Your company
Where the cost comes from
Time & labour
Time estimates reflect how long each payroll task takes when done manually — from regular pay runs to terminations, bonuses, ROEs, and year-end. We then model how Fully Managed Payroll reduces those hours by handling processing, compliance, and employee inquiries on your behalf.
| Assumption | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Base hours per pay run | 2 hrs | Industry surveys |
| Per-employee processing time | 4 min | Industry estimate |
| Annual turnover (ad-hoc runs & ROEs) | 12% | Mercer Canada |
| Hours per termination run | 1.5 hrs | Final pay, vacation calc, processing |
| Bonus runs per year | 2 | Conservative (annual + mid-year) |
| Hours per bonus run | 2 hrs | Setup, verify, process |
| Leave rate (for ROEs) | 6% | Maternity, medical, layoffs |
| Hours per ROE | 0.75 hrs | Prepare, verify codes, file |
| Year-end base hours | 8 hrs | Reconciliation, CRA filing, testing |
| Year-end per-employee hours | 0.4 hrs | Verify earnings, CPP/EI/tax, T4 gen |
| Time per run with Fully Managed Payroll | 0.75 hrs | Rise internal (submit + approve) |
| Admin overhead (base) | 4 hrs/mo | System maintenance, compliance, reporting |
| Admin overhead (per employee) | 0.5 hrs/mo | Industry estimate |
| Managed payroll admin reduction | 80% | Rise handles processing, compliance, inquiries, year-end |
Errors & compliance
Error costs are anchored to Ernst & Young's benchmark of $407 per payroll error, converted to CAD. We layer in CRA's published penalty schedules for late remittances and T4 filings, then apply a risk multiplier based on who handles your payroll — a dedicated specialist catches more issues than a business owner juggling multiple roles.
| Assumption | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Base errors per pay run | 0.5 | EY (scaled for SMB) |
| Additional errors per employee per run | 0.02 | Derived from EY payroll study |
| Cost per error | $407 | Ernst & Young (converted to CAD) |
| Termination error rate | 25% | Industry estimate (vacation miscalc, severance) |
| Cost per termination error | $400 | Industry estimate (higher: legal exposure) |
| T4 amendment rate | 4% | Industry estimate |
| Cost per T4 amendment | $150 | Industry estimate (re-file, re-issue) |
| Late remittance probability | 15%/yr | Conservative estimate |
| CRA remittance penalty | 10% first; 20% repeat | Canada.ca (on amount over $500) |
| Remittance as % of gross payroll | 25% | CPP + EI + income tax estimate |
| T4 late filing probability | 10%/yr | Conservative estimate |
| T4 late filing penalty | $10–15/day | CRA ($10/day ≤50 returns; $15/day 51–500) |
| Risk adjustment by handler | 0.6–1.5× | Specialist 0.6×, HR 1.0× (baseline), Owner 1.5× |
Employee retention & opportunity cost
Research shows that just two payroll errors can push nearly half of employees to start job hunting. We estimate the share of turnover attributable to payroll issues and multiply by replacement cost (conservatively 33% of salary, vs. SHRM's 50–200% range). The strategic value multiplier captures the broader impact of freeing up leadership time for higher-value work.
| Assumption | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Average salary | $65,000 | Conservative (StatsCanada avg ~$75K) |
| Payroll-attributable turnover | 1.5%/yr | Derived from HRdive.com |
| Replacement cost | 33% of salary | Employee Benefit News (SHRM cites 50–200%) |
| Retention risk adjustment by handler | 0.6–1.5× | Specialist 0.6×, HR 1.0× (baseline), Owner 1.5× |
| Strategic value multiplier | 2.5–4x | Varies by role (higher for executives) |