India’s small and medium business sector has given rise to 21 start-ups valued at 1 billion USD, according to the Hurun global unicorn list. India thrives on the back of its small and medium business sectors. The global CoVID-19 pandemic brought businesses to a halt, forcing owners and managers to rethink how to run their businesses and reevaluate strategies for crisis situations.

One of the way organizations has learned to adapt by outsourcing their payroll and payroll related tasks to third party payroll concerns.

Payroll Outsourcing Pandemic Trends

Technavio’s monitoring of the payroll outsourcing market showed that the market was poised to grow by USD 5.01 billion during 2020-2024 period at a CAGR of almost 5%. The mid-market segment is expected to be the leading segment based on application in the global market during the forecast period.

Payroll Outsourcing – Lifting Small Businesses

Payroll outsourcing has been responsible for helping many small businesses and tech startups stay afloat during an uncertain time. These third-party concerns oversee any payroll-related tasks that give small businesses space and time to handle other processes. Here are 7 ways how outsourcing can help your business:

• Allows Operator to Focus on Business 
  Effective payroll management systems can ensure that employers and managers can breathe easy when dealing with payroll related tasks. Investing minimally into a payroll service allows higher-ups to divert their energies into initiatives that can better their organization.
• Reducing Labour
  Calculating payroll and handling payroll related processes require a certain amount of time and effort. Small businesses do not have the luxury of sparing their already limited manpower for this. Outsourcing payroll to payroll processing services can ensure that critical payroll processes will be handled effectively.
• Accessible Technology 
  Most payroll outsourcing concerns have access to state-of-the-art technology and software that are intuitive and easy for employees to use. Employers can make use of these amenities by investing in the right payroll services.
• Improves Compliance and Reporting 
  Compliance is a key aspect of any organization, ensuring that organizations and businesses adhere to rules, standards and regulations, ethically. Payroll services can handle any payroll compliance-related tasks, making sure the organization does not experience compliance failure.
• Reduces Risk 
  Taxation and tax regulations are subject to change. Handling payroll taxes is a difficult process as managers have to constantly stay up-to-date with the latest laws and regulations. Payroll outsourcing can ensure that organizations do not fall into risk with respect to failure in paying or adhering to tax laws.
• Reduces Cost 
  Employees and the effort that go into payroll processes require a certain cost. Small businesses cannot afford a great deal of investment. However, outsourcing the payroll process allows the company to focus and invest in other core areas which are necessary during a crunch situation such as the pandemic.
• Better Security
  Data security related to employee and financial records is crucial, now more than ever. Outsourcing the payroll process ensures that all those records will have greater security and a dedicated team to handle security threats. (Read More: Third party payroll outsourcing why it is so important to consider)

Beyond the Pandemic

In 2020, GoDaddy released the 2020 Global Entrepreneurship Survey. The survey found that micro-businesses in India are optimistic about their businesses’ futures, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. 60% of the Indian small business owners responded that they were confident that their businesses would continue and thrive despite the slowdown and negative impact brought on by the pandemic, compared to 52% globally.

The survey also revealed that strong values of resilience, self-reliance and zeal for digital skilling were prevalent amongst Indian entrepreneurs, indicating a strong sense of commitment and determination to fight back in the face of adverse circumstances and the new normal.