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1st February 2023

How to write a winning business case for outsourcing your payroll

It can be hard to persuade stakeholders to implement outsourced payroll into their business, especially if there is a team of people paid to do payroll in house.

However, if you conduct thorough research into the payroll-related problems your business is facing and how they can be solved, you can draft a business case that may help you persuade them to make a change.

Writing a business case that outlines all the financial and non-financial benefits of outsourcing payroll, as well as the risks and measurements of success you will implement, will demonstrate that you’ve considered all angles and make them more likely to integrate your proposal.

When do you need to implement a business case?

If you’re suggesting a big move, such as moving from in-house payroll to outsourced payroll, a business case is required to justify your reasoning.

The case will include financial costs, financial and non-financial benefits, measurements of success and much more.

Who should write a business case?

If you're looking to implement managed payroll, you can start writing your business case. In order to draft the most effective case, it's recommended you get other team members from different departments (such as HR, Finance and more) involved to ensure accurate and relevant information is gathered, as this will help to strengthen the argument.

How to write a winning business case

To write a great case you must ensure you get the basics right. This gives you a strong foundation showing that you have taken the care and time to consider everything properly.

Here are three ways you can write a winning business case:

Tone of voice

When writing your business case you should consider the type of language your audience uses so you can tailor it for the best results. Even if you’re not presenting your business case in front of people, it’s still important to consider tone of voice.

Your tone of voice should include:

●       Short and to the point sentences.

●       No use of slang words, but don’t over complicate terminology either.

●       Explanations of acronyms.

Format

Business cases are often written in a report style on Word or a PDF, making it easier to read and forward to recipients. However you can also create a business case in a PowerPoint format if you plan to present it to your audience.

When choosing the format of your business case you should consider your audience and the preferred format your company would usually use for proposals to help strengthen your case further.

Structure

All types of business cases tend to have similar structures. For example the suggested sections you should use in your business case are:

Executive summary

An executive summary should give a short summary of what your business case will include. This should include key findings such as the benefits of outsourcing payroll and how they may solve current business problems.

Why should changes be made?

This should cover the problems your business is currently facing and how they can be solved through your proposed idea, i.e outsourcing payroll. You should talk about why your idea will be successful and how it will benefit your company.

Financial information

This section should talk about the costs involved in moving from in-house payroll to outsourced payroll.

This could include:

●       Pricing from a supplier

●       Implementation costs

●       Ongoing fees

It may sound obvious, but you will also need to include the financial benefits of using an outsourced payroll service.

These could include:

●       How much money the business would save on investing in technology and security.

●       Increased scalability without buying the infrastructure.

●       Staffing and recruitment costs.

●       The onboarding of new hires, training expenses and paying salaries.

Risk assessment

Whilst you need to showcase all the positives of your proposal, it is important to outline any risks outsourcing payroll may entail and how you are going to manage them.

One main risk for companies is that the move to outsourced payroll will mean they may need to let staff go. Despite this, your outsourced payroll team should work closely with your business and feel like an extension of your team.

It’s common for people to think that outsourcing payroll means letting an entire team go. However, your department will still be needed to input data and work with your payroll provider.

Outsourcing payroll will give your department the ability to work on critical tasks and focus on improving areas of your business, rather than having all their time taken up by payroll specific activities.

Measurements for success

This section should talk about how you plan to make outsourcing payroll successful for your business and how you will measure success against your goals.

Appendix, glossary and additional information

This will include any explained abbreviations or terminology, as well as supporting data, such as SWOT analysis, reference materials, budget calculations and pricing plans.

Seven tips for winning a business case

So now you know how to write a business case, it’s time to learn how you can deliver a successful one!

Complete a great elevator pitch

You want to make your business case as compelling as possible.

Think about highlighting why your business has a genuine problem and why it needs to be fixed in an elevator pitch style. This means you want to keep it short, to the point, concise and simple.

Choose your preferred supplier

When writing a business case you should ensure you outline the specific suppliers you suggest using and any background information about them. Background information could include:

●       Different costs

●       Timescales

●       Implementation methods

Read our blog to learn more about how to choose the right payroll software.

Always proofread!

This is an obvious one, but is also something a lot of people forget. Proofing your business case will minimise mistakes and the chance of it being ignored. Seeing something filled with typos is likely to put people off as they don’t want to waste their time, so make sure you don’t forget to do this!

Get stakeholders involved

This doesn’t mean you should be getting stakeholders to help write your business plan, but it does mean you should talk to them about the proposal before you present it.

Stakeholders shouldn’t receive the case on their desk or through email and that be the first time they’ve ever heard of it. Not including them in the process increases the likeliness of them ignoring your business case altogether.

Practise presenting before you present to the wider group.

Once again this is another very obvious point, but you should always practise presenting your case whether it’s to yourself or in front of others. Presenting to a wider audience allows you to practise answering questions and talking in front of an audience, helping you to be more confident when it comes to the real thing.

How can Payescape help you outsource your payroll?

Here at Payescape we offer a leading outsourced payroll software and service to support your business.

We help you stay compliant with rules and regulations by integrating payroll and HR services, as well as keeping up to date with the latest industry updates and trends.

Visit our website to to book a demo today.

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