The advent of technology within payroll, a mission-critical area of business, continues to have a profound affect on corporate governance and daily operation. Gone are the days of bookkeeping machines, comptometer operators, wage clerks and encoded ledger cards.
Today more companies are investing in technology which reinforces incumbent systems and add value to their overall offering. The pressure on payroll administration professionals to meet stringent deadlines, manage payroll and tax-related tasks with pin-point accuracy and meticulous attention to detail is such that technology is generally seen as an asset.
This area of business has always been aware of developments in technologies that are designed to improve processes and procedures. However, there has been a reluctance to change and there are users who are accustomed to rigid processes and resist modifications in practices. This is where change management and capturing user ‘buy-in’ on technology is of the utmost importance.
Fortunately progress in this regard has helped to increase levels of technology adoption.
The modern payroll environment leverages off Web-based solutions, such as Employee Self Service, to streamline activity. Data consolidation and integration with MIS (Managed Information Systems) applications is more prevalent.
The fundamental behind any investment in technology is that there must be a clear understanding that it alone does not represent an instantaneous, automatic solution for any issue. There are many factors to consider, not least of which is whether the technology being considered adequately meets all core business requirements and dynamics.
It is best to do your homework properly before deciding on a product. Hidden costs on additional hardware or integration with legacy systems can become prohibitively expensive. Make sure your product and platform is scalable to grow as your company does.
The cost factor is largely dependent on the type of solution required. Licenses and related costs are diverse.
The payroll solution has to be flexible and stable. There is little business sense in implementing technology if it is, at best, reliable only some of the time. Reports have to be generated, information logged, data checked and re-checked and there is no time to fix systems that do not measure up to expectations.
This is especially significant if one considers the fact that calculations and formulae have to be updated according to the revised tax legislation through new budgets. Media reports have pointed to the need for date-driven and rules-based systems and the advantage this offers the payroll administrator.
An ideal solution would incorporate a high level of statutory compliance with intuitive graphical interfacing, designed for ease of operation and flexibility of non-standard reports.
From a payroll point of view, it is important to instil proper project management in order to extract maximum value from technology. Define your day-to-day, weekly, monthly and year-end processes. Put the appropriate controls in place. Define take-on deliverables and mechanisms to monitor them.
As with any solution, in the region of 60% of success can be attributed to the skills and ability of users and well constructed implementation plans which are strictly adhered to.
