A Complete Guide to Global Payroll Automation

Managing payroll for different employees spread across multiple countries with varying labor laws, currencies, and deadlines is a big challenge for global companies. 

So, how can you manage global payroll efficiently?

The answer is Global Payroll Automation. 

Global payroll automation refers to the process of utilizing technology to streamline and optimize payroll functions across international locations.

This involves automating various tasks involved in payroll processing, such as calculating wages, deducting taxes and benefits, disbursing payments to employees worldwide, and more. 

This article will explain global payroll automation, its benefits, and how to automate your global payroll processing. 

What is global payroll automation?

Payroll automation uses software to automate complex and repetitive tasks while processing employees' payroll. It helps companies comply with local labor and tax laws and eliminates discrepancies and errors that occur when manual interventions are involved.

Global payroll automation goes a step further and automates payrolls for global teams. Its biggest advantage is managing compliance and adhering to the diverse regulatory requirements across the globe. 

Global payroll automation software also integrates with your existing HR platforms, making it seamless to track the time and attendance of employees, keep track of expense management, and offer a comprehensive global workforce management solution. 

What Are the Benefits of Global Payroll Automation?

Automating your global payroll is an easy, efficient, and cost-effective way to pay international employees and contractors. Let’s take a closer look at the advantages of global payroll automation: 

Less administrative burden

Global payroll automation reduces the administrative burden by streamlining the process, eliminating the manual tasks involved. It centralizes payroll operations on a single platform, so you don't need to manage separate payroll processes for different countries. 

Payroll automation solution makes time and leave tracking easy as it simplifies the PTO, attendance, and time tracking of all employees across the globe. It helps you keep a tab on each employee’s time off and leave and ensure that they are getting paid in accordance with the local labor laws. You could have spent hours if you had to do this task manually. Needless to say, manual interventions would also increase the chances of errors.

Automated payroll systems often integrate with other HR and financial systems, such as timekeeping, HRIS, and ERP software. Integration ensures seamless data flow between different systems, eliminating the need for manual data entry and reconciliation. 

Global payroll automation solutions are designed to ensure compliance with local tax regulations, labor laws, and reporting requirements in each country of operation. These systems automatically update tax tables, calculate deductions, and generate compliant reports, reducing the administrative burden of staying compliant in multiple jurisdictions.

Cost-effective payroll administration

Global payroll automation reduces the administrative burden and is a cost-effective solution for payroll administration. Since most aspects of payroll management are automated, you save cost on administrative overheads. As automated payroll systems ensure compliance, you can avoid hefty fines and penalties due to non-compliance. Automated payroll solutions are scalable, so you can quickly adapt the payroll process when entering a new market or region. 

Automated payroll systems provide comprehensive reporting and analytics capabilities, allowing organizations to gain insights into labor costs, trends, and compliance metrics across different countries. This enables data-driven decision-making and helps identify opportunities for cost savings and process improvements.

Accurate and compliant payroll records

Payroll automation systems automatically calculate and withhold the correct amount of taxes from employee paychecks based on their earnings and tax status. They also generate and file tax forms and reports required by government agencies, ensuring compliance with tax laws and regulations.

It includes built-in compliance checks to ensure payroll processing adheres to local tax regulations, labor laws, and reporting requirements. These checks help identify potential compliance issues before payroll is processed, allowing for timely corrections and adjustments.

Automated payroll systems maintain detailed audit trails of all payroll-related activities, including changes made to employee records, payroll calculations, and tax withholdings. These audit trails provide transparency and accountability, helping organizations demonstrate compliance with regulatory requirements during audits or investigations.

Simplified payroll reporting

Cloud-based global payroll solutions consolidate all employment data in one place, making it easy for the HR team to access information about their global employees quickly. With just a few clicks, you can track all payroll-related information, such as wages, taxes, and deductions, and update data without making manual errors.

Easier and faster payroll processing

Navigating the varying tax structures, payment methods, and federal regulations for different countries can be challenging when paying a global workforce. Global payroll automation simplifies this process. 

Global payroll software, like Gloroots, ensures timely payments in local currency, minimizes errors, and guarantees compliance across borders when you pay international contractors and employees.

Scalable payroll data management

With cloud-based global payroll software, the burden of manual data entry is eliminated, allowing you to easily expand your operations globally. For example, you can add new countries without worrying about system updates, compliance issues, or complicated integration procedures. 

Optimized benefits planning 

Given the diverse labor laws and regulations across countries, managing a global team’s benefits program is complex. But a global payroll automation solution like Gloroots can simplify this process. 

The platform provides access to unified employee data, allowing you to offer customized benefits packages in compliance with applicable laws. 

Streamlined tax filing

A global payroll automation system simplifies tax filing for your HR team by accurately calculating taxes according to local regulations. This eliminates the potential for human error inherent in manual tax calculations and mitigates non-compliance risk. 

