Pay & bill outsourcing – 3 tips for choosing the right partner

Sounds quite simple on paper. Pay the candidates and get the payments from the clients. What could go wrong?

Just ask payroll and credit control teams working for recruitment agencies and they’ll tell you a dozen things that can and do go wrong. There’re numerous regulations that need to be factored in, there’s too many people that need to approve or edit information, and there are several different departments involved. To top it off, for most of the people involved in the process, processing timesheets or invoicing is a nuisance that keeps them away from far more pressing tasks.

CFOs, FDs and Finance Managers in recruitment agencies may choose pay & bill outsourcing services for a variety of reasons. However, the three key reasons are:

a) Ensuring timely and accurate payment to candidates,

b) Getting payments from the clients on time and

c) Reducing the rising back-office costs.

Far too often, outsourced pay & bill services deliver only on the third point, while under-delivering on the first two aspects.

How can agencies make credit control and payroll outsourcing deliver on its promises? The trick is to find a partner that runs your back-office with a front-office mentality. A partner that doesn’t treat these tasks as secondary, but primary. Look for a partner that checks the below boxes.

1) Specialisation in agency pay & bill: Payroll processing for recruitment agencies is a different ball game altogether – not only are high volumes par for the course but there are stringent compliance requirements that need to be fulfilled. Your outsourced pay & bill service provider must possess an in-depth understanding of how the industry works and have the technical knowhow to deal with the various HMRC legislations.

This means that just any random supplier will not be the right fit. Look for a company that has successfully partnered with other agencies over the last few years. Choose a company with people, processes and technologies in place to deal with your specific requirements.

2) Proven track record of success: How well has the outsourcing company managed clients in the recruitment sector? How many people do they have in their team, focusing solely on recruitment pay & bill? How many timesheets do they process annually and with what rate of accuracy? How good are they at transitioning/migrating the process? What benefits have they delivered to their existing clients?

It is best to outsource to a pay & bill services provider that you can rely on. Select a partner than can assuredly help you reduce cost and improve the service quality.

3) Technology and automation: Most recruitment agency leaders are well aware of the need to digitise and automate their processes. Manual, paper-based processes often lead to incorrect payments, payment delays and missed payments. A judicious use of pay & bill software and programs can often help you to automate and digitise a wide range of processes, which in turn helps minimise human errors and improve the overall efficiency of your operations.

Look for a partner that is able to work with your existing software, suggest improvements to your existing process and assist you with transforming your pay & bill process through automation.

With a trusted and dependable partner by your side, you can shift your focus to making your organisation future ready. Invest time, thought and energy in your search for the right pay & bill services provider – it’ll be well worth it.

Originally published Sep 12, 2018 03:09:53, updated Jan 29 2024

Topics: Recruitment Process Outsourcing