Companies with international employees are challenged with managing unique payroll requirements in each country. The laws and taxes change each year, deadlines are different in every region, and penalties for non-compliance can be daunting. Many companies start with a managed payroll approach, but find costly fees and limited visibility across all countries. Other companies try the decentralized approach, using a different vendor in each country, but discover very quickly that local providers can have limited reporting capabilities and there can be language barriers as well. So how can you get control of global payroll and simplify at the same time?
We can use the US as an example. If you have employees in 20 states and use different payroll processors in each state, you will need to manage 20 different providers, 20 different methods of reporting, and will not have real-time access to your payroll data. Imagine that is now 20 different countries, with different languages, functionality, and regulations or tax laws that change every year – how do you stay on track and manage expenses, errors, or budgets? This decentralized approach in global payroll often leads to incorrect payroll calculations, lack of reporting, and no access to budgets or data in real-time. There are many benefits to simplify the global payroll process, access all of your employee payroll in one system, and have consolidated reporting each month across all countries and currencies.
Once a company has given up trying to manage multiple vendors across multiple countries, this is the point when some decide to hire an outside team to handle all the details and “take care” of the global payroll. It sounds better than trying to manage payroll in 20 countries on your own, but what often happens is that you lose the ability to track when an error is made, or you identify a compliance issue but can’t figure out where or when it happened. Other issues related to managed payroll are communicating with in-country providers. If you have a question about a compliance issue in China, you have to wait for your managed payroll company to ask the provider in China before getting back to you. This can cause serious delays for a simple question.
So how can you take your global payroll to the “Next Level”?
There is an easy way to consolidate all your countries into one interface, have direct access to your data, and be able to communicate directly with in-country providers when questions come up. Sounds too good to be true? This is the next level of global payroll – easy-to-use technology, aggregated reporting across all countries and currencies, and a hybrid service model with US and in-country support. Companies competing in the global space need flexible and customized options to manage global payroll, maintain compliance, and ensure their employees are paid accurately and in accordance with local in-country regulations.
To learn more about how to simplify your global payroll and take it to the next level, click here. Our team has helped companies navigate complex global issues, manage and maintain accurate payroll and compliance, and much more!