With effect from 1 April 2016, under the Singapore’s Employment Act, all companies must keep and maintain detailed employment records of all their employees for a period of at least two years. The records to be kept and maintained are Employees records and Salary records. Companies can be penalized if they failed to maintain such record in accordance with the Act.

Employees covered under the Employment Act must have their salary disbursed to them at least once a month within 7 days after the end of the salary period. Hence, it is very important that a Company prepares their payroll and arrangement of salary disbursement in a timely manner. However, in many situations, this process is complicated with other factors such as allowance, expenses claim, provident fund contribution, benefits etc. Without a in-house reliable & trusted Singapore outsourcing firm, these complications may incurred errors and delay in their monthly payroll processing, hence many Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have opt to outsource their payroll service Singapore to professional firms.

At Count On Me, we offer these services for the benefit of your company.

• Maintaining payroll file for each employee.
• Calculating of salary based on monthly or bi-monthly basis.
• Processing gross to net salary and MOM-compliant CPF & Self-help group (SHG) contributions.
• Processing bonuses or/and any ad-hoc payments.
• Maintaining payroll file for each employee.
• Maintaining payroll file for each employee.
• Maintaining payroll file for each employee.
• Maintaining payroll file for each employee.

Payroll outsource Singapore trends have been rising. Outsourcing payroll has become increasingly popular among organizations as they strive towards increase productivity and cost-efficiency over the years. One of the popular processes that businesses outsource would be their Singapore payroll services and Human Resources functions. Payroll is a critical function that has to remain operative regardless of situation arising in and out of the business. Especially in a fast-paced environment in Singapore, it is important that the payroll firm delivers in a compliant and timely manner.

In Singapore there are many reliable & trusted top outsourcing firm Singapore that offer their expertise in attractive and for value packages. This is as an alternative to hiring a team of in-house human resource department which can incur high staffing expenses. That is why HR shared services is known to be more cost-efftective. One interesting fact about outsourcing payroll is that it cost companies as much as only 10% compared to bringing in an in-house team to manage their human resource and payroll outsource Singapore.

The process of outsourcing payroll is not just about calculation and disbursement of salary to your employees. There are many statutory requirements and regulations such as the Central Provision Fund Board (CPF) deductions, contribution to respective Self-Help Group Funds such as the Chinese Development Assistance Council Fund, Mosque Building and Mendaki Fund, Singapore Indian Development Association Fund. Therefore it is pivotal find a reliable & trusted Singapore outsourcing firm.

It is also important to note that not all elements of a salary attract CPF contributions such as reimbursement of expenses paid by employees, transport claims and meal expenses etc. Without a consultation with a reliable & trusted Singapore outsourcing firm, or in-depth knowledge of CPF deductibles and other regulations, mistakes are easily committed when it comes to calculating salary and contributing the right amount to CPF.

Complex Guidelines and Regulations

In addition, there are guidelines and regulations imposed by the Ministry of Manpower’s policies that all employers in Singapore have to obey and oblige to adhere to when it comes to employing local and foreign employees.

Therefore it is important to find a trusted & reliable Singapore outsourcing firm that keeps up-to-date with the latest Singapore government policies. For example, all employees are entitled to government paid leave such as maternity leaves and medical leaves and the number of days entitled are according to the duration of employment and nationality. There is also a minimum days of annual leaves that employers must allocate to their employees.

Lack of Relevant Knowledge

For many Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore, these guidelines and regulations can be confusing and hard to understand. While payroll outsource Singapore trends have bene rising, not all payroll companies have been keeping up-to-date with SME regulations. Mistakes are often committed due to the misunderstanding and lack of knowledge in the policies and instructions during the employment of local or foreign workers. Hence, the cost of rectifying and time consumed can be greater than outsourcing your payroll and human resource functions.

Hence, many companies in Singapore opt to outsource payroll Singapore due to concerns about compliance and reduce risks of errors. It can be way more time consuming and costly if the companies are to send their in-house Singapore payroll team for training and keeping up-to-date on the legislation imposed. Therefore it is important to find an experienced top outsourcing firm in Singapore that keeps up-to-date with Singapore compliance laws.

Risk Reduction

In most companies who have brought in an in-house team of Human Resource Department, there is often only one or two key members of the team who are equipped with the knowledge to handle payroll and human resources efficiently and accurately. In event due to turnover, retirement or even when the key member(s) have to be away from work for a significant period of time, risk of inaccuracy and delays are often inevitable.

This issue can be easily resolved by engaging a trustworthy and established payroll services Singapore provider as they provide payroll services in Singapore as one of their main business. A trusted payroll services consultancy will ensure with tested business continuity plans to process your payroll regardless of events arising in and out of business.

Keeping in Compliant

With constant changing guidelines and regulations, it is important to always keep up with the news and Ministry of Manpower, CPF board for changes that may affect your payroll. However, to fully understand the changes can be challenging for people who are not well-equipped with the knowledge of handling the payroll functions in Singapore. Professional payroll services Singapore providers are usually make up of a team of experts that specialist in payroll functions and will ensure that your company is in compliance with all legislative and statutory regulations on payroll requirements. Payroll outsource Singapore firms have to keep themselves updated constantly to maintain their professionalism.

Outsourced payroll services mean that you hire a third-party company to take care of your payroll services. This is particularly useful for companies who are struggling to keep up with local regulatory compliance or a growing workforce. By outsourcing you will ensure your employees are paid accurately, on-time and you will also have peace of mind that your business is fully compliant to local regulations around mandatory contributions.

There are different types of payroll solutions for different types of businesses. You can adopt a full outsourcing solution where the vendor takes care of everything from calculating disbursements to pay runs and reporting. Alternatively, you can adopt a simpler solution that just entails completing the monthly pay run with data supplied by the client.

Typically speaking, handling payroll in-house is more expensive than outsourcing payroll.

This is because employing an in-house expert can be costly. Aside from mitigating cost from an operation standpoint, outsourcing your payroll can also reduce your fixed business costs by saving on technology infrastructure and implementation as the responsibility should fall on your outsourced provider.

The difference between HR and Payroll depends on the business in question.

While most businesses consider payroll to be a sub-function of their HR department, many companies don’t have HR departments and thus Payroll sits separately.

Basically, Payroll is the function associated with actioning your employees’ remuneration packages in your agreed pay cycle. Whereas the wider HR function is responsible for a wealth of other areas like talent attraction and retention, employee benefits, employee training and development and much more.