The 1998-1999 Survey of Payroll Service Fees is the third in a series of pricing guidelines for financial services - the others being the Survey of Bank Fees and the Survey of Custodial Fees. It reports the actual fees paid by Canada's top corporations and organizations to payroll service providers in Canada. The average market rates for most commonly used services can be determined at a glance. Furthermore, an evaluation of the quality of the providers' service has been included for the first time in the series.This report is compiled from questionnaires completed by a representative sampling of companies, government and quasi-government institutions reporting payroll agreements for 10 to over 10,000 employees.

Findings of the Survey

• Discounting is widespread
• The size of discounts can be large
• There are wide variations in service levels

• direct deposits
• workpays
• records of employment
• speedie mailers
• labour cost reports
• T4, T4A and Relevés
• statutory deductions
• quality of service

• "With all the consolidation in the industry, this report gives us a snapshot of where prices are today." - a financial services company
• "Currently we are evaluating whether to outsource payroll, this is a faster and cheaper way to survey the market" - an oil and gas company
• "I thought we were the only ones having problems with our payroll company, next time we come up for negotiation, the lack of service will definately be an issue" - a manufacturer