What does the future hold for global payroll?

Global payroll has undergone significant transformation over the last decade due to a range of factors including technological advancements, mixed workforce types, compliance obligations and the post-pandemic rise of remote and hybrid work. The industry is in the process of moving from manual processes to automated systems, to make it easier for businesses to manage their payroll processes.

While this business-critical department had previously been underserved by technology investments, lately it has started to receive more first-citizen treatment and is being considered more and more for digital transformation initiatives, either directly inside organisations or as part of shared services and global business services projects.

These are interesting times for global payroll professionals, leaders and industry experts who are seeing a huge amount of significant change happening across the space. It is expected that there are some exciting and genuinely helpful innovations to come- in this article, we're going to cover some of the things you can expect to see form part of global payroll delivery and management in the very near future.

Increased Adoption of Cloud-Based Systems

One of the trends that we expect to see in the future of global payroll is the increased adoption of cloud-based systems. The cloud offers several benefits, including cost savings, scalability, and flexibility. With cloud-based systems, businesses can access their payroll data from anywhere in the world, making it easier to manage their workforce. This can be especially useful during times of severe business disruption or business continuity measures like those we saw during the Covid-19 pandemic.? Additionally, cloud-based systems are more secure than traditional systems, making them an attractive option for businesses that handle sensitive data. Global payroll data contains extremely sensitive and personal information, so it has become absolutely essential that all data related to payroll processing be handled and processed inside a secure cloud-based environment.

Integration with Other HR Systems

Another trend that we expect to see in the future of global payroll is the integration of payroll systems with other HR systems. This integration will enable businesses to manage their workforce more efficiently, as they will have access to all the HR data they need in one place. For example, businesses can integrate their payroll system with their in-house employee onboarding system, making it easier to manage new hires. Global payroll does not and cannot exist in isolation, it is part of a wider ecosystem and IT infrastructure where bi-directional data flows are needed so that data can flow between global payroll processing software and crucial dependencies like Human Capital Management systems , local country payroll providers (at Workday Rising it was revealed that the average number of payroll vendors in use is between 3 and 20), financial software, benefits providers and time and attendance software. The better all of these systems are linked from a data sharing perspective, the smoother, faster and more accurate payroll processing and management will become at organizations.

Improved Analytics and Reporting

As global payroll systems become more advanced, we expect to see improved analytics and reporting capabilities. This will enable businesses to gain valuable insights into their workforce, such as employee turnover rates, compensation trends, and more. With this information, businesses can make better decisions about their workforce and improve their overall performance. The last few years has seen a major increase in demand for real-time global payroll data and reporting especially on a comparative basis across countries. This information is needed to help leadership teams and a C-Suite executive make data-driven and informed decisions about one of their largest individual costs which is payroll. There is a need for much greater reporting, both high level as well as detailed and nuanced, on this major company expense and companies who wish to maintain their reputation as being ahead of the curve are investing in payroll reporting tools and payroll digital platforms to ensure multiple stakeholders have instant access to detailed and comprehensive multi country payroll reporting.

Greater Focus on Compliance

With the rise of remote work and the globalization of business, compliance has become a more significant concern for global payroll professionals. We expect to see a greater focus on compliance in the future, with businesses investing more resources in ensuring that they are compliant with local and international regulations. This includes staying up-to-date with changes in legislation and implementing systems to ensure compliance.

Digital dashboards and compliance calendars can be of assistance here as they will enable global payroll professional to map out all of the key compliance deliverables at the start of the year. There will also be a need for a digital platform which enables payroll professionals and local country payroll providers to communicate inside a secure environment as this will help everyone keep up to date with any changes in local country regulations.

Payroll is essentially local and many of the compliance obligations are also local- but it is ultimately the responsibility of the global organisation to ensure they meet all of their payroll related compliance and regulatory responsibilities. Digital technology capabilities will be required to ensure this happens as the compliance landscape has spiralled in recent years.

The Rise of AI and Automation

We expect to see the rise of AI and automation in the future of global payroll. These technologies will enable businesses to automate many of their payroll processes, reducing the need for manual intervention with payroll data. This will save businesses time and money, while also improving accuracy and reducing errors. Additionally, artificial intelligence and automation can help businesses identify trends and patterns in their payroll data, enabling them to make better decisions about their workforce.

Automation has been in practise across a number of industries for some time now but purpose-built automation that is specific to global payroll is not yet commonplace. This level of automation is about automating the end-to-end process of multi country global payroll- from pre-payroll data collection and validation through to post-payroll last-mile reporting. This is hyperautomation and will include layers of intelligence to identify errors/anomalies. It has the power to completely transform how global payroll is delivered and managed at global organisations. There are massive time saving and efficiency gains that come with automation and we expect it to be high on the priority list at global payroll teams around the world

Conclusion

The future of global payroll is exciting, with new payroll software technologies and trends emerging all the time in the payroll industry. As businesses become more global and remote work becomes more prevalent, the need for advanced payroll systems to streamline payroll operations will continue to grow. Multi country payroll processing was already a complex and pressurized environment, but even more complexity has now emerged due to a completely different work culture in a post pandemic business environment. We expect global organisations to respond positively to the increased need for a technology-based solution to this business-critical service delivery. By adopting cloud-based systems, integrating payroll with other HR systems, improving analytics and reporting, focusing on compliance, and embracing AI and automation, businesses can stay ahead of the curve and payroll teams can manage their workforce and payroll function more efficiently.

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This article originally appeared on payslip.com