Okay, but what’s the catch? We’ve all either said or thought this question in regard to some sort of product, feature, add-on, upgrade, etc. that someone is trying to sell us on. And, as much as we’re sure we’d all like to just trust that, whatever this hypothetical thing is, it will truly be as great as this person or website or advertisement is making it sound, it’s unfortunately still just as likely that it won’t. If you’re a business owner who spends a lot of time migrating data between your POS system and your payroll system, then it’s highly likely you’ve been encountering a lot of this language yourself. You may find yourself in a doubly troubling situation: swamped with large amounts of manual data entry to perform, and endlessly searching for a potential solution from a pool of candidates that all seem to be offering the best and greatest solution.
At Payday HCM, we’re very familiar with both the struggle of moving data between POS and payroll systems, as well as the exhausting task of trying to find a good solution. We receive plenty of questions from our clients on how they can expedite this process and whether or not some of these promised solutions are actually as good as they seem. This includes real-time integration, something that is the subject of many of these questions: What is real-time integration, and how does it work? Can real-time integration between my payroll and POS systems really save me time?
Well, in this article, we’ll be going over just that: what real-time integration is, how it works, and what the benefits and drawbacks of it are. We’ll briefly cover what the term “real-time integration” actually refers to and how this relates to POS systems and payroll systems. After that, we’ll get into the specifics on the benefits of real-time integration as well as the potential disadvantages of it.
In this article, you will learn:
- What Is Real-Time Integration?
- The Benefits of Real-Time Payroll and POS System Integration
- The Drawbacks of Real-Time Payroll and POS System Integration
What Is Real-Time Integration?
Before we get into the details on the benefits and drawbacks of real-time integration between your payroll system and your POS system, we’ll first go over what we mean by real-time integration and how it applies specifically to these kinds of systems.
Breaking Down Real-Time Integration
The word “integration” is almost like a buzzword these days, getting thrown around in various different places to attract your attention without much care being paid to what it actually means. As such, you might see the word integration and think, hey, this thing must be pretty good if it integrates—but practically, what does this actually mean?
Integration on its own generally refers to the process of taking data or information that may be sectioned off or siloed from other clusters of information and combining, or integrating, them. This can be done at any time, but real-time integration means integrating data as soon as it is captured and processed, meaning you’re combining data from two or more sources as soon as it becomes available.
Real-Time Integration for Payroll and POS Systems
If you’re running a business that uses a point-of-sale system, certain data will be entered into it. For businesses that use POS systems and have employees who earn tips, for example, the amount an employee earns in tips will typically be entered into the POS system. So, then, how does that amount in tips actually end up on the employee’s paycheck?
Enter real-time integration. For some POS and payroll systems, you’ll find that they can communicate with each other on a real-time basis, meaning certain data and information can be brought over from your POS system to your payroll system at the moment of capture or vice versa, meaning things like employee demographic information can sync over from your payroll system to your POS or tip amounts can sync the other way around.
The Benefits of Real-Time Payroll and POS System Integration
Now that we have a good understanding of what real-time integration is and how it applies to payroll and POS systems, we can look at the benefits of integrating data between these systems in real-time.
Reduced Manual Entry and Time Savings
Part of the reason integration has become such a buzzword is because of its association with saving time and reducing the amount of manual entry needed to perform certain tasks. It’s no different with real-time integration between payroll and POS systems: having real-time integration between the two can help you cut down on the time spent entering information into one system or the other.
With the time saved from having to perform less manual entry, you’re able to focus on the other aspects of running your business instead of the more tedious, although ultimately still vital, tasks. When it comes to running a business, saving time often means saving money, so real-time integration can provide potential cost-saving benefits as well.
Streamlined Employee Experience
Much of the data that needs to be carried over from your POS system—tips, clock-in and clock-out information—is directly related to the employee experience working for your business. Employing real-time data integration can help to improve that experience by increasing the efficiency with which this data is carried from one system to another.
This can go both ways as well. If your systems are set so that your POS system and your payroll system can integrate in real-time with each other, this can help reduce the amount of information an employee needs to enter into each system. Your POS can sync employee information from your payroll system, making a seamless transition from one system to another.
The Drawbacks of Real-Time Payroll and POS System Integration
Of course, real-time integration is not without its potential drawbacks. It’s important to understand both the potential benefits and the potential risks of real-time integration.
Data Entry Errors and Less Manual Control
Yes, real-time integration can be helpful by reducing the amount of manual labor necessary to bring data over from one system to another. However, it’s not always that simple: while manual data entry is more time-consuming, there’s more room to flag and catch potential errors or discrepancies. Real-time integration is not so forgiving on this front, leaving the door open for errors when moving data between systems.
Simultaneously, while the removal of the manual task of data entry can save you time, it also means handing over a certain amount of manual control over data entry. With real-time data integration, it may not be as easy to go back and correct mistakes, as data will constantly be flowing in and out of the two systems in real-time.
Lackluster Customer Support
As we mentioned above, integration is a sort of buzzword, and you’re bound to run into many different POS and payroll system providers promising some level of real-time integration. And while it may be the case that they do, indeed, offer it, the trouble might start when issues with the system begin to arise.
Real-time integration is a feature largely offered between big-box payroll providers and large-scale POS system platforms. For you, this means that, while the systems may be robust, any errors or technical issues that may arise might leave you without the support you need. It’s highly likely that, in the situation of a technical problem, you’ll need to make your way through dozens of online support articles and hours of holding on the phone to actually get to someone who can help you with your issue.
Let’s Get Real With Real-Time Integration
Sometimes, things are, unfortunately, too good to be true. Is real-time integration with your payroll and POS systems one of those things? Well, it’s hard to say, with absolute certainty, either yes or no. That being said, there are certainly things to consider when it comes to the benefits and disadvantages of real-time integration between these systems. If you’re currently struggling with large amounts of manual data entry or are just looking for different ways to save time when it comes to workforce management, real-time data integration can be something that will prove helpful to you and your business. That being said, it’s important to keep those potential drawbacks in mind and ensure the decision you make is the right one for your business.
Leveraging the latest technology is a crucial element of running any business. This is especially true in the hospitality industry, where each evolution in software and technology can mean the difference between providing guests with top-tier service or falling behind your competitors. This means that increasing communication between systems, whether that’s your POS system or payroll software, is key. Of course, finding specific software integrations isn’t easy. This can be made more difficult when working with big-box payroll providers who are unable to provide custom services to your business. If this sounds like you, don’t worry—there’s a better way. Learn more about how Payday is utilizing integrations and custom APIs to help streamline our clients’ processes—and how we can help your business, too.
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