Best HR and Payroll Software Features for Not for Profits

While the HR challenges of non-profits vary significantly across different types of charities and organisations, the majority can be distilled into two categories: lack of time, and lack of resources. With tight budgets, unique tax and compliance needs, and too much to do with too little time, it’s not unusual for non-profit HR and payroll teams to feel like they spend all their time putting out fires.

What if it didn’t have to be this way? Of course, there’s never going to be quite enough time or money in a not-for-profit company. However, using best-in-class payroll and HR software can help you use your resources most effectively and enhance HR’s strategic prowess in your organisation. 

‘But we don’t have money to spend on some fancy new software,’ we hear you say. 

Naturally, with the additional scrutiny on financial decisions in a non-profit organisation, it’s essential that you make sure your limited funds are being spent in the right places. That’s why we’ve put together this list of the best HR software features that not-for-profits can benefit from 

Admin-reducing self-service

With limited resources and a lot of work on your plate, any software that reduces the administrative burden on HR is important. HR and payroll software with self-service capabilities is especially useful for this. By empowering employees and volunteers to take ownership of their HR processes, HR software significantly reduces the admin load. From submitting leave requests with a click of a button to automated performance review reminders for efficient performance management and the ability for employees to log in and update their own contact information, a wide range of HR processes are streamlined thanks to self-service.

With human resources staff no longer chained to your emails trying to sort out long-winded time-off approvals or update hundreds of different employee and volunteer files, you can focus on using your time for effectively for strategic and proactive work. In short, employee self-service is one of the best ways to quickly and easily free up HR time for more important tasks. 

You may also be interested in: How to boost self-service adoption with payroll and HR software

Effortless expenses

If your non-profit hires volunteers or needs to reimburse full-time staff for travel expenses, HR software with expense management capabilities is a must-have. Expense processing can be one of the biggest time sinks for HR professionals in non-profits, especially if the organisation has many volunteers who can claim expenses for travel and food. Piles of crumpled receipts on your desk… endless reimbursement calculations and a high risk of human error… the headaches never end!

Fortunately, HR software with mobile, hassle-free expenses can reduce processing time by up to 50%. Paperless expenses mean that volunteers just need to photograph their receipts and upload them to the HR system using their mobile app, then these are accurately logged and processed speedily. Automating calculations reduces the risk of human error and saves time for HR and payroll teams, ensuring that all team members are compensated swiftly and accurately.

Besides being far easier for HR to manage, speedy and error-free expenses can have a substantial impact on employee and volunteer morale. Ensuring that team members are never left out of pocket for weeks at a time for their travel or food, effective expenses processing using HR and payroll software aids everyone’s motivation levels and keeps the team happy. 

Furthermore, in addition to helping HR manage and approve expenses more effectively, software for expenses allows for superior expense reporting and greater visibility over where the budget is being spent. With the help of this essential data, non-profit organisations can base strategy on real-time data to ensure that operations are as cost-effective as possible. 

Efficient and error-free payroll

Although salaries and benefits tend not to be the main things that draw people to work at non-profits, it’s still essential that your staff get paid the right amount and on time. Your employees have bills to pay and mouths to feed — delays or issues with pay are likely to cause stress and a loss of motivation in their jobs, especially if it happens multiple times. There’s simply no excuse for payroll errors; it’s essential that you get it right first time, every time. 

With HR and payroll software you can automate time-consuming payroll processing and reduce the risk of human error, ensuring all tax administration, accounting, and compliance is streamlined every time. Payroll software can save hundreds of hours and boosts efficiency with paperless digital payslips, automated tax calculations, and built-in HMRC compliance.

Furthermore, payroll and HR software can manage pensions and more, with configurable features for flexible and fuss-free processing every time. It’s a great way to save time for payroll teams while also keeping employees happy and motivated in their roles. 

You may also be interested in: The importance of accurate payroll

Intuitive learning and development

Another beneficial feature for non-profits is intuitive learning and development capabilities, allowing you to create, deliver, and track progress on training programmes with ease. In non-profits where salaries and benefits tend to be slightly less important than mission and learning, centralising L&D initiatives into a single easy-to-use software is a great way to transform training in your organisation.

Employees can use the self-service software to enroll in or join waitlists for courses; managers can recommend and approve attendance and budget; HR professionals can track learning progress and its wider impact on the organisation in real time using advanced integrated analytics capabilities.

Moreover, intuitive eLearning makes completing courses a breeze with a easy-to-use cloud-based system that can be accessed from anywhere in the world — ideal for global non-profits with a remote workforce.

Seamless onboarding

With many non-profits employing a mix of full-time, part-time, and volunteer staff, creating a seamless recruitment and onboarding experience is essential. This isn’t simply because onboarding sets the tone for a new hire’s tenure at your organisation; a successful onboarding experience can also have a significant impact on employee retention in the long run.

As non-profit HR professionals, you know the struggle of retaining great talent all too well. When competing for talent against the for-profit sector, non-profits can’t compare in terms of high salaries and great benefits. What you have to offer employees is a meaningful mission, a supportive company culture, and an all-around great place to work. Naturally, onboarding plays an important role in creating and introducing this positive work environment. 

With high quality human resources and payroll software, you can create belonging from the very beginning for each new employee or volunteer. By automating key onboarding steps for a smooth and consistent process, seamlessly introducing candidates to self-service, and offering intuitive access to all the information and paperwork new hires need, HR software transforms the onboarding process from an admin-heavy hassle to a seamless welcome onboard. Moreover, configurable reminders and checklists ensure that nothing is missed, creating a great start for everyone that sets the tone for a long and happy tenure in the organisation. 

Built-in compliance 

Finally, HR software with built-in compliance features makes it even easier to stay in line with all the relevant regulations. For example, HMRC-compliant payroll software helps you stay up-to-date with all regulatory changes and provides peace of mind that your payroll is compliant at all times. Across multiple payrolls, pension management, BACs processing, court orders, student loan processing, and much more, HMRC-compliant HR and payroll makes compliance easier. Automated GDPR compliance also is essential, ensuring that all volunteer and employee data is handled securely and deleted effectively when necessary.

You may also be interested in: GDPR best practices for human resources

Transforming non-profit HR and payroll 

Thanks to XCD payroll and HR software, it’s never been easier to boost efficiency and save money in your non-profit. Just ask some of our clients!

For example, our flexible HR software helped Christians Against Poverty free the team from time-consuming admin, allowing them to better focus on achieving their mission. We worked with The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) to achieve powerful real-time reporting that helped them surpass their diversity and inclusion goals and thrive during the pandemic. And, our cloud-based HR software helped Homeless Link improve employee relationship management and boost efficiency by going paperless.

Want to find out more about how XCD payroll and HR software can benefit your non-profit organisation? Request a demo today or get in touch with our helpful team.