Have you recently completed a round of Series A or B funding? Well, you're in good company as many organizations from fledgling startups to established companies have been out there in the market talking to investors.
It's a very thorough and demanding process - this year it has been different as most of the communication has taken place over video conferencing calls. The pandemic came along and interrupted the natural flow of face-to-face meetings and international flights. Most people talking to investors have had to adapt to a new way of presenting information and getting their point of view across.
Video calls also allow for the continuation of the conversation and a lot of follow up questions as venture capital firms look to get into the detail of who you are, what you do and where you fit in the market. There is a lot of money to be invested out there and understandably, VC firms have a lot of options and want to get it right.
The endless PowerPoint presentations and answering of questions tends to be worth the wait as funding and expertise from an established VC partner can prove to be the shot in the arm that propels and organization forward. You more than likely have an ambitious product road map and equally ambitious sales targets for the year ahead and will likely use the funding to invest in your products and recruitment initiatives.
So, with funding secured, your focus will inevitably turn to how best to spend this new capital and look at ways at how it can help you deliver on your strategy. In this article, we will examine one area of potential investment that you may not have considered -global payroll. We will explain why it should be in your mind and why moving forward without considering it could be detrimental.
Expansion needs payroll
We get it, you have just received significant funding and you are keen to enter new markets and territories. This means an intense and rapid recruitment drive as you look to set up operations in new countries. You have a great product or service; you are keen to get the word out and make it available to as many people as possible -this is how market share is carved out and how revenue is generated -business is business.
But here's the thing- new countries means new employees and they all need to be paid-on time, accurately and without any glitches or hassles. New countries also mean new legislation, labor laws and international compliance obligations. That's a headache you don't want -you simply want to spend the new funding money as wisely and as targeted as possible- in line with your road map and strategy.
Global payroll technology should form part of any new investment that comes out of recent venture capital funds. It is something that can pay dividends in the here and now while also helping to future proof the expansion abilities of your organization. expansion needs payroll- it is as simple as that.
Expansion means more to manage
When a multinational organization expands as a result of significant venture capital funding, things can get bigger pretty quickly. Sometimes growth can happen at a faster rate than an organization is ready for. All eyes can be on market share and profit margins and many ambitious projects can be greenlit quickly as senior figures in the organization prioritize speed in order to take advantage of opportunities.
Having more to manage can result in complexities - when you expand you have more countries, more employees, more local payroll providers, more tax nuances, more compliance obligations along with cultural, currency and time zone differences. All of this requires a technology stack to manage it in the most efficient way possible. Adding global payroll technology that is designed specifically for the delivery and management of multi country global payroll is a very useful investment during periods of intense company growth.
If a digital global payroll platform is flexible and scalable -then it can handle any level of scaling activity and growth that your organization wishes to pursue. Early investment at the start of a growth phase can be a wise decision. When you have global payroll technology that is designed to deliver global payroll across a range of countries with built-in digital tools and applications for reporting, compliance and general payroll management, then you are working with a technology stack that can keep pace with your ambitions. If instead, you choose to ignore global payroll right now and put it in the category of ‘will fix that later’ - what you will end up with is a technology stack that blocks your growth ambitions instead of facilitating them.
Expansion means a need for integrations
You are a growing organization; you've just got some venture capital funding and you have big plans for the future. Big means more systems and technology to drive and also manage the planned growth of the future. You should be thinking about integrations right now if this is the case.
It is easy to run out with this new money and purchase the latest fancy technology being touted in the media and technology magazines. It is wise to pause and consider integrations -for example, if you're human resources technology stack badly needs an upgrade and you know for certain that you are operating with legacy payroll technology that is no longer fit for purpose and unable to keep pace with your scaling activity, then it is crucial that you think about a technology stack where these two are integrated and then think about what else they could integrate with.
They could also integrate with financial and accounting systems as well as any external tools and applications that feed into your recruitment, salary and benefits strategy.
It is a good idea to think of human resources, finance and global payroll as a mini ecosystem where smooth and efficient data flows between them are absolutely essential to progressive growth. If you think of these three departments as one entity and look to build an innovative technology stack that incorporates data flows between all three of them, then you are on the road to preparing your organization for the future.
Make sure that your HCM systems such as Workday and SuccessFactors, integrate fully with your global payroll technology stack and also ensure that this technology stack is capable of meeting reporting demands from the finance team in the office of the CFO. As you grow, there will be a greater need for analysis and insight around global payroll and HR data - you can be certain that the office of the CFO will want you to have in place smart reporting tools and analytics to deliver helpful and informative insight for cost management activities.
You need Payslip
Of course, there will be a queue of people looking to help you spend this new venture capital funding you have received. You need to focus on immediate and long-term needs and prioritize this spend. If continued growth and expansion, then you need Payslip- and these are the reasons why.
- Global payroll technology designed specifically for global payroll management,
- standardized data across multiple countries,
- time saving automation for increased accuracy and control,
- secure cloud environment for sensitive payroll data,
- remote working technology for post covid work culture,
- vendor agnostic -choose any payroll vendor you want to work with,
- employee self-service access to their data and payslips,
- suite of smart reporting and analytics tools servicing a range of stakeholders,
- flexible platform that can scale in line with business growth,
- digital audit trails and calendars for new country compliance,
- integrates with most HCM systems, including Workday and SuccessFactors.
If you have just received some funding and are thinking about which investments to prioritize for your business, it is well worth your time to book a call with one of our team today and learn about our Global Payroll Management platform.