When it comes to finance, reporting, governance and compliance, organisations have several very large balls in the air. In a complex juggling act that demands perfection and attention to detail, companies need to prioritise financial operations and governance, risk and compliance (GRC) to ensure they remain legislatively compliant and on track with legislative mandates.
It is, according to Ian McAlister, GM of CRS Technologies, an area of the business that must remain finely tuned and aligned to avoid unnecessary risk.
“It’s essential that systems such as payroll are legislatively compliant to reduce the risk of running into trouble with the authorities,” he explains. “The sheer weight of regulations and legislation that govern payroll, finance and information puts immense pressure on organisations. You have to stay on top of every minute detail and unexpected change, or else.”
Which is why technology has become an invaluable ally. With a well-developed and designed software platform in place, companies can manage payroll, regulations, law changes, shifts in employee status, benefits packages and so much more, and all at the click of a mouse. It’s a far cry from overloaded spreadsheets and hours spent micro-managing the complicated and convoluted rules that govern finance and payroll in the modern world. It is also a far more comprehensive route to remaining compliant.
“A robust payroll and financial operations management platform will be built on a concrete security matrix and be updated consistently by the parent company,” says McAlister. “This means that access to private information is only granted to specific people who have to work within payroll so that data is protected. It ticks the important boxes of POPIA and GDPR, among other types of personal information protection regulations, and ensures that the data is only seen by the people who are allowed to work with it.”
Software is also key to transforming the complexity of payroll across multiple geographies and jurisdictions. It can be customised to manage the application of the rules and requirements outlined by different countries and their legislations to a geographically dispersed employee base. If you use an outsourced third-party payroll service provider, the dedicated in-house team will include legal and legislation experts who monitor changes and ensure they are applied to the system immediately. It’s a smart way of remaining ahead of complexity by outsourcing it to experts.
“You want a system that is capable of updating on demand, that you can rely on to ensure your payroll is compliant across all jurisdictions,” says McAlister. “Scouring the government gazettes for updated information is not the optimum way for payroll teams to spend their time. It is far better for payroll to instead rely on a platform that has everything your teams need, and that has been optimised to cater for complexity.”
From managing multi-national payrolls to consistent upgrades to robust security, the CRS EngageTM payroll platform is designed to weave compliance through every part of the organisation. In-house CRS legal teams ensure that the latest legislation is incorporated into the platform while the automated systems and functionalities make payroll a seamless experience. Designed to reduce the complexity with simple features and smart capabilities, EngageTM adds finesse to the finer details of payroll, taxes and corporate finance.