Ramco Blog - News, tips and insights on HCM, ERP, Logistics & Aviation enterprise software industry

Payroll Project Implementation: Challenges and Best Practices

Written by Anoop Handa | September 23, 2022

Payroll management is essential for running a business effectively. If you keep your employees happy, they will remain loyal and work harder. Accurate and Timely payroll payments to the employees is one of the key obligations of any business.

You will also need to manage and track tax and labour laws to save your business from penalties for non-compliance. However, it may be challenging to manage payroll implementation and run a business simultaneously. Especially if you're moving to a new, updated system that involves digital transformation of your HR function.

This is where outsourcing payroll implementation helps so that you can focus on your business’ products and services to keep your clients happy. Continue reading to learn more about payroll project implementation, its challenges and best practices.

Challenges of Payroll Implementation

Using cloud payroll solutions can yield your business excellent results. However, you cannot expect it to be flawless. Every organisation faces some or other issues during payroll implementation. Here are a few significant issues companies face in the process:

Compliance issues

Every country has its own compliance calendar, to which an organisation must adhere to. Failing to meet the deadlines for report filing or tax payments can cost organisations heavily. Thus, statutory compliance is the most significant challenge a company can face, according to the Global Payroll Management Institute (GPMI).

Choosing a payroll service provider

To deal with compliance issues, you may plan to outsource the payroll implementation. So now the challenge is to select the right payroll solutions provider.

There are many companies delivering payroll implementation services in one or several countries. However, it gets challenging to compare so many companies' features and pricing and select the right one.

Handling multiple Payroll Solutions Providers 

Outsourcing payroll implementation to local payroll service providers is very promising, but it creates a whole new set of challenges for Global Organisations and those who are operating across geographies. For example, co-ordination with multiple payroll solutions providers requires dealing with varied processes and systems.

Besides, the data from all of them will come to you in various formats, making it difficult to keep track of employment costs and compare them between different countries. Making a strategic decision will become a tedious task as extracting insightful information will require a lot of effort and time across multiple systems.

Data protection

Employee payroll data needs appropriate data protection levels because it is susceptible to data security breaches. You might comply with data security regulations of the place where your headquarters are, but you also need to adhere equally to all locations of your operation.

In addition, data security can become a pain because of the various data streams coming in and going out of your central system to multiple payroll solutions providers.

Slow and long payroll implementation process

One of the significant issues faced in global payroll implementation is that it might take months to set up. It can become a hurdle for businesses that are in the midst of worldwide expansion and need faster scalability.

Successful Implementation of Payroll Solutions: Best Practices

Transitioning from one payroll system to another is very hectic. However, you can follow some of the below-mentioned calculated steps in the payroll implementation transition for good results: Choosing the right service provider.

Today, many companies provide excellent global payroll solutions. Choosing the right company can be overwhelming and tedious. However, it is necessary to select the right service provider because they will be handling a vast amount of sensitive employee data for your company.

Today, many companies provide excellent global payroll solutions. Choosing the right company can be overwhelming and tedious. However, it is necessary to select the right service provider because they will be handling a vast amount of sensitive employee data for your company.

When it comes to data security, it should be your topmost priority. You can select the right service provider by keeping in mind the following things:

  • Determine your company’s internal needs.
  • A vendor's reputation matters, do your research about the vendor's reliability, trustworthiness, and support level.
  • Learn how fast vendors respond to your queries. Humans are bound to make errors, but quick rectification of those errors is what matters.
  • Before choosing a vendor, it is necessary to consider how much work their team is committed to finishing for you. A vendor who does not share these details cannot be trusted.
  • Lastly, ask for the price and what is included in that price. Every company offers different services at different rates. Compare the rates thoroughly and see what they are offering at that rate.

Establishing a timeline

Set a goal and build a timeline for successful payroll implementation. After selecting a vendor, you must jointly lay out a detailed roadmap to your ultimate goal of first successful payroll with your new system. Without a roadmap, it might take a long time to reach your goal of payroll implementation.

Teamwork

Build a team and assign essential tasks with deadlines. Then, divide the work to save yourself (or your team) from errors and other timely issues. Besides, you can also get feedback on the new system and how they think you can make it better.

Employee training

For successful adaption of new payroll solutions software, proper training is necessary. You can make employees aware of the benefits and efficiencies of the new payroll system by providing them with appropriate vendor-led training.

Run a test

Before going live with your first payroll, it is advisable to run a parallel test in the new system. Make a test run and look out for mistakes or errors and ways to correct them. Running a test before going live can save you a fortune in both money and time.

To Summarize

With the right payroll solutions provider and taking the proper steps, it is easy to overcome the challenges faced in payroll implementation. Once your payroll software successfully starts running, you will have all the time to focus on expanding and improving your products and services with an equally focused and loyal staff.

Payroll implementation gets easier with Ramco Global Payroll Solutions. Get the best services from the industry leader in just a click.