What is global payroll? Simply put, it’s the management of your company’s entire payroll function – for all your international offices – from one central location.
Enabled by cloud technology, global payroll is transforming how multinationals manage their business operations. Gone are the days of having to recruit multiple in-country service providers and manage a pile of contracts. Now you can work with one single service provider who looks after all your company’s payroll needs.
This reduces the administrative headache significantly – but the benefits don’t stop there. Global payroll is good for business for many other reasons as well.
More time, better information
In this digital day and age, the right information is key to staying one step ahead of the competition. One major benefit of a cloud-native global payroll system is that it can give your business better access to critical information. It doesn’t matter where your payroll team is based, they can pull all the data they need from any connected device at any time.
Another crucial way to keep the competition at bay is to reduce the time your team spends on repetitive, time-consuming administrative tasks like spreadsheets and reports. There is no doubt that one centralised team managing one global service provider is far more efficient having to set up a team in each office to manage lots of small service contracts around world.
With greater access to information that provides a holistic view of the company – and with more time to put the information to better use – your payroll team will think smarter and act faster. Speed is integral to staying competitive and relevant.
Work better, together
Supported by cloud software, your payroll team can work with its colleagues in other departments and offices seamlessly. Geography is irrelevant. Projects that involve colleagues based in various parts of the world are unaffected by time zones or distance, and all parties can simultaneously access the information they need to work together.
No more emails pinging back and forth. No more duplicated or lost work. No more anonymous revisions or updates. The entire process is transparent and accessible, creating a collaborative and agile workplace. This enhanced collaboration can even extend to other departments, linking payroll to critical functions like HR and finance by integrating your global payroll with, for example, your accounting system.
How to implement a global payroll system
Think global payroll will be good for your business? When moving your business to a global payroll system be sure to keep these three aspects in mind to make the transition as smooth as possible?
- Your current technology
Is your company’s payroll already in the cloud? If it is, moving to global payroll will be simple as all your data will already be accessible from anywhere in the world. If you’re still using on-premise systems, don’t stress, it’s absolutely possible to make the move without disrupting your daily operations. Just be sure to choose the right provider with the best technology relevant to your needs.
- Compliance
Compliance is especially important for an international business with multiple offices in various countries. Your business is subject to the legislative framework of each and every country it operates in – any slip in regulatory adherence and you could face a severe penalty.
To avoid this, make sure you choose a global payroll system that covers all the countries that are relevant to your business.
- Change management
Change is not easy for most humans. Bear in mind that your employees may be a little reluctant to adopt new technology. A change management programme can help get the new payroll system up and running without mishaps.
This would cover an internal communications campaign to inform the team from the get-go, as well as training programmes and a responsive Q&A forum. Your employees need to be ready and willing to operate the new system from day one
What is global payroll? It’s a system for businesses that want to operate more efficiently and intelligently across multiple locations. Armed with real-time data and liberated from time-consuming administration, your business will outpace its rivals and stay relevant.
