It is always very important to us to get the views of the people who really know and understand what global payroll delivery and management is all about. These are the people in the industry who deal with payroll on a day-to-day basis and have unique insight into the challenges and complexities that global payroll teams are facing in multinational organisations today.
So, we decided to run a survey and focus on some key questions that we believe provide important insight into the future of multi-country payroll. The survey is a timely pulse check for the industry- it is always a good idea to reach out and learn about the priorities, challenges and concerns of global payroll professionals and leaders at multinational companies.
The results are a fascinating mix, revealing an interesting mix of common themes along with some surprising results, but always valuable and insightful. You can view the survey results here.
Here are some views from us around the implications for global payroll right now and in the near future.
Data entry work and a lack of key integrations are core pain points
Dedicated global payroll professionals are dealing with a lot: manual data entry, limited reporting, non-standardized processes across countries, lack of integrations, compliance and data security worries… the list goes on. They need help to get out from under frustrating and time-consuming manual processes that really have no place in payroll delivery in 2023.
They also need next-level integrations so that the data flows from all connected dependencies happen in a fluid and seamless manner- HCMs, payroll calculation engines, benefit systems, finance software and local country payroll providers. Limited, non-existent or planned data integrations make up over 60% of the results. This is a major indicator of where global organizations are right now when it comes to payroll integration.
In 2023, it is no longer acceptable that outstanding payroll professionals still have to endure manual data work, nonstandard processes across countries, limited reporting and insufficient integrations with a wider payroll ecosystem.
Most organisations have yet to really get on top of this, some are using a patchwork of various different solutions, but nobody seems to be prioritising it enough. The result of this is global payroll professionals feeling somewhat undervalued and a significant percentage feel that their role is dismissed as a press a button back-office administration task.
47% state that their biggest priority this year is automating payroll dataflows to replace manual workflows
Manual processes and Excel data entry are still in place at many organizations today. It is clear from this result that automation would make a massive difference to global payroll professionals.
Time-consuming, repetitive and cumbersome manual data entry is a huge resource drain at global payroll departments. The need for automation is clear and applying it to multi-country payroll processing can be genuinely transformative- hours and even days can be saved in the pay run process.
Automating and validating global payroll data workflows creates massive time savings and productivity gains in every payrun. The result is smart, fast and error-free digital payroll. This is where organizations need to get to in 2023.
40% say different processes across countries – no standardization is their biggest frustration.
The lack of standardization across countries is a major frustration, it must be annoying for payroll professionals to finish one task in one country and then move to another payrun and have to get familiar with an entirely different process.
The lack of a single way of working across countries creates challenges around operational control and transparency. The issue stems from a lack of a global data set- the solution is to categorise and standardise all pay elements at a global level, so you are working with one data set across your entire global payroll country footprint. Now you have standardised data and processes, you can see clearly what is happening across all of your countries. And this data can then be consolidated and converted into detailed, comprehensive multi-country reporting for actionable insights and deep analysis.
51% state that variance and error detection automation technology would add the most value to their payroll operation.
Very interesting result here and it is clear that an ability to detect and fix errors quickly would be a major advantage in day-to-day payroll processing. It is often the case that global payroll professionals are manually entering a lot of data into spreadsheets, the risk of human error is high, and it can often be difficult to spot errors and anomalies. It would be hugely valuable to operate with automation technology that could automatically provide variance and error detection.
Clean pre-payroll data can be another key time saver- there is a real need to avoid multiple trial runs when sending information across to local vendors. The cleaner and more accurate the data is at the pre-payroll stage (the most time-consuming part of payroll) the better- this is something that benefits both payroll teams and local country providers. Clean, accurate pre-payroll data going across to vendors increases the likelihood of a smooth payroll calculation process and clean and accurate data coming back from the vendor to the payroll team.
78% say that payroll is viewed as a simple, press-a-button back-office administration function.
The perception of the global payroll department in the wider context of the overall organization is always a fascinating one for us- we speak to payroll professionals all the time and it is clear that other professionals at their organization often think that payroll processing is a matter of pressing a button/ a straightforward back-office administration function. Nothing could be further from the truth.
So, we are not surprised to hear 78% of respondents confirm that the press-a-button stereotype is still very much in existence along with the misleading and slightly dismissive administrative function label.
It is always valuable to gauge the mood and morale of payroll professionals. An always pressurized job is now filled with new challenges: high volume manual work, additional demands for reporting & analytics, data accuracy concerns, sourcing local vendors, compliance, data security and paying an extended workforce in a post-covid working environment.
Many state they are just about getting by, most say they are tired of manual data work and a significant number feel underserved by technology. There is a clear need for digital tools and a technology platform where people, processes, data and vendors can be managed in one location for visibility, control and harmonized multi-country payroll processing.
Very few outside of the payroll team really understand the complexity, challenges and nuances of the day-to-day role. Most people only pay attention when something goes wrong!
At Payslip, we know that payroll professionals are extremely dedicated, diligent and hard-working people who take personal pride in ensuring that a globally dispersed workforce is paid accurately and on time every pay period. That is why we are on a mission to digitize and revolutionize payroll, so that these excellent professionals are served by best-in-class technology.
