Questions to Ask Before Selecting a Global Payroll Provider gives you the framework you need when choosing a global payroll provider. What are the fundamental expectations you should have of a vendor? Which features and add-ons yield ROI?
1. Questions to Ask Before Selecting a Global Payroll Provider
Phil Calandra, VP Global
Channels & Alliances,
SafeGuard World
International
2. Certified integration value-drivers
Reduction of both time to value and
project risk
Radical reduction of integration cost,
both initial and long-term
Fast & reliable implementations
Round-trip integration
Inbound
• Payroll results loaded
into Workday
• Standard input file
• Payroll in local
currency
Outbound
• HR data
• Standard output file
• Configurable
• Auditable
• Multiple formats
Payroll
(US & Canada)
HCM
Workday
Time Tracking
Cloud Connect for
Third Party Payroll
Payroll
Results
Global
HR Data
Payroll Provider Integration with Workday
Global Payroll Provider
5. • In-Country Payroll Charges - True Cost?
• Time Zones - How do you manage a ‘round-the-clock’ project?
• Payroll Balances - Can I do a mid-year conversion?
• Implementation - How long does it take?
• Time Entry - Do you have a portal that EE’s can use?
• Data Privacy - What do I need to know/do?
• GL Files - How are they formatted/delivered?
• Gross-to-Net Calculations - How and Where are these performed?
Questions You Should Ask
6. • The Real Cost = Local Payroll Fees PLUS:
‒ Training classes and seminars annually
‒ New legislative requirements
‒ Backup Resource
‒ Auditing & SOX compliance
‒ Disaster Recovery Plan
Country Charges
7. • Group countries in similar time zones into the same project phase
Time Zones
8. • How do you provide balances for a mid-year implementation?
1. Spreadsheets
– If this is the answer, do not do a mid-year implementation
2. Payroll Registers
Payroll Balances
9. a
7 countries
2 month implementation
Go Live: Month 3
Workday integration
Go Live: Month 4
8th country
Go Live: Month 4
9-10th countries
Go Live: Month 5
1
W
A
V
E
2
W
A
V
E
Replace
Legacy ERP
600
Employees
10
Countries
3-5 Month
Deadline
The Solution
Typical Deployment Timeline
10. Not Enough Trained In-Country Resources
Limited Data Access
Short Timeline
3 Things That Slow Many Implementations
11. • What You Should Consider
‒ Your business process
‒ How you capture local time data
‒ Going from a decentralized to centralized model
• What You Should Ask a Provider
‒ Do you have certified integrations?
‒ What about interfaces?
‒ Where does time evaluation take place? (Payroll providers want Hours @ Pay Code/
Rate)
Time Entry
12. • Consider Employment Contract implications around movement of data
‒ This probably came up in your Workday deployment, anyway
• Check vendor Privacy Controls
‒ Audit Standards
• Remember it is still your data – you’re not outsourcing the responsibility
for it
• Use PGP Encryption on files flowing between you and provider
‒ Workday makes this process easy
• Remember the Data Privacy landscape continues to evolve; keep in
touch with Legal on implications for HR and Payroll
Data Privacy
13. • If you can’t get a good GL file, you’re probably not going live
• GL files should be delivered monthly via an SFTP site
• You should be able to get as many formats as you need
• A Global Payroll vendor should be able to take your requirements and
create each country’s file format & Chart of Accounts/ Reporting
Structure
GL Files
14. • How and Where are gross-to-net calculations performed?
‒ In-Country Partner (ICP) network
Do you have ICPs in every country I require?
To whom do I speak for every payroll that I run?
‒ Gross-to-net software
Do you have staff in every country I require, or who are my country-specific experts for every
payroll?
What if my tax filings or payments are incorrect? Who can help resolve that, is in the local time
zone, and knows the local language and customs?
Gross-to-Net Calculations
16. • Certified outbound integrations
• Labor costing integrations into Workday
• Global access to payroll data
• Global reporting
‒ Reporting in your currency
• Analytics
• Pay slips online and mobile
‒ Compliant and in local language
What You Should Expect
SIMPLIFIED VERSION
This is how a centralized solution generally works –
Your provider will oversee all aspects of the local and global payments processes. This includes:
Ensuring that all inputs for each country payroll have been received and validated for completeness
Dispatching that data to relevant in-country experts
Ensuring that in-country experts have computed gross-to-net calculations in accordance with all local statutory requirements
Aggregating the gross-to-net data for payroll validation, and hopefully reporting and analytics, before being submitted for final approval
This is where the sophistication of your provider’s technology really matters.
And lastly, after approval, the provider generates the requisite and general ledger files, along with the final payroll reports, tax filings and employee pay slips.
PAINSTAKING VERSION
Employee Payroll Data Submission
Employee updates personal data using HR Self Service
Client (you) updates employee data using HR Self Service or HRMS
HRMS sends HR indicative data to payroll provider
Payroll Processing
Payroll provider receives and enters various data: standard interface of HR indicative data, time data; and other data elements like garnishments, tax elections, bank details and so on.
ICP then receives & enters standard interface into their payroll system before performing gross to net, calculating local taxes, remitting tax and producing payroll registers
Payroll provider receives gross to net data from ICP, performs reasonableness review of results and uses website or similar to alert Client that payroll is ready to review
Client accesses consolidated payroll reports from provider’s site and reviews, advises, changes and/or approves payroll data
Provider process changes???
Payroll distribution
ICP distributes local pay slips and sends ACH file to bank, generates YE wage and tax statement, and sends full gross to net data back to provider
Consolidated Reproting
Provider consolidates gross to net and total workforce costs from global ICPs and sends to client for visibility into workforce costs
Data Analytics
And lastly, data analytics, which I’ll address later in the session
Country Charges
Value v.s. in-country
In UK, doing more than one file format
Ultimately, while timely and accurate integration and payroll processing/distribution are critically important, they make up the baseline. Those are the integral aspects of any provider’s service model, so if you can’t effectively integrate a solution, or if your employees aren’t being paid accurately or on time, your shouldn’t be in business with that provider. Assuming providers are fulfilling those needs effectively – and make no mistake about it, some do it better than others – there are a few value adds that separate top solutions./providers from the pack.