Automation is a clear game changer across many business-critical operations at multinational companies around the world. It was simply inevitable that it would enter the mainstream, but we may not have anticipated just how profound and positive, the effects of automation could be. It was almost as if we had gotten used to the slow and frustrating nature of manual inputs and processes!
But now that there is clear evidence of the truly transformative effect that automation can have on any business operations that relied heavily in the past on manual inputting and time-consuming data entry, most people are simply asking why we didn’t get here sooner!
It is interesting to note that some people were a little suspicious of automation, a certain level of fear and apprehension surrounded a narrative that focused on an inaccurate story line – “the robots are coming”. While there may have been a certain level of truth to this, this easy media headline did not come anywhere near to doing justice to the major business benefits associated with machine learning and artificial intelligence.
In this article, we're going to look at five major advantages that can be realized very quickly when businesses choose to automate their global payroll function. This usually happens in a cloud-based environment on a payroll platform designed specifically to solve a range of complex payroll processing and management challenges. We will look at the reasons why global companies who have chosen to automate payroll services really wish they'd taken the decision sooner.
1 Speed
Yes, this may be an obvious one, but you would be stunned at the amount of major global organizations who still rely on slow, cumbersome, frustrating manual processes to deliver what is a business-critical service and essentially one of their largest business expenses, global payroll.
Payroll management is complex and very country specific-this means that a lot of data is required to get the job done. This does not mean however, that all of this data needs to be processed and entered via manually focused mechanisms like excel data spreadsheets. These are understandably very slow, not quite fitting with the digital world of 2021 or the future, and certainly not sustainable on a long-term basis for international payroll.
It's a digital world now and that means speed and efficiency are to be prioritized; emails and excel spreadsheets are things of the past, associated with a bygone era. The modern business world is all about cloud platforms and intuitive digital interfaces, where employees are empowered by a range of innovative digital tools that help them do their jobs in a smarter, faster and better way. These tools do exist for automated payroll but sadly, they have not reached widespread adoption yet. For those who do not adopt them very soon, the bottom line is that they run the risk of being left behind, stuck with antiquated processes and legacy technology that is no longer fit for delivering multi country global payroll in rapidly growing organizations.
Accuracy
Excel spreadsheets and manual processes also come with significant business risks- human error for starters; global payroll professionals unfairly being asked to manually enter rows and rows of employee data will inevitably make a mistake at some point-when it comes to global payroll processing, these are mistakes that you really don't want to happen-we all know what an extra zero being keyed in error into a row of an excel spreadsheet can potentially lead to- it can happen, it does happen and it will happen again.
Just think of how much easier it would be to ensure payroll data accuracy if standard pay elements, that very rarely change, once mapped and classified, were immediately automated so that any future input of these elements happened automatically. You are immediately eliminating any risk of human error from team members- no typos or mis keying can happen here-accuracy is guaranteed with the single touch of a button. Global payroll professionals can bulk upload hugely important payroll data in seconds and have it automatically ingested into the correct workflows. This is workflow automation and validation in action, leveraging payroll software to streamline and improve payroll functions.
Security
Global payroll systems contain very important and highly sensitive information-global employers have a duty of care to protect this information in line with the highest available security standards.
Interacting with it, changing it or moving it about via excel spreadsheets or emails does not come close to meeting these standards. Data breaches are on the rise, and they can be very damaging, not only in terms of financial penalties but also reputational damage and a subsequent erosion of employee trust. There is really no room for complacency here and in terms of risk management, internals security protocols around global payroll information protection and data security need to be taken very seriously.
Automated data transfers or automatically ingested global payroll data reduces or eliminates the need for an individual to interact with the data and compromise any security protocols. Automated data flows fall are protected by the security features on any digital platform which is designed to automate this flow of data. Global payroll data moving across systems in an automated fashion inside a secure cloud environment is far more secure than email transfer or spreadsheet manipulation.
Efficiency
Automation is normally introduced to speed up the process while making it more accurate and secure. This tends to also improve overall operational efficiency. It comes with the added advantage of creating more time in monthly payroll cycles, allowing global payroll professionals to focus their considerable skills on higher value work such as reporting and analysis. Everything becomes faster, easier and more convenient when automation is introduced- global payroll becomes a less pressurized environment to operate in, as there is more time available thanks to automation.
Bulk files can be uploaded, checked and validated in a matter of seconds and machine learning technology can be configured to highlight anomalies or areas for review. This is a much more efficient process than manually checking spreadsheets, and much less time consuming.
Tasks and workflows get processed and completed quicker, there is time for reporting and analysis and crucially, there is more time to get an understanding of the figures and what they mean for the organization as a whole. This level of efficiency can help to elevate the global payroll department from a back-office function to a value-add strategic partner.
Innovation
Innovation can sometimes be hard to measure but you always recognize it when you see it! Global payroll professionals are very keen to work with innovative digital tools and smart technology. They see it being used to great effect in other departments such as sales and marketing, and justifiably feel that there is no reason why digital innovation should not be part of the global payroll process.
Automation is a form of innovation in itself, in that it moves away from the old way of doing things and replaces them with a far quicker, more efficient and secure method of getting things done. This is about leveraging digital transformation technology to great effect within a business-critical service like global payroll- moving beyond the mechanics of getting people paid accurately every pay period and towards a better understanding of how payroll impacts the wider organization. This could be in the form of understanding how payroll costs differ across countries or getting a clearer picture around the make-up of a global workforce-number of employees and how they differ-permanent or contract/contingency workers.
Innovation can also be seen in dataflows between the wider global payroll ecosystem; by this we mean the separate yet interconnected departments of global payroll, human resources and finance. Automated data flows and secure integrations between the software systems in these departments is a crucial form of innovation that benefits all three.
The smart technology on the Payslip global payroll control platform has automation at its heart. In Payslip, global payroll dataflows are automated where possible as are any repeatable or recurring processes that happen in a monthly payroll cycle. We look to cut out manual processes and seamlessly integrate with local country payroll providers. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) automates the validation of pay elements, employee lists and gross-to-net totals. The platform was designed to eliminate manual pay and tax data entry and drive new levels of efficiency in the delivery and management of global payroll. Talk to our team today if this is something that could make a major difference to how you currently deliver your payroll.
For information on the Payslip Platform contact us today.
