Valueforth Consulting

5 Tips for Managing Payroll Effectively

Payroll management is a system for processing employee paychecks (salaries, bonuses, and deductions), complying with labor laws, and maintaining adequate documentation.
In view of the frequent changes to tax and employment laws in most countries, it is pertinent for Business Owners and HR Managers to be familiar with such changes in order to avoid employment-related litigations and tax penalties because of non-compliance.

Here, we will discuss tips and the best guidance to help make payroll as simple and painless for small business owners as possible.

1. Create and maintain a payroll calendar

For you to ensure effectiveness in your payroll process, the first thing to do is to set a payroll calendar. This helps to see that all employees get paid on time and to keep the payroll in check. Weekly, bi-weekly, monthly — it doesn’t matter as long as you have a system in place.

2. Automate payroll-related taxes

Avoid unnecessary tax miscalculations and the associated penalties by automating your payroll system.

Several leading payroll providers and software packages offer automated payment of taxes as a feature. We have a number of payroll and HR software we can recommend and implement for your company.

3. Know the law

This one is a given. The rules and regulations surrounding payroll laws can be a bit complicated and often differ from country to country. You’ll want to make sure your business’s payroll system is in compliance with the law from the get-go.

Our HR and Employment Advisory team are very much ready to guide you on the applicable payroll laws within your business locations.

4. Appoint a payroll manager

Depending on your financial resources and other internal factors, you can seek the service of a payroll management service provider or appoint an in-house payroll manager for your company.

If a member of your team has any experience in accounting, HR, or business finance, consider asking them to take on some payroll management duties. In conjunction with a good software system, these duties are unlikely to pose a significant challenge to them if you give them the proper support. Even if you need to enlist more than one employee to help out, having one oversee the whole process can make things significantly more efficient than trying to patchwork through it all.

5. Keep all records

Keeping payroll records isn’t just a recommendation: it’s a statutory requirement for all private and public companies. Your past employees or tax authority may require employment records (such as payslips, PAYE tax returns records etc) of more than 3 years from you where a need arise. So ensure you have a system of good document management.

While software can do some of this for you, it’s best to maintain your own physical and digital records as well to minimize the chance of loss.

Tax Incentives for SMEs and Startups in Nigeria

In most countries of the world, small-scaled companies (SMEs) and Startups have significant contributions to economic activities in most industries and they remain the major employers of labour.

It is against this background that governments in the developing countries like Nigeria are now working to create more enabling business and regulatory environments for SMEs and Startups in order to maximize their economic potentials and benefits of such entities.

It is therefore benefiting for SMEs owners, investors and managers to be aware of the efforts of the government in creating a friendlier regulatory environment and they should be positioned to take advantage of such legislations through the following tax incentives:

Company Income Tax Exemption: Small businesses with an annual turnover of less than 25 Million Naira are exempted from paying Companies Income Tax. A lower company income tax rate of 20% is also provided for companies whose yearly turnover is between 25 million to 100 million Startups may find this useful in their early stages.

5 Years Tax Holiday: Startups who qualify for Pioneer Status in Nigeria can enjoy tax holidays for an initial period of 3 years from their first year of commencement, extendable for an additional 2-year period as established under the Nigerian Industrial Development (Income Tax Relief) Act. Startups in sectors such as e-commerce, waste management, electricity and agriculture may be eligible for pioneer status incentives.

Reduced Tax Rate for Investors: There are various incentives provided in the Nigerian Venture Capital Incentives Act for investors and Startups engaged in venture projects. These include: (i) up to 30% capital allowances for eligible Startups on equity investments made by Venture Capitalist firms; and (ii) up to 100% exemption on capital gains tax on capital gains accruing to Venture Capital investors upon disposal of their equity interest.

Tax Incentive in the Agricultural Sector: Eligible small or medium-sized companies in the Agricultural sector with an annual gross turnover of 25 million to 100 million Naira, may apply for tax exemption for 4 years and an additional 2 years. This incentive is created under the Finance Act, 2020 which amended the former provision under the Industrial Development (Income Tax Relief) Act.

Tips for Managing Work-related Stress

Demands at the contemporary work environment often make pressure at work inevitable. Pressure may also be perceived as acceptable by an employee as a motivating factor for learning depending on the available resources and personal characteristics.

However, when that pressure becomes excessive or otherwise unmanageable it leads to stress. Stress can damage an employees' health and the business performance.

Work-related stress can be described as the response people may have when presented with work demands and pressures that are not matched to their knowledge and abilities and which challenge their ability to cope.

To be a high-performing employee, keep the following tips at heart in managing your workplace stress:

-Identify your stress triggers

To begin coping with stress at work, identify your stressors or stress triggers. Your unique characteristics and personality as well as your experiences will influence the way you respond to and cope with stress.

Carefully observe the people, situations or events that easily trigger your stress and these may be pretty different from what your other colleagues are sensitive to.

-Deal with your stress triggers

Once you've identified your stress triggers, consider each situation or event and look for ways to resolve it. Importantly, you will need to address home-related issues affecting your performance at work.

-Improve on your time management skills

Social skills like time management are very effective in managing stress at the workplace. If your goals are not specific, measurable, attainable, realistic or time-constrained, your may open yourself to more stress at work.

-Seek Help

Seeking help should not be a sign of weakness to you when trying to cope with stress. Talk to your trusted friends and family members about the issues you are having at work, relate with your team or supervisor. Take a break where necessary, and reach out to a mental health provider for assistance as well.

There is no doubt recruitment is one the key functions of the Human Resources (HR) Department in any organisations. Likewise, every HR professional can also confirm that recruitment takes some significant resources in order to attract and retain a great talent!

What is recruitment? Usually, recruitment process, involves finding the candidate with the best skills, experience, and personality to fit the job. It requires a series of collecting and reviewing resumes, conducting job interviews, and finally selecting and onboarding an employee to start working for the organization.

So going by its importance and the associated cost, every recruiter (or a recruitment team) therefore needs to be equipped with the relevant knowledge and skills in order to have an effective and successful recruitment. Here are other key guides in developing an effective recruitment process:

Process Automation: With the right technology and apps such as Indeed, ZohoHR, you can effectively manage your entire recruitment process and save a considerable amount of time on the process.

Make Data-Driven Decisions: We in the days on data-driving decision making process, so make use of a comprehensive data analytics system to have useful insights on the number of applicants for each job, the number of candidates interviewed, the locations of your best talent pool (candidates), etc. Reflecting on the process with each hire will help improve the recruitment process over time.

Utilize Employee Referral Program: An employee referral program will help you to improve your recruitment process. Your existing satisfied employees are often more motivated to spread the word about the opening, and they’ll likely lead you to more qualified candidates for new openings. Organizations that use their employees’ professional networks can have a ten times larger talent pool to recruit from.

Develop a Clear Employer Brand: The same way candidate invest time to impress potential employers by sharing their experiences and skills, businesses should make effort in attracting talents by illustrating why candidates should also work for them. As a company’s recruiter, your corporate information (company’s mission and values) should be displayed clearly across your website and social media pages in order to establish your company as a strong digital brand.