Many payroll managers today are looking for a global payroll solution. They have found that the current processes in place are not sufficient to meet the day-to-day demands of global payroll operations. Payroll professional are under increasing pressure to deliver payroll services along with additional reporting requirements. Many of these reporting requirements come from areas of the business who are curious to learn about how payroll data can help inform their strategic decisions. This is a perfectly valid thought process as there is a huge amount of actionable data flowing through payroll teams every day. However, this data is often in non-standard format and is being extracted from multiple vendors across multiple countries and territories. The lack of standardization makes this process slow and difficult.
Global payroll transformation is required to keep pace with changing business needs in companies that are undergoing rapid growth and expansion. Payroll needs to deliver on many fronts and is currently not supported by the technology and processes in place at many multinational companies around the world. If a department is asked to do more, then it makes sense that this department be given the tools and resources to deliver more. So, a justifiable business case exists. In the case of payroll operations, this means investing in new technology and software to make this key business function more agile and responsive to trending business needs.
The case for global payroll transformation here is two-fold, firstly payroll needs to transform simply to become better, faster and more efficient at delivering day-to-day services. Secondly, payroll needs to supply data driven insight to business leaders in order for them to make important strategic decisions. The current model in place at many multinationals make delivering these two a real challenge. For a transformation to take place, a business case often needs to be presented. Money, time and effort will be needed to implement change and business leaders need to be convinced that this is a valuable investment that can deliver long term rewards. Let's examine some of the things that could be presented in this business case.
Making payroll more agile and responsive
Introducing a new global payroll model to a business can immediately make the payroll department more agile and responsive. Better technology, standardized data and automated processes can also save time and money. They will certainly introduce operational efficiencies and allow for more detailed and informed reporting. The right software can empower payroll professionals to do their daily jobs better and add value to the business overall by responding quickly to requests for new or additional reporting.
Speed and Efficiency
Through the automation of repeat tasks, payroll technology can process payments quicker with a reduced level of manual input, which has the added effect of reducing the risk of errors in the data. Not only do you get a faster, more efficient payroll process, but you also get a safer process where sensitive employee data is much less likely to be compromised or subject to human error. Reports can be auto scheduled and delivered quicker, while requests for information can be answered in faster and better ways with intuitive software that helps payroll teams to respond quickly.
Employee Morale
Global payroll transformation benefits both payroll professionals and overall company employees. Professionals get to work with technology that helps them do their job better. Employees get to access their pay related data whenever they want to or need to. Also, the employee experience when accessing this data is the same across different countries and regions. Employees feel empowered and in control while payroll professionals are no longer spending valuable time accessing and sending data to employees. All of this requires a payroll solution and a more digital mindset to transform payroll.
Spending clarity
One of the common concerns that many payroll professionals tell us about is the lack of visibility and clarity over there payroll operations. When you are dealing with multi country payroll providers, it is often a challenge to get a clear view of what is going on with your payroll expenditure. This is due to non-standard data and a lack of consolidated reporting tools. Payroll managers are often not in a position to supply the accurate reporting necessary to provide a clear understanding of where money is being spent and why. Introducing a global payroll technology can really help in this area- you can benefit from standardized data that will lead to consolidate reporting. This means the big picture can become a lot clearer and a lot more accurate. Reporting can be filtered by country or region and with the touch of a few buttons, payroll professionals are in a position to answer how much money is being spent in a particular area. The data will be standardized, in real time and ready to be extracted on request or via a scheduled reporting mechanism.
Lower costs in the long term
Implementing a global payroll solution requires investment, but the initial outlay is usually offset by the long-term cost saving gains. When tasks are automated and efficiencies are introduced, a corresponding reduction in labor costs can be seen. This coupled with increased productivity makes it a worthwhile investment. Automation and standardized data ensure that better reporting is created at a faster pace- in the long term, this is something that will require less man hours and less people. Investing in a tech-led global payroll solution means moving away from manual processes which have proven costly to multinational companies in the past. Money is saved, time is saved, and productivity is increased-transforming payroll is an investment that makes sense from a number of angles.
Future positioning
In the modern digital economy, multinational companies like to scale quickly in order to seize opportunities in the market. An agile and responsive payroll operation set-up is necessary to keep pace with this level of quick decision making. A company with broad ambitions that include expanding into new territories and regions must have in place a global payroll solution that is prepared for the future. A solution where new employees can be onboarded quickly and where any data produced in a new country can be standardized quickly for efficient reporting. Investing in a global software solution can put any multinational in a strong position to act quickly and decisively when it comes to executing a strategy.
It is clear that there now exists very strong case for global payroll transformation. This transformation will happen when multinational companies choose to partner with the right software or technology provider. They will receive a solution that makes their payroll operations more agile and responsive, as well as being more cost effective in the long run. This payroll solution can also provide the level of consolidated reporting and key business intelligence to help position companies for growth.
A decision to do this should not be met with skepticism, rather it should be embraced as clear, forward thinking behavior and of major strategic importance when it comes to executing a broad business strategy.
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