11th September, 2019
The accounting firm that’s been handed from father to daughter continues to grow with thanks in part to payroll services demand.
Since Shaista Maqbool took over from her father as Director of Stagler Limited, she set about using her knowledge of systems and software to grow the family business.
Having first worked with MYOB software at school, Maqbool has no problems recommending her clients use the online accounting software – many of whom have recently transitioned to MYOB Essentials.
“We now have about 800 clients overall, with 60 percent of them using MYOB Essentials,” Maqbool said.
“Around 100 of our clients also engage Stagler for our payroll services.”
For Maqbool, there’s little wonder payroll has become a growth area for accounting firms, and business clients are hungry for solutions.
“Payroll is very complex and now, with Payday Filing added in, the week comes and goes so quickly that [clients] just don’t have the time to do their payroll on top of everything else,” she said.
For those clients who do require payroll services, Maqbool has found that MYOB Essentials Payroll is an ideal solution due to its ease of use for her staff and her clients.
“Clients were absolutely delighted because it’s all done so easily,” Maqbool said.
“One of my clients actually said, ‘Why didn’t you tell me about this earlier?’”
Of course, the team at Stagler Limited are onboarding payroll clients all the time, because it’s making the entire payroll processing work much faster and simpler.
“People used to give us information once a month by calculating all the payrolls they’ve done so that we could basically just check them and then file them with IRD.
“We were only doing compliance. Now, our time spent doing compliance has been halved.”
With the advent of Payday Filing, as well as the threat of heavy penalties for non-compliant employers, software solutions are becoming more necessary for keeping Inland Revenue up to date with business activities.
The same software puts accountants in a position to manage more of their clients’ time tracking and recordkeeping activities as well, providing timely advice at any stage it’s required.
“With MYOB Essentials Payroll, with one click you can see payslips, you know exactly how much a client will need to pay in a given week, so you can advise them of how much money they should put aside for the future,” said Maqbool.
This is particularly important for Stagler Limited’s clients that see significant and regular shifts in their staffing levels at specific times of year.
“Construction companies and other, highly seasonal businesses, we tell them, ‘this time last year your payroll was very high, so make sure you have money kept aside,’ or, ‘there is a holiday period coming, what are your plans?’.”
The ability to offer this level of advisory is a way of adding value to the relationship Stagler Limited has with its clients, which Maqbool said is already paying dividends.
“It has generated a more revenue for us, because I think these small businesses just didn’t have time to do the work themselves,” she said.
“And the best thing about MYOB Essentials Payroll is the way it handles holiday leave.
“The description down the side of the window that tells you how the leave is being calculated and why, is great for our clients because it gives them full transparency at a glance.”
Maqbool’s clients enjoy the piece of mind provided by this level of transparency, while Maqbool herself enjoys the peace of mind offered by the software’s stability, security and accuracy.
“I’ve noticed some payroll systems will sometimes generate discrepancies, sometimes only of a cent or two, which later goes on to become something like a dollar difference in IRD.
“But MYOB’s software is extremely accurate.”
So far, Stagler Limited’s experience with both MYOB Essentials and MYOB Essentials Payroll demonstrates how the interaction of legislation and technology is reshaping the role of accountants across the country, as one form of accounting work overtakes another.
From Maqbool’s perspective, she’s witnessed how implementing good tech solutions at the right stage of business can help her clients stay on the right side of the law and spend less time trying to do their own admin.
She’s also seen recordkeeping and advisory start to become a more important part of the Stagler Limited offering with all the benefits that brings to the practice.
Are you seeking to grow your payroll bureau? Simply switch from desktop payroll to Essentials Payroll and you’ll save a heap of time processing and filing for your clients. And it takes just one click to get started.