Is standardization the solution to payroll complexity?

It’s no secret that global payroll processes have been outdated and complex for quite some time. In fact, the United States ranks within the top 11 countries with the most complex payroll systems, alongside the UK, France, Italy, Belgium, and more. Old-fashioned, manual processes of payroll data often lend to duplication across multiple internal and external systems. A lack of standardized processes inevitably means that every country a business delivers payroll in has a different structure and format for payroll data calculations, so there is no single way of working. This, along with siloed teams, create barriers within the payroll department that only increase both complexity and poor visibility.

Payroll systems that are not standardized don’t support the growth and scalability of a business. A company may be ready to expand and rapidly hire, but complexities across different countries creates hurdles that can be both costly and time consuming. Compliance concerns can also impact data security and protected information – if a payroll department cannot see what is happening in each country, they cannot be compliant. A lack of standardized processes across countries also forces them to endure time-consuming manual processes, where proper technology can help remove tedious (but important!) tasks from their workload.

Standardizing the payroll data and process across countries could end the complexities mentioned above. When there is a standardized payroll process in place, each payroll professional is able to operate within the same payroll data and process, and work in a standardized way. If a payroll professional functioning in one country unexpectedly needs to take over a colleague’s duties in another country, the same policies and procedures from the original country will still be followed. This allows the payroll professionals to take over responsibilities without skipping a beat. A single way of working makes payroll faster, more efficient, and more manageable than ever before.