Payroll too often requires a Herculean effort on the part of a company’s accounting team. This is because many small businesses choose to use a combination of softwares to handle expenses, paid time off, time tracking and other needs. Each software may be effective on its own. However, when it's time to run payroll, it quickly becomes apparent that using many softwares can cause employees to be paid incorrectly or late.
Fortunately, there is another way. In this blog, we'll discuss some of the advantages of handling payroll in Odoo with Hibou's payroll modules.
The Multi-Platform Way
Many companies build their payroll process over time, adding new softwares as they discover new needs. The problem is that these softwares don't talk to each other. Here are some examples of ways companies we have worked with have run payroll:
Expenses. Employees submit their expenses via a specialized expense software, such as Expensify, Gorilla Expense, or Zoho Expense. Submitted expenses must then be manually entered into a central payroll software, or sent through an API.
Paid Time Off/Leaves. Time off is tracked in a different software: Kissflow, BambooHR, and PurelyHR are popular options. Records submitted through these platforms must then also be manually entered into the central payroll software, or sent through an API.
Time Tracking/Attendance. A third platform must be used for clocking in and out. Companies using options like Paycom, Kronos, or Timesheets must then, again, manually enter the data into the central payroll software or send it through an API.
How much does managing multiple softwares and doing manual entry cost us?
The average small business takes between 4 and 6 hours per pay period to manage and run payroll. That's over 100 hours of accountant time spent on payroll per year. Correcting mistakes costs more time and effort and can damage the relationship you have with your employees. No employee wants to catch your mistake on their paycheck.
For each software you use, you must maintain employee names, addresses, accounts, and personal information. Additionally, contracts, insurance deductions, and wages are critical to the proper running of payroll and must be maintained.
Once all the data has been gathered in the system and the payroll software has run the payslips, typically you must enter these journal entries into the accounting software. Next, deposits must be made and checks must be written. Finally, you must report your taxes.
If this seems like a long and arduous process to you—it does to us, too. Odoo offers a simple alternative to the chaos of this multi-platform approach.
The Odoo Way
All-In-One Payroll. In Odoo, the integrated Expenses, Time Off, and Attendances applications all send data straight into the employee’s payslip. Data from your employee’s contract, salary, and medical & insurance deductions also flows right into the payslip—even bonuses and commissions can be added.
This means that once your employees enter their time off, expenses, and attendances, no manual entry is necessary.
Even better, once payslips have been created, Odoo, and the proper Hibou payroll modules, automatically generate journal entries and provide you with accurate data for tax reporting.
To wrap up the process, you can either print checks straight from Odoo, or use Hibou’s payroll implementation to create a direct deposit file. And just like that, you’ve done payroll in far less time than it would take you using multiple softwares.
Lower Fees. Given the ease of Odoo’s payroll system, you might expect a hefty price tag attached. But we’ve found that compared to using multiple softwares or even using a bundle from one software, Odoo is the least expensive option by a long shot.
Using multiple softwares is the most expensive. While each individual software’s per-month, per-employee costs are relatively low, when combined, those costs can add up. Check out our video to see exactly how softwares like TimeSheets, Expensify and PurelyHR add up.
Even bundles from companies like Zenefits and Gusto are not as competitive as a fully-integrated solution from Odoo.
In order to run payroll through Odoo, you need to pay for Odoo Enterprise, as well as the Payroll app and the common apps that feed into Payroll: Expenses, Time Off, and Hibou’s Payroll Payments module. These charge on a per-month, per-installation basis, meaning you don’t accrue costs as you gain employees.
Hibou's payroll module costs just $3 per month per employee. Other modules, such as Expenses, Time Off, and Payroll Payments, total just $34 per month. Instead of spending $3,300 per year with other companies, you'll spend less than $1,200 per year.
Hibou is here to help you set up your payroll. It takes us 15 to 25 hours for most small companies to walk you through setting up basic payroll and train your team. This support amounts to about $1,600 for the first year. However, even with setup, the total costs for the first year are lower than all non-Odoo options. And, after the first year, you will require little outside support.
As your company grows, so do the savings. Paying only $3 per month instead of $19 can save you tens of thousands of dollars a year as you grow.
No Integration Required + Consistent and Experienced Support from Hibou. When you move your entire payroll process to Odoo, you eliminate the need for cost-intensive and time-intensive integrations. Odoo does all the work you previously did manually, freeing up your time for other tasks. You can read more about how Odoo can save you time and money in this blog post.
As discussed above, the biggest difference in cost is the time we spend to understand your business and help you make decisions. You’ll get expert support from us so you can get up and running fast and right from the start.
If you find your payroll process frustrating but didn’t know there was a better way, we hope this article has shown you some new options. Odoo and Hibou can help you move from a painful payroll day to an easy payroll hour.
For more information on Hibou’s payroll modules and how Hibou can help you get your payroll up and running in Odoo, please reach out to us!