Implementing a new global payroll solution is a challenging undertaking. Payroll professionals working for multinational organizations must consider many factors including language, currencies, culture, and more when preparing for consolidation.
In this free PayrollOrg webinar, “Failsafe Your Global Payroll Implementation,” sponsored by Immedis, attendees learned what fully goes into a payroll implementation project, what to be prepared for, and how to measure and share project success with key stakeholders across the business.
Nicole Hennessy, Director of Implementation Services at Immedis, opened the session with a rundown on the current state of global payroll. The greatest factors influencing companies to undergo consolidation are the following:
- Compliance challenges
- Inefficient processes
- Managing complexities of multi-jurisdictional payroll
“The top compliance challenges being reported, interestingly enough as it is something I’m quite passionate about, is inaccurate employee source data being imported into the payroll system,” Henessy said.
In addition to enhanced compliance, Hennessy presented the many benefits of a consolidated global payroll system, including streamlined processes for better oversight, higher payroll and data security, and data-driven decision making for future business.
“Enhanced compliance helps your team understand what’s needed in each country for each payroll,” Henessy said.
Preparing for Implementation
Hennessy took attendees through a detailed plan for what to expect and prepare for before implementing a new global payroll solution. Laying a strong foundation is key, and the first step into preparations, she recommended, is to complete a stakeholder analysis.
“Really think about who in your organization will be impacted by the payroll transformation,” Henessy said. “Even those external to your organization. Audit requirements are often forgotten about, and audit teams have requirements that need to be met to continue a transformation.”
Other key steps that Henessy addressed is a timeline, including a project’s total plan time milestones, and data readiness—or understanding where your sources are and how quickly data can be accessed.
“I’ve seen in many payroll implementations that we’ve done where customers are not fully sure of where their data is actually housed,” Henessy said.
For a multinational company without consolidated payroll, this data can be squirreled across the globe without a single source of truth, or a central database, and hard to manage.
“It could be the case that you have a payroll in Malaysia where you don’t know where the source of truth is coming from,” Henessey said. “Is it on paper in a filing cabinet somewhere? Or is it sitting somewhere else digitally?”
Pro Tips
Henessy is an expert with 13 years of experience working in global payroll and implementation. She provided attendees with key pro tips to keep in mind when transforming their global payroll, which include the following:
- Be realistic—Do you have enough team members? Can you accomplish specific objectives?
- Document everything—Have a pre-agreed format with stakeholders. Take feedback and share thoughts.
- Understand dependencies—Resource constraints, ongoing projects, and data management are key to predicting potential delays and impacts.
- Having the right resources—Project managers, global payroll managers, and integration consultants are key to a project’s success.
“Look within your team and your objectives, that’s what will drive a successful project within your organization,” Hennessy said.
This free webinar will be available on demand until 30 September 2024.