Addressing global payroll management is a complex undertaking
Managing payroll is a complex undertaking, driven by a country’s regulatory environment. When it comes to doing this on a global scale, however, the business must address the myriad of tax regulations in all the jurisdictions in which it operates, says Ian McAlister, General Manager at CRS Technologies.
“While expanding operations into new territories brings compelling advantages to the company, it is important to be cognisant of local nuances such as language, culture and legislative requirements. There is no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to payroll management around the world. What works (and is expected) in one country might not even be relevant in another.”
Payroll is a vital business function
While using the cloud as a vehicle to help manage this from a central location has addressed some of these challenges, it is not the silver bullet that many make it out to be. Rather, it is just one component of a much more complicated environment that is continually evolving.
“Payroll is a vital business function. The advantage of migrating this to the cloud is the efficiency that comes with having sight of an organisation’s global payroll in a centralised location. This ensures that there are fewer administrative tasks to be concerned about and allows more time to focus on delivering strategic value across the organisation’s footprint.”
Yet for all the attention placed on outsourcing payroll solutions, offering self-service employee platforms, and even recruiting more digitally savvy payroll managers, McAlister says it is vitally important to have the fundamentals in place.
“In fact, many payroll managers cite keeping on top of legislation in multiple tax jurisdictions as their biggest challenge. A global survey found that 41% of respondents consider this the most important obstacle to overcome, followed by managing multiple deadlines, processes, contracts and reporting.”
Global payroll delivers significant business value
Despite this, managing a global payroll delivers significant business value. This includes having access to more relevant information on the state of operations in every territory, resulting in a cohesive view of the health of the organisation. It also enables decision-makers to identify problem areas much quicker than in the past and allocate resources accordingly.
“As this results in an improved, collaborative environment, a global payroll approach must keep three critical components in mind – technology, compliance and change management. Technology revolves around assessing what is currently being used and how best to adopt other solutions. Secondly, it goes without saying that compliance must be adhered to, irrespective of the location, so the solution must be able to offer the flexibility required to do this. Finally, getting employees to use the solution and all the relevant features will be integral to its success,” says McAlister.
This is where using technology in conjunction with a people-centric approach becomes important.
“Too often, businesses simply throw technology at the problem, but using cloud-based solutions are merely one piece of the puzzle. There is still a need to have people on the ground with the necessary skills to unlock the potential created by the technology. The one cannot happen without the other,” McAlister concludes.
