Getting it Right: Small and Mighty Payroll

There’s a common misconception that payroll offerings are only necessary when your organisation reaches a certain size. However, small companies should not overlook partnering with a payroll provider that fits their needs, especially when they’re looking to expand into new regions.

Many of the challenges that large organisations face are often felt by smaller companies too. For example, ensuring that the organisation is compliant with HR and payroll laws and legislations in each country or region is a problem for any organisations operating in multiple countries.

Small companies require an efficient offering that can be implemented quickly and provides the organisation with clarity around its HR and payroll data and processes. Whether it’s ensuring that the payroll procedures in place can be located and actioned simply or providing clarity about tax legislation or social security, having the right solution in place can transform the organisation’s HR and payroll.

Without the established legal teams that many large businesses have, some small companies often feel overwhelmed or are unclear about local employment and payroll legislations, which can slow their growth and could even lead to legislative mistakes within the HR and payroll department. Not only will this result in large fines, but can also cause major brand damage and will lead to unhappy employees (and consequently unhappy customers).

When expanding into a new country or region, organisations also need language and cultural expertise in each country they work in, alongside ensuring that team members are able to liaise with each region in their local timezone. Without this local expertise, organisations are at risk of limited payroll that does not function at its optimum efficiency. Recent research revealed that 25% of Belgium SMEs have a lack of clarity about local legislation regarding employment and social security obligations when it comes to expanding internationally. This is likely felt across Europe.

No matter whether the company is two or 250 people, all need to be paid correctly and on-time. Completely accurate multi-country and multi-currency payroll is critical, and the employee(s) looking after payroll should be able to control processes and take corrective action if something goes wrong.