What Is Payroll?

Translated literally from English, “payroll” would mean “salary list.” The term stands for salary and wage accounting and refers to all the processes involved in paying employees. This includes calculating salaries, paying taxes and social insurance contributions, as well as documenting and reporting the payroll. A functioning, error-free payroll is highly important, since employee satisfaction depends on it.

What are payroll services?

Payroll services are services provided by external providers or internal departments to manage a company’s payroll processes. These services range from basic salary accounting to complex tasks such as compliance with legal requirements and managing personnel files and maintaining employees’ master data. In this way, payroll service providers ensure professional, legally compliant wage accounting thanks to their well-founded and up-to-date knowledge.

What services do payroll companies offer?

Payroll companies prepare and check the salary statements and arrange for the transfer of wages and salaries to employees. In doing so, they take into account taxes and social charges as well as compliance with local and international regulations. In addition to the monthly salary statement, they also prepare the annual salary certificate.

They keep the personnel file and handle registrations and deregistrations with the social insurance institutions. In the event of an employee’s illness or accident, they handle the report to the relevant office and take care of any child allowances for parents.

Withholding tax registration, the monthly accounting and the year-end declaration are also part of the remit of payroll companies. Some providers even extend their offering to recruiting and hiring employees and drawing up employment contracts.

Who uses payroll services?

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs): many SMEs do not have their own HR departments to take care of payroll. Payroll services offer them a cost-efficient solution to ensure that their employees are paid correctly and on time and that all legal requirements are met.

Large companies: larger companies also use payroll services to simplify and optimise their complex payroll processes. This can help save resources and increase efficiency, especially with a large workforce.

International companies: companies with employees in different countries face the challenge of managing different payroll systems and legal requirements. Payroll services that specialise in international payroll can provide support here.

Start-ups: start-ups with limited resources and expertise in HR administration can save time and money by outsourcing their payroll to specialised service providers.

Non-profit organisations: non-profit organisations, too, often use payroll services to reduce their administrative costs and focus more on their core activities.

Freelancers and the self-employed: sole proprietors and freelancers who employ staff can likewise benefit from payroll services, in order to focus on their core business while payroll is handled professionally.

Payroll vs. payrolling

While “payroll” refers to the process of salary accounting, “payrolling” often involves taking external employees onto the service provider’s payroll.

Payrolling can be particularly advantageous for companies that employ temporary staff or freelancers and want to outsource administrative tasks. The focus here is on providing a specialised service that increases efficiency, reduces errors and ensures that payroll complies with the current legal requirements.

Payroll specialist: which areas do payroll specialists cover?

Payroll specialists are experts in salary accounting and take on tasks such as maintaining the personal data relevant to payroll. They prepare accurate salary statements and salary certificates, arrange or carry out the payment of wages and deliver the salary statements to employees. They have the necessary and therefore up-to-date knowledge to claim all permissible salary deductions. They advise clients on topics such as taxes and handle the administration with the social insurance institutions.

Why outsource?

Payroll providers are absolute specialists in salary accounting. They know all the regulations and laws that are important for error-free wage accounting. They continuously train themselves and can thus guarantee accuracy thanks to their up-to-date knowledge.

Not dealing with it yourself is, on the one hand, time-saving and, on the other, saves you costly mistakes. On top of that, employee satisfaction depends on it. So you should not take payroll lightly and should examine carefully what makes the most sense for your own business.

Which payroll providers are there?

In Switzerland there are many providers of payroll solutions. To find the right company for you, you should first check which provider offers which payroll services. If you are simply looking for a provider for yourself or your company in Switzerland with local employees, this should be straightforward. Swiss providers are familiar with local social insurance, employment and tax law. So all that remains is to check the prices and get to know the provider.

The task is based on trust, so you should find the provider likeable, and a good feeling should never be missing. It becomes more difficult when employees are cross-border commuters. Here the provider should have special knowledge of cross-border commuters and the associated withholding tax, or even international law. For employees with flexible working-time models, too, you should rely on a specialist with in-depth knowledge.

Simple wage payment with PayrollPlus

With our unique business model, not only companies and freelancers save many working hours every year, but so do insurers, fiduciaries and the AHV, because

• we insure, process and pay out the salaries of your freelancers and employees
• you need no insurance policies of your own (UVG, KTG, BVG)
• you do not have to pay the AHV or withholding tax bills yourself

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