Getting payroll wrong is a high risk for any business, and if not identified quickly, could become a major cost to the business. This is not just in terms of money (which can be substantial), but in the amount of time trying to resolve any issues identified.

Payroll amounts to the largest, if not the second-largest, cost a business has. If there is a list of risks for a business to manage and eliminate, payroll should be near the top of that list!

One of the major issues for employers in New Zealand is there is no payroll standard or certification process for New Zealand payroll, and if your payroll is wrong the employer is ultimately responsible for any mistakes and shortfalls. In the worst case, the employer could face prosecution (IRD and/or MBIE), fines, interest, expensive legal fees, and the potential to undermine the employment relationship with their employees.

What NZPPA sees and works with employers and suppliers to resolve are:

• Payroll software that has not been designed for the NZ environment being used to process NZ pays.
• Payroll configured by people who do not have an understanding of NZ legislative requirements.
• Application of agreed terms not being applied correctly to the payroll setup.
• Payroll practices and processes that are substandard and have made payroll costly and ineffective.
• IRD, MBIE, or other external parties (Union or an employee) having raised a specific issue with payroll and you need an analysis undertaken.

NZPPA are experts in New Zealand payroll and is focused on payroll legislative compliance and payroll best practices (through practice and process).

To help you ensure your payroll is compliant and best practice, we offer auditing and consulting services in the following areas:

• Full Legislation Compliance Audit: Client is provided with a questionnaire to complete, all payroll system capability and configuration is reviewed (Pay Components, Holidays Act Gross Earnings, All Leave Entitlements, and calculation methods) back to the relevant legislation. Payroll documentation and a one-to-one walk-through to review end-to-end processes and review of documentation are included. Client is provided with a comprehensive Findings Document and a Summary of Findings and Recommendations spreadsheet. A follow-up Review Meeting is also included.
• Micro Audit: A payroll system setup and configuration review of all Pay Components, Holidays Act Gross Earnings, All Leave Entitlements, and calculation methods, with a one-to-one walk-through to review end-to-end processes and review of documentation. Client is provided with a comprehensive Summary of Findings and Recommendations, and a follow-up Review Meeting is included.
• Payroll (Holidays Act 2003) Audit: This audit concentrates on the calculations that are required to be conducted under the Holidays Act 2003. Access to payroll data is required. A comprehensive report is provided that tells you what was discovered, what gaps and risks are present, and our conclusions and recommendations.
• Payroll Compliance Audit: Analyses all payroll procedures (manual and automated), policies, forms, and the payroll application to find out whether they comply with both current legislation and payroll best practice. A comprehensive report is provided that tells you what was discovered, what gaps and risks are present, and our conclusions and recommendations.
• HR Compliance Audit: Analyses all HR procedures, policies, forms, etc. to find out whether they comply with current legislation and HR best practice (does not cover payroll). A comprehensive report is provided that includes what was discovered, what gaps and risks are present, along with conclusions and recommendations.
• HR and Payroll Compliance Audit: This is a combination of the Payroll Audit, Payroll Compliance Audit, and HR Compliance Audit.
• Payroll Staff Assessment: This type of assessment is to identify the current skill level for an individual payroll practitioner or for the team as a whole. The assessment can be used to identify professional development or to assess their outgoing suitability for working in payroll.
• Payroll Employee Leave Payment Reconciliation (Add-on): Recalculation of pay for 3 employees over a prior period set by the client.
• Pay and Leave Audit on a sample of employees (or all):, including how many employees and over what period the sample audit should be conducted.
  (To assess 12 months, we would need 2 years of data to be provided. Liability for leave payments is 6 years, and it is suggested that if not all the sample group is assessed over this period, at least a couple of samples are to ensure there are no compliance issues from the past that could impact present leave calculations.)
• Payroll Remediation: If it has been identified that employees have been underpaid, this activity will rework calculations over the liability period required to provide an accurate cost based on the criteria set for either each employee affected a fixed amount each, or any other combination sought.

There is some work you would need to do for any of the above audits (providing the information via a questionnaire and other supporting documents). We can also tailor the audit and consult on any other aspect of your payroll to cover any other areas that you require.

To make initial contact to discuss any of the above or to get a FREE QUOTE, email: [email protected]