Right now, there are a number of valid reasons by global employers will be reviewing their global payroll software or technology and possibly considering a change.
The global pandemic has caused massive disruption to the worldwide business economies and money multinational organizations this year have been struggling to adapt to a series of challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Before the pandemic came along however, global payroll delivery and management was also facing a number of challenges- the multivendor landscape had become dense and complex, the lack of standardization and automation in global payroll delivery was a problem and multi-country compliance was an ongoing challenge.
With the immediate shift to remote work- other things took priority and companies became focused on survival. Now that the immediate business threat has passed, and there is a clear way out of the pandemic thanks to the vaccines, the conversation around global payroll technology can return.
In this article, we will discuss why it should return- simply put, the old challenges have not gone away, a series of new challenges have surfaced due to the pandemic and the entire issue of global payroll process, delivery and management has simply become more pressing and urgent.
It’s time for a review
Most global payroll managers and the vast majority of global payroll professionals who are not working with the kind of agile, innovative digital tools that can help them process global payroll in a better way, will agree that it is time for a review of their payroll system. For those of you who do not work in global payroll services and are unfamiliar with the challenges faced on a daily basis by these diligent and hardworking professionals, you might be wondering what kind of questions need to be asked to come to the conclusion that a thorough review is needed- at Payslip, we talk to global clients all the time so we’re pretty familiar with the questions that should be asked, here’s a selection of some of the more important ones.
- Is our global payroll model sustainable and can it meet the company's overall growth efficiency and scaling ambitions?
- Is our technology platform fit for purpose in 2022 and beyond?
- Does the way we deliver and manage global payroll today makes sense considering the likely changes to the future of work in a post COVID-19 world?
- Is our payroll reporting global, consolidated and detailed enough to provide genuine business insight, analytics and actionable intelligence?
- Are we operating with standardized data across all of our payroll countries?
- Do we find it easy or difficult to manage our local country provider network?
- Do our payroll professionals use advanced digital tools that improves speed and efficiency or are we still relying on outdated manual inputs and Excel spreadsheets?
- How secure is the environment we use to store hugely sensitive payroll data and employee information?
- How do we know we are compliant in a specific country- what methods do we currently use to prove international compliance?
- Do our employees have self-service access to their payroll and financial data such as payslips and year-end tax documents?
The answers to these questions will provide a pretty solid health check and a relatively clear indication of how prepared your current global payroll processing structure is to meet current and future demands.
If the answers to these questions are in the negative, then you are 100% ready for a serious review of your global payroll management process. You are in good company as many organizations are very much aware that global payroll complexity is something that needs to be tackled with urgency.
The future of work is becoming clearer and many employers are recognizing the need for a multi-vendor payroll strategy to help them leverage local country expertise so they can meet compliance requirements and ensure their geo-dispersed international workforce are paid accurately and on time. And it is very clear that a global payroll control platform will be needed to manage such a strategy. Tax compliance, social security and a host of other payroll related variables result in a level of complexity that needs a payroll platform to be deployed in the cloud, where running payroll is easier to monitor and control.
New legislation is underway as countries and governments look to apply some structure and governance around new hybrid working models that involve a mix of remote and office-based work- with this comes strong implications for international compliance around global payroll data. New hires and the onboarding process are currently more difficult due to the pandemic, and this makes it harder to run payroll. Human resources teams are asking for better HR software and accounting software- as the current functionality is not sufficient to meet full-service payroll needs. Now is the time to be reviewing your payroll technology to be sure that your organization has the tools and technology in place to handle whatever changes occur in the labor force market in 2022 and beyond.
Start with access
Find out if all of your global payroll professionals have full access to the data they need to do their job and if they are equipped with the right level of digital tools that enable data sharing with colleagues around the world.
Then look at standardization
Non-standard data means different data and processes across different countries- like for like comparisons are difficult here and everything is so much easier if the data is standardized, and a similar format is used across all countries- this is particularly helpful if global payroll professionals need to swap tasks across different countries.
Then boost your reporting capabilities
The pandemic has turbocharged requests for detailed multi-country comparative reporting, especially when it comes to labor costs. A suite of innovative digital tools is needed to create, schedule and customize specific global payroll reports that meet the information requirements of a range of different stakeholders across the business.
Next, consider automation
In 2022, it should no longer be acceptable for experienced global payroll professionals to have their time consumed by manual entry and data driven spreadsheets. Robotic process automation should be in use to bulk upload thousands of entries and then check & validate them in a matter of minutes. This is faster, smarter and more efficient- it is also more accurate as it reduces the likelihood of human error.
Manage it all in the cloud
A secure client environment is optimal for information security and data privacy when it comes to global payroll data. Payroll data entry and validation, along with the sharing of files should all happen in a secure environment with robust access authorization levels.
Be both global and local
Multi country global payroll today needs to operate with a global framework that is flexible enough to accommodate local country nuance and individual vendors. There is no one size fits all solution, global payroll is too complex for that- a technology stack that allows for both global policy and local expertise is the one that will be of most value in the long term.
The Payslip global payroll control platform
If you are reviewing your payroll technology and looking for ways to better manage your complex multi-country global payroll, then you should be looking at the Payslip platform. There are a number of reasons for this but the biggest is that it was designed specifically for global payroll management and many of the features on the platform were constructed with specific global payroll pain points in mind.
We created and developed the platform after endless conversations with global payroll professionals and managers at multinational companies around the world- we understand fully the need for standardization and automation, we recognize the importance of integrations with HCM and ERP systems, and we have been advocates for many years now about the importance of detailed, comprehensive and consolidated multi-country payroll reporting.
Speed, efficiency and execution excellence are at the core of this cloud deployed global payroll management system. It is designed to help global employers centrally manage their global payroll operations with visibility, control and governance while also facilitating the smooth and rapid scaling into new countries and markets.
Payslip delivers a scale-up advantage for today’s global business leaders, harmonizing global payroll operations to fuel growth efficiency. This is a global payroll management technology platform capable of keeping pace with organizational goals. Our team is ready and waiting to show you a demo of how the platform works, talk to us today.
For information on the Payslip Platform contact us today.