Plus, as a cloud-based solution, all employee data is securely stored in one place, making filing taxes easier. 

24/7 customer support

With automated solutions, you receive constant support from your payroll partner. This means you can reach out for help anytime if you have any questions and don't need to miss deadlines because of language barriers or different time zones. 

What Payroll Tasks Can You Automate?

Tax calculations

An automated global payroll solution calculates and withholds taxes from your employees’ paychecks. The automated solutions are programmed with the applicable tax laws in different countries,  ensuring accurate calculations. 

Pay calculations

Global payroll automation software calculates employees’ salaries, factoring in hourly pay, overtime, and attendance data. This ensures accurate and swift pay calculations, regardless of your employees’ location. 

Time and attendance tracking

Integrated payroll systems automatically record employee attendance, working hours, overtime, and leave days, eliminating the need for manual timesheets.  This ensures that payroll calculations are accurate and compliant. 

Benefit deduction

A payroll automation solution calculates the deductions for employee benefits such as health insurance, retirement plans, and other options applicable to the specific employee.

Payroll processing

A global payroll automation platform calculates taxes and pay, automatically generates paychecks, and facilitates direct deposits into employees’ bank accounts. This ensures timely and accurate payment disbursement in compliance with local laws and regulations

Compliance reporting

Global payroll automation platforms enable you to swiftly generate compliance documents such as W-2s, 1099s, and different country-specific tax forms. 

Year-end processing

Year-end financial processing can be daunting for every company. However, by investing in a global payroll automation system, you can easily create end-of-year tax documents and keep your company’s financial management up to date.

How to Automate Global Payroll

Ready to automate your global payroll? Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you get started. 

Understand your needs

Start by assessing your workforce, location, and needs before choosing an automated payroll solution. Understanding your requirements is crucial, as this will help you choose the right product. 

Select the right payroll software

Once you have assessed the need, it's time to choose the right software product. Look for a product that meets your requirements and offers round-the-clock support. Look for customer reviews on third-party websites like G2 or Capterra to learn what others say about the product. 

Migrate your existing data

Data migration and correct entry are crucial when transitioning from one payroll system to another. Choose a platform that makes migrating all the historical data, financial details, and employee records easy. Invest in a system that prioritizes data sensitivity and safeguards employee data, as any mishandling of data and breaches can lead to severe legal consequences, such as lawsuits and penalties.

Configure payroll processes

Ensure that the payroll system is configured to comply with all relevant legal and regulatory requirements in each country of operation. This includes tax laws, tax rates, statutory deductions, benefits, labor regulations, minimum wage requirements, and reporting obligations.

If you operate in countries with different currencies, you’ll also need to configure the system to support multiple currencies and exchange rates. Ensure that currency conversions are accurate and comply with regulatory requirements.

Next, depending on the local requirements, you’ll need to set the payroll frequency — monthly, quarterly, weekly, etc.. 

Test and validate

Once your payroll confirmation is complete, it’s time to test and validate it to ensure everything is correct. 

Conduct thorough system testing to identify and fix any errors before going live. 

Provide employee training and support

Once you have successfully configured, tested, and validated the payroll system, it's time to train your HR staff and employees on how to use the new payroll system.  Remember, if you're transitioning from one platform to another, you may face some resistance from the employees in adoption. So, it's important to discuss the need for the transition and how the new tool will save their time and effort. Share a checklist for transition and your plan for how you will conduct training. 

Top Features To Look For In A Global Payroll Automation Software

While choosing your global payroll automation platform, look for these features:

Payroll compliance

The first and foremost feature to look for while choosing a global payroll automation platform is that it strictly adheres to employment tax laws and compliance guidelines. Non-adherence to compliance guidelines can lead to fines, penalties, and legal actions. 

Centralized data

Look for a tool that secures and makes all your HR data accessible in one platform. Having all details stored centrally will help you reduce the time spent accessing and processing information. Choose a solution with a centralized database so that you can keep track of all the regulations from different jurisdictions. 

Flexibility and support

Look for a solution that lets you do off-cycle pay runs, manage bonuses, conduct correction runs, calculate the correct incentive amount, and finalize the payroll in advance. 

Additionally, you can opt for a solution provider that offers 24/7 support so that you’re not stuck at any point during a complex payroll run. 

Granular control

A payroll solution that offers granular control empowers you to meticulously manage the different financial components of your payroll structure. For example, you should be able to track time, look into salary adjustments and approve them, track paid time off, calculate bonuses and incentives, etc. 

A granular level of control ensures that all the payroll processes are done accurately and that employees receive the correct amount of the paycheck they deserve. 

Complete transparency

Transparency is one of the key factors to look for when choosing a payroll automation solution, as it helps to maintain trust and offer clarity to everyone involved. So look for a solution that clarifies payroll deductions, tax calculations, etc. 

