK accounting and payroll firms cited “adapting or updating systems” (36%), “operating restrictions”, “keeping up to date with legislation changing too often” (31%), and “finding accurate information” (30%).

Another issue appears to be the spread of different software applications that the accounting and payroll firms use – an average of six separate cloud applications were used by the firms surveyed.

But despite slow pay runs, the survey shows that payroll should not be ignored as a potential source of revenue for these firms.

Firms that offered payroll as a service had on average £5m more in annual revenue than those that didn’t – £24,980,000 compared to £19,670,000.

Ben Thompson, CEO of Employment Hero, commented:

“Pay runs take too long in the UK. This crucial task shouldn’t be rushed through, but with the right tools and some smart automation most pay runs in Australia and New Zealand take less than two hours – compared to a day in the UK.”

“Clearly some of the problem is the ever-changing world of payroll legislation. But the right software solution should be able to cut that time down dramatically – especially if it is integrated with other people-management software.”

“Employment Hero’s suite of cloud products are always up-to-date with new payroll legislation and integrate payroll with other functions seamlessly. That means less double-handling of data, less checking of different applications to ensure they agree with each other, and less time checking you are complying with the latest rules and regulations.”

“Automation is crucial to the future of payroll. That doesn’t mean replacing the human touch – but it does mean cutting down on those repetitive tasks that make pay runs such headaches. There’s no reason to spend a whole day on pay.”

By Employment Hero

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