Payroll

Solving compliance issues in Africa

Compliance

Business in Africa is booming thanks to slew of new investment opportunities, and companies around the world are eyeing the continent as an attractive prospect to expand their businesses into new markets.

In fact, a report by Deloitte showed that the African economy is expected to grow by 7.7 per cent annually, between 2014 and 2019, roughly double the rate of advanced economies.

However, expanding any business into a foreign country isn’t easy, and nowhere is this truer than in Africa. There are 54 countries, each of which has a unique set of rules and regulations, governmental channels, languages and cultural nuances – a daunting prospect.

It is critical for any organisation to stick to local legislation and to set up any new offices in line with the laws in each country it operates in. And then of course, they need to keep up-to-date with any changes. Many businesses don’t realise that local laws are updated frequently, and companies can be charged with non-compliance if they don’t make the required amendments in a timely fashion.

So, between multiple sets of rules for each region, regular amendments to these rules, changes in culture and language differences – it’s easy to see why many believe that maintaining compliance is an enormous challenge, particularly when it comes to payroll legislation in a foreign country.

Compounding the problem, is that important statutory requirements aren’t always readily available. In fact, in some countries, have only hard copies that can be found at regional offices. Others are more advanced, with digital infrastructures meaning that some information might be available online, but either way, it is not easy to come by, or straightforward to interpret, and making incorrect assumptions can cause major headaches for any business.

Many organisations choose to bring a service provider on board, who can help them overcome these challenges in each new country. But not all service providers are equal. In fact, more often than not, each provider will focus their support on a specific region and won’t offer a solution that covers multiple countries or regions at the same time. The sheer quantity of red tape and administration that needs to be overcome can be a massive pain point, businesses really need a single solution that can handle compliance across the board, and regardless of where in Africa the company is situated.

This is where PaySpace has found its niche. PaySpace Payroll & HR offers local or expatriate multi-country, multi-currency and multi-language payroll solutions to more than 40 African countries. Our software offers customers a 100% true cloud payroll and human capital management system with built-in, up-to-date, country-specific legislation and compliance.

It doesn’t matter whether payroll is processed from one, central location, from decentralised offices or is completely outsourced to PaySpace, the software is accessible to all users who have internet access and a browser, via any device, making compliance in Africa child’s play.

If the local decentralised offices decides to process payroll itself, head office will still maintain complete transparency and report capability via direct access to the system, and payroll processing at head office level also allows local users to draw reports for review purposes and capture payroll input from any office.

The PaySpace solution offers automated maintenance of country-specific legislative rules as it access to the most up-to-date, relevant information in each country, as well as country-specific legislative reports, which are available as standard delivered reports.

PaySpace’s solution features advanced expatriate functionality, and tax management reporting of ‘Year to Dates’ for home country tax purposes. It offers a single company, multi-currency options, and self-service which enables employees can access their information at any time on the device of their choice.

Although opening a new office in a different country is very exciting, it can be a a path beset with problems too. To make sure that your organisation’s African expansion is hassle-free and rewarding, having a solution that deals with all these compliance headaches when it comes to human resources, payroll and tax, is essential.

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About Corné Welman

Head of Compliance at PaySpace Corné is held in high regard as an Employees’ Tax expert with over 18 years’ experience in payroll project support management, organisational development, HR practices and legislative compliance. Corné is currently leading the compliance team at PaySpace, ensuring legislative compliance for all customers across 40+ African countries, an EXCO member of the Payroll Authors Group (PAG) and she cares passionately about the issues facing African businesses. Email : [email protected] LinkedIn : www.linkedin.com/in/corné-welman

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