1. Assess your actual business needs
Before contacting a software developer, it's wise to consider what your actual business needs are.Â
Ask yourself questions like these:
Are we planning to change our business model soon?
Do we expect a rapid increase in customers?
Is a change in legislation on the horizon? (remember IR35)
Is it really necessary for our software to be able to communicate with the International Space Station? Probably not. (Unless you have astronauts on your payroll).
Once you have a firm grasp of your business needs you'll be in a better position to find umbrella payroll software that fits your business perfectly.Â
2. Involve your customers
The lifeblood of any business is its' customers. Without customers we're all just sitting here at our desks sipping PG tips for the fun of it.
Before making any major business changes it's important to involve your customers. A sudden, unannounced change to something as significant as your umbrella payroll software could rock your customer's confidence. Or at the very least cause a major annoyance.Â
To avoid a head to head with your loyal customer base, ask them in advance. Questions like these can be useful:
What do you like about our current umbrella payroll software?
What don't you like about our current umbrella payroll software?
What new software features would make your life easier?
How do you currently access your payslip?Â
3. Try before you buy
There's nothing worse than buying something only to find out that it's not at all what you thought it would be.
This is especially painful if the board of directors was relying on you.
Good software developers should be able to provide you with a free trial of their software. This gives you plenty of time to iron out the kinks, make sure it works with your current systems and pre-empt any potential problems. It's the difference between making employee of the month and being that person "who used to work here". Â
4. Make sure the software developer is reputable
In addition to researching the umbrella payroll software itself, it's a good idea to check out the software developer behind the product.Â
No one wants to experience that sinking feeling that comes when your payroll system breaks and the software developer appears to have vanished to the Bahamas without a trace.
Some pointers to look out for in a good payroll software developer are:
Do they have a solid existing client base?
Are those clients happy with the service they received?
Does the developer have a disaster recovery plan?
How long has the software developer been in business? Â
5. Limit your risk
Ultimately, being in business, is a risky business (excuse the pun). Anything that we can do to limit our exposure to that risk is a good thing.
Having umbrella payroll software that scales with your business can go a long way to minimising risk. In fact, having a pay-as-you-go umbrella payroll software package, means that you only pay for the software when you are paying contractors. It's the ultimate way to make sure that you aren't spending excessive amounts of money on software capacity that you aren't using.
The best umbrella company payroll software
Having been in business for over 30 years, we feel that we can offer the perfect blend of software development experience along with competitive pay-as-you-go pricing. We have a long history of happy clients and long term business relationships. Don't take our word for it, why not request a free umbrella company payroll software trial, or give one of our friendly, local staff members a call.
Â
Â