Top Global Payroll Automation Tools

Below, we review the top 4 global payroll automation software, highlighting their features, integrations, and pricing so that you can make an informed decision.

1. Gloroots

Gloroots is a global payroll software that helps companies streamline the payroll process of their global team

It ensures that all international payroll processing is managed without errors, adhering to all compliance regulations, thus supporting your global expansion. 

Gloroots has integrated all the various payroll modules and offers a unified interface for cross-border payroll processing. This helps minimize errors and improve efficiency. 

It ensures compliance with all international regulations, providing insights into currency conversions and tax deductions for full transparency.

With Gloroots’ multicurrency transaction feature, conversions and transactions of international currencies are sorted. 

Apart from managing global payroll automation, Gloroots is also a leading EOR provider.

Features

• A streamlined payroll process, provided by a user-friendly interface.
• Offers customized benefits to match your specific payroll requirements, ensuring a perfect fit for your global strategy.
• Multi-currency payrolling
• Six-click employee onboarding module that sports a user-friendly dashboard that allows pausing, resuming, or removing onboarding as hiring plans change. 

Pricing

Pricing starts from $29/month/contractor and $299/employee/month. 

2. Deel

Deel is a one-stop solution for all HR management needs.

It’s also a payroll provider that lets you hire in over 150 countries. By partnering with Deel you can hire employees or contractors in your desired location without getting into the complexities of local regulations, tax structure, or international payroll. The automated payroll system won't take you more than a month to set up. 

Deel has local country experts who will guide you through the hiring approach you should take in a specific country for easy hiring. They ensure you stay compliant with the local pay standards. 

Deel makes it easy to manage your workforce effortlessly, including handling off-cycle payroll adjustments, custom contract adjustments, expense reimbursements, scheduling advance pay, etc. 

With Deel, you can pay your employees in more than ten different payment options, including cryptocurrency. 

Features

• Legal entities in 100+ different countries
• Onboarding and offboarding
• App management
• Compliance management
• Streamlined payroll
• Integrations with other HR platforms

Integrations 

Deel offers integrations with third-party platforms like Ashby, Bamboo HR, Hibon, Okta, Workday, Workable, NetSuite, Greenhouse, Expensify, etc., so you can easily integrate your existing tools with Deel. 

Pricing

Deel offers pricing for its global payroll system on request. Don’t forget to try their free demo before asking for a quote. 

3. Papaya Global

Papaya Global is a great global payroll automation solution with an AI-powered compliance verification system. 

Papaya Global is a cloud-based global payroll automation and workforce management solution that helps HR teams hire, onboard, pay, and manage employees across 160 countries. 

The platform lets you pay and manage employee payments through regular payrolls or pay independent contractors under an EOR arrangement. The tool uses AI and smart technology to ensure compliance with local labor law. It offers advanced security measures, real-time business intelligence, and analytics that keep all employee information safe and give you a first-hand overview of real-time workforce data. 

Features

• Workforce management across 160+ countries
• Automated payroll
• Safe, simple, and fast global payments (in local currency or crypto)
• Integrations with HRIS, expense management, time and attendance, ERP, and financial software
• Dedicated customer success representatives

Integrations

Papaya Global offers integrations with third-party tools like SAP, Priority Software, Microsoft Dynamics 365, BambooHR, Expensify, etc. They also offer custom integrations with other HR tools upon request, so you can easily integrate them with your existing third-party HR tools. 

Pricing

• The price for global payroll services ranges from $15 to $25 per employee per month, depending on the number of your employees. 
• The price for EOR starts from $650/employee/month or $2/contractor/month.

4. Rippling

Rippling is a one-stop tool that combines local and global payroll into one solution and helps you automate payroll across 50 countries. 

Rippling is a complete HR solution provider that processes payroll, tracks employee attendance, and handles employee benefits and workforce management. In addition to full payroll service, the tools address global HR and IT needs. They also keep track of inventory assigned to global employees and their payrolls and benefits. 

Features

• Direct deposit in local currency
• Payroll management and reporting
• Automated tax filings and compliance monitoring
• Time and attendance tracking
• Employee benefits administration

Pricing

It starts from $8 per user/month. You may inquire about the pricing for its EOR service. Remember to try the free demo on their website before asking for a quote. 

Choose Gloroots as your global payroll software

Gloroots has partnered with leading companies like PriceLabs, Sketchnote, Polynomial, OLOID, and SUITE to accommodate a wider scope of services to process global payroll. Its ability to streamline operations, provide real-time reporting, enforce compliance transparently, and handle multi-currency transactions has made it a preferred solution for companies seeking global payroll automation.

Are you ready to start your global payroll automation journey yet? 

Get started with Gloroots.