How To Profit from Payroll Services: An Accountants’ Guide

How on earth can accountants ever profit from payroll? It sounds contrary to common knowledge, and surely that’s the case, right?

We’ve lost count of the number of times clients have told us “Payroll is a loss leader”, “It’s time-consuming, tedious and resource-intensive”, or “It’s an over-regulated function, so it is hard to stay up-to-date.”

Having offered payroll outsourcing services for over fifteen years now, we’ve discovered that it’s not a loss leader as you might think at first. There are many ways accountants can improve their practice profitability by offering a payroll service.

So how can you profit from payroll services?

Think of it in a different way

In the past decade, the payroll situation has changed. New tools and cloud technology are making it easier to process payroll online.  In fact, if you haven’t considered adding payroll to your service mix, you might be in for a surprise.

Things are changing, and after decades of “I don’t do payroll”, accountants are opening up to the idea of offering payroll services, thanks to the several outsourced payroll providers UK.

Still skeptical? Read on.

How can you win with payroll?

In our profession, it’s important to be a skeptic. Sound judgement, logic and proof are core to an accountant’s existence. So why should accountants offer payroll when they have traditionally refused to do so?

Here are the top 5 reasons:

• One-stop shop: Most clients expect a one-stop shop. We all have heard now that clients want their accountant to be a virtual CFO, and take care of their tax and financial needs, including payroll. A total package means you can retain clients and improve your firm’s year-long cash flow.
• Stronger client relationships: The more of your clients’ work you manage, the closer your relationship will be. More services = more loyal clients = lower risk of losing clients.
• Upselling: Payroll will potentially open the door to pitch services such as financial analysis, tax preparation, software consulting, etc.
• New clients: You will attract new clients who want an all-in-one package.
• You won’t be left behind: If you offer payroll and your competitors don’t, you are ahead of them. It also enables you to generate more revenue than a traditional firm.

The case for payroll is a complex one. Therefore, you may require professional support in the form of payroll outsourcing services from a reliable outsourcing provider.

Making payroll profitable – the power of outsourcing

Payroll is profitable if you can sell it for more than it would cost you to do it in-house. Outsourcing helps here by reducing the time and effort required to do it and hiring specialist staff involved in delivering the result.

One of the best ways to understand how you can profit from payroll is to compare in-house payroll with outsourcing. Here’s what in-house payroll generally involves compared with how outsourced payroll services UK work.

Get a head start

The arrival of cloud accounting has changed the way firms offer payroll services to their clients. If your firm is not offering payroll services, now is the right time to do so.

And if you don’t, you could find yourself losing customers. In fact, your clients are more likely to go to a competitor that offers payroll as part of a full service.

So, it makes sense to act now. Take a look at how outsourcing payroll services for small business can make the service more profitable. Then you can offer payroll to win new clients and make more money from the existing ones.

If you are looking for an outsourcing provider to partner with, QXAS is your one-stop destination. We specialise in dedicated payroll outsourcing services tailored to our clients’ success.

To learn more about outsourcing, call us at +44 208-146-0808 or drop us an email at [email protected].