We’ve watched clients make time savings as significant as 30-60% less time spent on running monthly and ad hoc reports, just by transforming the one most time-consuming aspect of their payroll process. In this case that’s pre-payroll data preparation, however Payzaar has helped global payroll teams streamline numerous processes. Before making a time-saving transformation, the first question you need to consider is:
What does your global payroll team spend the most time on?
From the many conversations we've had on this topic with global payroll teams over the years, there’s one thing all their answers had in common: data management.
Most global payroll teams spend an average of 60% of their time managing data.
From the different data preparation tasks required to run payroll, to checking and validating their Gross to Net, to compiling data for reporting or stakeholder requests - everything revolves around data.
So why is it so time-consuming to gather data and get it approved? Well, when we take a look at the first few stages in the process, we can see the importance and complexity of data storage.
Often, we’ll hear teams say; “We’re covered, because all our data is in our HR system”.
However, does this HR system store bonus calculations, equity, health insurance, expenses, commissions? The usual answer is ‘no’. In most cases, these specific figures are stored elsewhere. Additionally, if you are working with traditional global payroll aggregation providers, you might face very early cut-off dates, which further intensify the process.
Once the data is collated, you then need to start transforming it into a provider-friendly format, which often includes reformatting the data in order to create reports. In other words, a lot of manual labor for your team. And where there’s manual labor, there’s space for human error.
All of this becomes increasingly more complex as organizations expand – so how can you simplify these processes, save hours of time, and still achieve the benchmark of 100% accuracy, 100% of the time? With automation.
Why do payroll teams spend so much time on data management?
Because that’s just what payroll is (but should it be?)
The ‘if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.’ outlook. Yes, it’s true that for years the norm has been spending hours on data management, but is that still necessary in 2023? If the same processes can be done quicker, with reduced risk of human error and improved accuracy through automation, the future of payroll could look much brighter for your teams.
Because of technology limitations
The majority of legacy payroll systems are built with a hyper-local mindset, not a global one. That means they aren’t designed to marry different types of data together or provide consolidation. Over the years, we have seen a lack of strong technology solutions that effectively tie all these things together at a global level to help payroll teams avoid doing this work by hand. That’s why Payzaar exists, to provide organizations with a robust solution which does just that.
Because it’s hard to automate due to fragmentation
From the hundreds of organizations we work with, most of them have a big mix of vendors in different regions and countries, each with different software systems. This fragmentation makes it harder for your teams to achieve standardization, creating more manual work. By centralizing and automating these processes, not only can you avoid this, but also save your payroll team hours of valuable time.
A fragmented payroll = More data management work
In this example, we can see what a fragmented payroll environment looks like: each of these providers doing things differently. Different data formats, different data modules, different cut-off dates. All these workflows and back and forth processes are going to differ.
Even if you have HCM software, you will typically also have many adjacent systems, which are fragmented and decentralized. These subsystems in numerous countries and continents are all going to generate different outputs. This makes your team’s job more complex and time-consuming, because these outputs then have to be aggregated and put together in a way that makes sense.
So you're dealing with siloed information, poor integration with HR and finance systems, different processes and different data. So what is the solution? A global payroll control layer.
Why does having aggregated data matter?
It’s time for a reality check. Change in dynamic organizations is a reality, international expansion is a reality, pay element changes, new benefits, new employee value propositions, the next acquisition, all of these changes are a reality in any growing organization. That’s why it’s necessary to understand this multiplicity of new data sources, processes and changes, and embrace it.
Many payroll professionals still belong to the school of thought that ‘We have an API to our HR information system, so everything’s fine.’ However, that’s simply not enough to achieve maximum efficiency. Global payroll teams need to start considering a control layer as a set of tools which unify employees, partners, and data into a cohesive payroll experience, through automation.
How does a global payroll control layer accelerate data management tasks?
When you have multiple different data sources, we know that the problem isn't so much gathering the data, but rather validating, formatting and transforming it. That’s why we built the Payzaar with this in mind. So that instead of having to manually slice your data together, our platform does it all for you.
Not only does the system accelerate data management tasks, but also carries out checks before data goes out, through our anomaly detection, variance detection, and change detection features. So rather than having to check every line item to locate errors, your team can focus only on fixing those that are surfaced automatically by the system - greatly reducing time spent on data validation and management.
For most businesses, labor makes up 60 -70% of their overall costs, so the payroll department holds the data about the biggest cost-base in the company. That’s why there is such a need for a control layer like Payzaar’s, which can take data from around the world and consolidate it in a single platform, instantaneously. Besides elevating your reporting capabilities, this layer also boosts overall departmental productivity.
What type of tools do you need to save time?
As your business expands, you need tools that are as agile and dynamic as your payroll environment.
- Tools to support transforming data into provider-friendly formats
Easy to use for both you and your payroll providers, and that accommodate change quickly and efficiently. With Payzaar, your people, processes, and data all exist cohesively in one place, which enables standardized processes and centralized governance, visibility, and control.
- Tools to automate checking of inputs to outputs
This is the type of repetitive task that very few genuinely enjoy, but many tire of. And a team who are tired and fatigued, are more likely to make errors. In fact, as much as 48.8% of human error can be put down to stress, repetition or fatigue. Automating your workflow processes eliminates a lot of this manual data manipulation, and instead allows for technology to check your data, drive your reporting, and operate an integrated data-management utility.
- Tools to make reporting self-serviceable
By giving colleagues or business partners the ability to view the data themselves, they no longer need to come to you asking for time-consuming reports to be created, nor wait, frustrated, for two weeks whilst you rush to compile data from your many different national silos. So It’s a win-win for both payroll teams and stakeholders.
Examples of global payroll time-saving tools
HR connect
Designed to help you manage your data, HR Connect is an HR-to-Payroll integration solution that automates data collection and transformation into the formats your providers require. This reduces manual efforts, and in turn, saves hours of valuable time for your global payroll team.
Operations control
Brings together all the different steps of the payroll process, as well as all communication, in one centralized platform. A dynamic workflow which integrates both your data preparation, and your payroll approval processes with automation.
Reporting
As its name suggests, Reporting allows you to dynamically query your data and build reports for your many stakeholders. By consolidating all data into a single unified format, this process can be done in real time, with no data preparation required, and once reports are built you can re-run them with the press of a button.
So if you're looking to save time on your global payroll processes, Payzaar could be the game-changer you're looking for. Book a demo with our team today to find out how Payzaar can help your organization save hours of time and boost the speed and efficiency of your key processes.
