At Southwestern Payroll, we take the responsibility that we have to our clients very seriously. Perhaps our most important responsibility is to be good stewards of each client’s information and funds. As a company, we have a long legacy of good stewardship and have put in place numerous policies and procedures to be sure we continue to protect our clients.

In order to process payrolls, we have to collect and maintain personal information for employees of our clients as well as potentially sensitive information about our clients themselves.

Employee information includes names, birthdates, social security numbers, addresses, bank accounts, health insurance elections, retirement plan elections, performance reviews, dependent information, child support orders, and much more. Company level information that we store includes FEINs, bank accounts, state tax account numbers, senior management contact information, and more.

Protecting electronic information

Much of the focus on information security centers on electronic access and protection. Increasingly, information is stored and available through web-based applications. Having proper internet security protocols in place and enforced is certainly critical. Proper network security to protect our network from infiltration is another critical step.

In addition to these protections, we have numerous other ways we protect client information. Delivery of payroll reports electronically is a great convenience for many. We offer several ways to deliver this information securely. They include encrypted emails, Secure FTP, and a secure file sharing system.

Securing paper documentation

Another critical facet of information security is controlling the paper documents in an organization. All paper archive documents are stored in secure areas protected by surveillance. Southwestern Payroll uses a secure onsite shredding service for all paper documents that do not need to be stored. Every piece of paper that has any text (excluding food waste) is shredded onsite before being secured and recycled. This ensures that sensitive information can’t be retrieved from our garbage.

Employee education and external review

Employees are educated about communications with unauthorized parties that might use social engineering to gain passwords or other relevant security information. Many sophisticated electronic attacks start with this type of low tech breach.

Each year we bring in outside auditors to review our procedures and policies to be sure we are keeping current with changing demands and technologies. Additionally, the physical security of our building is protected by audio and video surveillance at all times and by monitored alarms. Any entry to the building after hours is documented.

Our most important duties

Good financial stewardship is the other most important duty we have to our clients. As part of our processing, we collect funds from client bank accounts and escrow them until the funds need to be distributed to employees, tax authorities, or third parties.

In order to be sure we protect our clients and keep their funds safe, we maintain them in separate bank accounts by type of funds, never commingling them with our own operating funds.

Further, we reconcile all accounts containing client funds on a daily basis. This ensures that we collect all funds we expected to collect and that we paid all funds that we intended to pay.

All funds are safe and accounted for

Each dollar that we collect has an attendant liability associated with it. We track these liabilities by client and by fund type so that we know when we have paid and collected all funds due.

We can provide, on request, a detailed record of all client cash and outstanding liabilities to ensure that we have all funds needed to meet those liabilities. Our clients can rest assured that their funds are safe, accounted for and properly distributed.

Seeking the highest standards

We seek the highest standards for security and protection for our clients. From employee data to your payroll funds and information, we protect you.

Secure payroll procedures start the minute we begin collecting information about your company and your employees. Since 1955, we have held ourselves to a high standard of accountability. Our job is to serve our clients and protect their assets and information at every step of the payroll process.

Have questions about payroll? Give us a call: 918.587.3321

Our support team is standing by, or you can contact us online.