Every payroll cycle comes with its own unique challenges. During the Global Payroll Management Institute (GPMI) webinar “How to Advance Your Global Payroll Operation Through Technology,” which is currently available for free on-demand, executives from Immedis walked participants through a strategy on how to meet these challenges and advance a company’s global payroll operations through technology.
Leading the webinar were Richard Limpkin, Chief Operating Officer, and Adrian Morrissey, Senior Commercial Manager. Limpkin and Morrissey explained how innovative technology can be used to improve the accuracy and timing of the payroll process and ensure payroll data security works through an integrated maturity spectrum (the technical capabilities of a company).
They also reviewed reactive, strategic, and predictive reporting through a visualization of payroll data and explained how advanced payment methods can help fund payroll globally to exotic locations.
“I really enjoy understanding what is happening in the market and taking that feedback to (Immedis’) technology teams to make sure we as a business don’t stand still,” Morrissey said.
According to Limpkin, payroll as a function has become the heartbeat of all businesses, especially businesses that have expanded across the globe. The current global payroll landscape, he said, has changed quickly. Not too long ago, the majority of payroll in specific countries and locations may have been paid through cash-only transactions. Then came checks and online payments and a transition to centrally managed or shared-service-center models.
“Now companies want a consolidated solution where they want a limited number of providers to deliver on their behalf across the globe,” Limpkin said. “This is what I believe to be the beginning of the global payroll revolution.”
Although companies will have to work within their limitations, Immedis executives said it’s important to keep up as the industry evolves. This includes later cutoffs, higher accuracy, better quality, and a single point of control for the end-to-end cycle of payroll.
“Payroll will move from being a simple function to being a more strategic function because the advancement of technology allows people to focus on more important aspects,” Limpkin said.
These advancements in technology include:
Web services—the highest level of the integrated maturity spectrum where self-managing and correcting include on-demand, real-time data exchange. “It’s a little bit like Neo from The Matrix when a small child explains to him that ‘there is no spoon,’” Limpkin said. “In the web service scenario in technology, there is no file. There is nothing to get corrupted or lost. There is nothing at risk.”
Integration with HR and finance systems—initiated by the customer on the payroll provider’s platform. Allows the user to be in full control of the process without having to engage in any of the technicalities. “This has more tangible business benefits than just increased automation,” Morrissey said. “It is vital to be able to collect country-specific data elements.”
Data for payroll optimization—using strategic analytics and advanced, reactive, and consolidated reporting to deliver the best information your company has. For example, if a company was to create a gender equality report, it could take a piece of information like “average salaries distributed globally” and layer in information from the HR system and reveal what the gender pay gap is for its company across multiple countries. “This allows companies to bring things to the surface that tell them something about their business that they might not even have known to ask,” Limpkin said.
For a deeper dive into “How to Advance Your Global Payroll Operation Through Technology,” watch the free webinar now on-demand.
Do you like our content? Join the GPMI community to get free education and articles straight to your inbox!
Kiko Martinez is Associate Editor of Membership Publications for the American Payroll Association and the Global Payroll Management Institute.