Building a Business Case for Global Payroll: Key Considerations

Before a global payroll provider is outsourced, companies need to know their purposes and objectives for adopting international payroll. Businesses can calculate their requirements by firstly identifying the problems taking place in the HR and payroll department. For example, if the HR department is struggling to abide by national payment legislations across multiple countries, then the need for global payroll is high. Once the purpose(s) for global payroll are identified, HR and payroll teams can be certain that global payroll is required.

Before business cases can be built, organisations need to know the state of their current payment process. The organisation needs to take stock of current payroll processes, and understand what improvements can be made. For example, identifying which countries or regions will need outsourced payroll support.

Once the analysis of current payroll processes has taken place, the HR and payroll department should do a cost-benefit analysis. Financial requirements can be documented in an appraisal form, or by calculating the total cost of ownership. This process ensures that the investment is affordable, and that every cost associated with implementing global payroll is evaluated.

There is a growing demand amongst multinational organisations for a standardised, harmonised and unified method for dealing with HR and payroll needs across all countries. When building a business case for payroll, there are various stakeholders that need to be considered. These include:

•  HR directors
• HR managers
• Payroll managers
• Chief Payroll Officer
• The C-suite

By assessing the role that these stakeholders play, HR and payroll teams can work with these key players for the decision-making process. By understanding exactly what solution is being pursued and how it will be implemented, a smoother implementation is not only guaranteed, but any potential problems relating to new processes, workflows or technical issues can be identified early. Identifying issues early allows firms to apply the most appropriate solution to these areas affected before the overall global payroll is implemented.

Once a process has been planned out in detail, and the impact on each stakeholder and global HR department has been assessed, the team should begin to develop the business case in a collaborative process. Many business case templates can be found online, and while the opinions of stakeholders are essential in deciding whether a payroll system should be implemented, they can also play an important role in helping companies plan their case. This should ensure that the case is built efficiently and accurately.

For more information on how SD Worx can help your global payroll needs, please contact us here, or for general enquiries email us at WeAreGlobal@sdworx.com.