Blog | Kaizen CPAs + Advisors

Why Shop Owners Are Outsourcing Their Automotive Payroll

Written by Eric Joern | | May 16, 2022

In the past, auto shop owners had to create their own payroll and accounting processes from scratch. Without an established framework for handling things like customer invoices, employee pay stubs, and taxes, shop owners were left with no choice but to perform all of these tasks manually.

Unfortunately, manual payroll and accounting processes don't work for auto shop owners anymore because:

  • They're time-consuming. Studies have shown that more than 40% of workers waste their workweek on tedious, manual tasks. Another 60% believe they could save as much as six or more hours a week by switching to automation. 
  • They're error-prone. It's only natural for humans to make mistakes — even among the best of us. NASA accredits 60-80% of failures and mistakes to human errors, while automation eliminates them. If the minds at NASA make these mistakes, it’s safe to assume they’re also happening within your shop. 
  • They aren't efficient. When your team is spending more time manually finding documents, typing them in, sorting them out, etc., they are not optimizing their productivity or efficiency. On the other hand, automation frees up time for more important tasks that need to be done by completing the tasks quicker and without mistakes. A McKinsey study even noted that automation has the potential to increase global productivity by 0.8 to 1.4% each year. 

Nowadays, shop owners are outsourcing automotive payroll to eliminate these headaches. Finding a payroll partner who can also take responsibility for a number of accounting tasks is a worthwhile investment for auto shop owners. Keep reading to learn more about the ways an automotive payroll partner can improve your shop today.

IMPROVED DATA INTEGRITY

Your payroll data is the lifeblood of your business. It's extremely important that your data is as accurate and comprehensive as possible. Outsourcing your payroll process can help in two ways:

  1. If you're using manual processes to calculate payroll, there are more opportunities for human error to creep in and skew the numbers. By relying on payroll experts, you eliminate those opportunities for error.
  2. If you're using multiple systems or applications to process payroll data, it may be difficult to ensure that all of your information is complete and up-to-date at any given time. Payroll partners ensure that all of your information will be consistent across the board and seamlessly updated as changes occur (like employees being added or terminated). This saves time by eliminating unnecessary steps and gives you a better overall view of things like commissions earned so far, labor costs, and more. 

STREAMLINED PAYROLL PROCESSING

In order to run a successful automotive shop, you need to process payroll efficiently and accurately. But to do that, you need the right partner.

Your goals as an owner are clear: reduce errors, save time and money, allow for flexible pay types and deductions, and most importantly of all — reduce your paperwork! With so many variables involved in running a shop, it can be hard to make sense of everything on top of regularly managing work orders and maintaining employee satisfaction.

There is good news, however — this is exactly what outsourced payroll partners love doing! This means less time spent on manual data entry, reduced costs due to errors or discrepancies in reporting, simplified tax compliance through increased automation, reduction of training needs as new employees are hired or current employee responsibilities change (e.g., from technician to manager), and more!

CONSOLIDATED REPORTING

When you outsource your payroll, your partner can easily manage your auto shop's payroll and accounting processes in one place. Say goodbye to the days of transferring data files back and forth to your accountant or maintaining separate spreadsheets for your reports. And that makes it easier than ever before to analyze and track your business's performance.

With this holistic insight into the health of your business, you will be in a better position to make informed decisions moving forward and act accordingly if numbers aren't adding up as expected.

SIMPLIFY YOUR AUTOMOTIVE PAYROLL PROCESS

If you're a shop owner, you know the importance of auto payroll at your business. You also understand how big of a headache it can be to track employee hours and ensure that they get paid correctly.

Fortunately, there are partners available that can take on the entirety of your automotive payroll processing. As outsourced payroll partners that specialize in the automotive industry, we understand all the nuances that you deal with as a shop owner.

Stop trying to juggle all of your back-office responsibilities in addition to helping your shop run smoothly. Get in touch with our payroll experts today to see the benefits for yourself!