International Payroll: The Global and Local Mix

High up on the list of priorities for businesses of all sizes today is ensuring that operations remain compliant. However, when scaling up the business to expand into multiple countries, this can become a much more complex issue for the HR and payroll department to handle. As the world becomes more aware of the importance of how data is handled and secured, countries and regions are beginning to develop their own laws and legislations on data handling, such as the General Data Protection Regulation. When organisations operate in multiple regions, this has to be taken into account to ensure compliance –– however, keeping on top of these ever-changing laws within every locality can become an operational headache. 

Working with a multinational payroll provider can help maintain this perfect global and local mix so HR and payroll professionals can rest assured that their operations are compliant as they expand into new territories. The provider is able to source local expertise for each country, ensuring that no specific compliance details are missed on a local level, while connecting this detailed and vital operation on a global scale as the business expands. With this, HR and payroll professionals can be left to do what they do best, running the monthly payroll without being distracted by the threat of non-compliance. 

In this ever-changing business world, it’s not always possible to accurately predict the future and plan global and local operations accordingly. Businesses expand and contract constantly, and this can mean a constant stream of new local legislations to become familiar with as operations develop with the business. When looking to strike the perfect balance between global and local operations, international businesses often need flexibility and a tailored payroll function that fits with their unique organisational needs. Rather than having to find new payroll providers each time the business expands into a new region, a multinational payroll provider can add flexibility to match with the natural tide of global business. 

When expanding operations to a global scale, the HR and payroll functions have previously been viewed as just a back-office business function. However, when managed correctly, payroll data can become very powerful within an international organisation. The HR and payroll department don’t simply want to expand and contract with the business, so, when working in conjunction with a global provider, the power of payroll can truly be unlocked. 

When the functions are able to operate on a global scale with local detail, the power of the HR and payroll data can help take business operations to the next level. With seamless access to data such as employee churn, engagement levels and recruitment costs, empowered by AI and HR technologies, the department can often find a seat in the boardroom as the business expands. HR and payroll predictive analytics can be indispensable to an international business, and with insight over both the global and local operations, this is where payroll can come into its own.