5 International payroll software benefits

Global payroll is inherently complicated—the number of employees, varying laws and different cultural customs all add complexity. Most payroll professionals would welcome a little more simplicity and time back in the day.

And technology may be on your side with international payroll software integrations.

International payroll software is a high-tech solution to the growing complexity problem in global payroll processing. It’s a program that connects your human resources and payroll systems to facilitate information sharing.

Adding the right international payroll software to your process can save a ton of time by automating manual tasks and reducing errors—ultimately helping you stay in compliance around the globe.

Time is money and payroll automation saves you both.

You’ve probably heard these lofty promises before about some hot new tech is going to change your business and save you a lot of money. But there are often significant tradeoffs, and the actualized savings always falls a little short of expectations.

Is international payroll software just one of these new, shiny objects with big promises—or is it here to stay?

In 2020, the average global payroll department clocked 25 hours of overtime processing payroll. That was before remote working during the pandemic complicated the process. What if you could eliminate that overtime entirely?

Here are a few specific examples of how international payroll software can save you time and money.

In the aftermath of a global pandemic that left its mark on the business world, everyone is buzzing about being more adaptable and agile. Business leaders are invested in shoring up their business models, making sure they can weather the next storm.

At the same time, technology has evolved to help us turn all the data we collect every day into actionable insights. Having the right data in the right place at the right time improves agility by allowing businesses to make better decisions, in less time.

International payroll software collects all the right data like labor hour trends, the average rate of pay and financial projections—and gives back digestible insights about your global workforce with the click of a button.

With important dates popping up quarterly (or monthly, in some cases), staying on top of tax filings for international employees and contractors can get overwhelming.

Instead of paying manual labor to fill out complicated tax forms and calculate accurate numbers for estimated tax payments, the right international payroll software can automate your filing processes. You’ll save time and the expense of costly filing errors.

The right software will store historical filing data and effortlessly transfer information where it’s needed. Your quarterly filings will feed right into your annual reconciliations, which means you’ll spend a lot less time looking up data on old returns and double-checking numbers on filings.

And that’s time your personnel can spend doing more strategic tasks.

If processing payroll was as straightforward as multiplying hours worked by a set wage, you might not need a complex software program to pay your employees. But running payroll has evolved to include dozens of different types of compensation.

Does your company currently have a good process in place for tracking other types of compensation, like:

International payroll software integrates tracking for all these different pieces of your payroll program. Streamlining your data entry, tracking, and reporting options across your entire payroll system gets rid of the time suck caused by duplicating the same work in different systems.

Take a moment to really think about everything that goes into processing payroll.

The process begins by collecting lots of variable data from across the organization. Timesheets, new hires, terminations, overtime slips, etc. create a constant flow of administrative work for your payroll department.

Then you have dozens of garnishments and thousands of tax withholdings to process. Even if all of the data is 100% accurate, this takes a significant amount of time. And only a slim 11% of global employers report a truly functional, standardized payroll process across the board.

This means that 89% of global employers have room for improvement. Automated payroll via international payroll software reduces much of the manual labor that slows down the payroll process.

Compliance with all local laws is usually a top concern for global employers, considering that, year after year, the cost of non-compliance goes up. And when it comes to payroll, it’s not just about taxes—newer regulations like GDPR are piling on to the typical cost of non-compliance.

The average cost of non-compliance is now at an eyeball-popping sum of $14.8 million dollars . The potential fallout from a compliance misstep is a lot more than pocket change to even the most profitable businesses.

International payroll software automates nearly every process, from data entry to tracking and calculations. Investing in this technology takes the element of human error out of the equation, which can save your company millions in non-compliance fines—and thousands of labor hours addressing those errors.

These software programs offer two levels of protection.

First, computer-generated calculations are precise and not susceptible to simple mathematical mistakes. Second, when manual data entry is necessary, safeguards ensure consistency and accuracy. For example, the software may limit the number of digits in a numerical field or display a pop up that requires a secondary confirmation before saving a newly entered value.

International payroll software is a staple that provides layers of time and cost-saving protection for your global business. These tools use automation in smart ways to eliminate errors and the time that you would otherwise spend fixing those errors. You can process more complex payroll needs in less time with better accuracy—no matter where your workforce is across the globe.

If you’re ready to ditch these common payroll time sucks, partner with a Payroll 360 service to connect the dots between your integration needs and a capable international payroll software.