How to choose global payroll software

Hiring globally gives you a competitive edge; access to a large talent pool, and cultural and linguistic diversity, are just a few of the benefits. But employing an international workforce comes with the challenge of running global payroll. The complexity lies in navigating different tax jurisdictions, currencies, wage minimums, and privacy regulations.

Enter global payroll software. Global payroll software streamlines common tasks such as tax filings, employee payments, compliance with federal and state labor laws—for an international workforce. That means workers are paid in their own currency, and compliance with local labor and data privacy regulations is handled automatically.

But with so many options to choose from, how do you know which one is right for your company? Here’s what you should look for, what you should avoid, and how to find a solution that works for you.

Evaluate how the solution meets your global payroll needs

When your team is spread across multiple countries, paying them—whether they’re full-time staff or international contractors—can be complicated. If you rely on a mix of disconnected providers in the countries where you have workers or plan to hire, be prepared for headaches and manual busy work.

Here are some questions to consider to ensure quick and easy payments for all your workers—no matter where they’re located.

Does the payroll provider integrate with your HR system? 

Suppose you’re not already using an integrated payroll system. You’ll likely find yourself manually pulling data from your HR software and re-entering it each time you need to run payroll. For example, every time an employee gets promoted and their salary changes, you’ll need to make sure that’s reflected in payroll.

Not surprisingly, this is a time-consuming and imperfect workflow. Selecting global payroll software that can easily integrate with your HR software makes running payroll worldwide far more efficient.

One of the significant benefits of integration is getting more powerful reporting. It allows you to view detailed breakdowns of your pay runs, create custom, multi-source reports, and more. This enables you to unlock strategic insights for a clear view of your labor costs and, as a bonus, increase productivity.

With Rippling, you can sync time off, hours, deductions, and more in a single global system. Plus you can save hours of upkeep every month by syncing your payroll and expense data to your general ledger.

Does your global payroll provider also offer EOR services?

An employer of record (EOR) service helps with hiring and onboarding international employees, even if you haven’t set up a legal entity in a particular country. They let you scale global hiring early on if you have just a few employees in a given location. But as your business grows, can you easily move from an EOR to global payroll through your own entities? 

Rippling’s EOR is built on top of our native payroll rails, which makes moving from our EOR to global payroll a simple process. With other EORs, you’ll need to rip out and replace systems to accomplish this. Using Rippling EOR means you won’t have to switch systems as you scale.

How long does it take to pay employees?

Running payroll in the US is a complex task, but it’s even more complicated when you’re hiring abroad. Antiquated methods of payment can slow the process down—not to mention dealing with multiple currencies and conversion rates. The result? You might face delayed payments that can’t be completed in a single pay run.

Many international payroll providers actually just take your employee payroll data and ship it out to subcontracted vendors in each country. Not only do these hand-offs create delays, but they’re error-prone. 

Rippling’s global payroll system is “native” which means it doesn’t rely on outsourcing. Your global employee data lives in a single system that’s localized to where your employees are. 

How often do you run payroll off-cycle?

Another thing to consider: Will you need to make off-cycle pay runs for mid-month bonuses, commissions, and reimbursements? Your payroll system should be able to handle that, too. With Rippling, you can run payroll off-cycle and, if you make a mistake, even correct historical pay runs.

Can you pay contractors, too?

If you’re looking for a global payroll provider, you may want the flexibility to pay both employees and contractors from the same system. Relying on multiple payroll platforms to compensate employees and contractors creates unnecessary steps that can result in delayed payments and increase the risk of losing top-tier talent. 

With Rippling, you can pay your employees and contractors anywhere in the world in just 90 seconds—without waiting on bank transfers or currency conversion. It’s never been easier to pay your global team.

Consider how the payroll provider handles global data security and compliance 

No matter the size of your company, data security must be a top priority. Your payroll software will have access to your company’s most sensitive data, and it’s up to you to ensure the security of that data and comply with local privacy laws.

When handling data, there are many national and regional privacy laws to be aware of. Here are few things to keep in mind:

• SOC 2 compliance for data security
• The European Union’s strict General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
• The Privacy Act in the US
• Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act
• Australia’s Privacy Act
• India’s brand new Digital Personal Data Protection Act

Before selecting any global payroll solution, here are some questions to ask yourself about security and compliance.

Can the provider comply with regional and local laws? 

When it comes to payroll compliance, global expansion opens up a whole can of worms. Every country has its own set of privacy and data protection laws that must be followed. The GDPR is the best known; it’s also the toughest. It applies to countries in the EU and any country that targets its services to individuals in the EU. Penalties for non-compliance can reach EUR 20 million (USD 21.1 million).

But the GDPR is just one of many regulations that you’ll have to deal with. California, for example, has the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which is the toughest privacy law in the United States.

That’s why choosing a payroll provider with a proven track record of maintaining compliance with security regulations around the globe is so important. Rippling automatically keeps you compliant with local, regional, and national regulations—whether it’s CCPA, GDPR, or any other law. 

How secure will your employee data be?

Global payroll software needs to go beyond merely meeting regulatory requirements. After all, you’ll be sharing sensitive data like personal identifying information, bank accounts, and other confidential employee details. The best international payroll software follows rigorous data security standards like the ISO 27000 series, SOC series, and other industry-specific regulations.

SOC 1 Type 2 and SOC 2 Type 2 are audits that provide assurance about information security and confidentiality. SOC 2 is considered the gold standard of a company’s ability to handle and secure confidential data.

The ISO 27000 series (i.e., ISO 27001 and ISO 27018) ensures that software meets international information security and data privacy standards. Another certification to look for is CSA STAR Level 2. It’s a third-party independent assessment of the security of cloud service providers. Rippling is compliant with all of these standards.

Choose software with an intuitive user experience

When considering global payroll software, you want a solution that will make yours and your employees’ lives easier. The platform you choose should offer an intuitive user experience, including easy-to-use features (like built-in attendance, time tracking, and benefits administration), convenient customer service support, and automation. Here are some considerations.

Is the interface easy for your employees to use? 

Global payroll software should be able to manage a range of complicated tasks while providing a user-friendly interface. Before committing to a solution, request a demo so you can get a feel for the interface and see how common payroll tasks are done. The process should be simple and intuitive so that your employees don’t require days (or even weeks) of additional training.

You should also look for employee self-service features that let them manage simple tasks (and save you time). For example, employees should be able to make important updates themselves, such as changing bank account information, requesting holidays and time off, and making changes to their benefits package. 

Does it automate common administrative tasks? 

Automation is key to creating a seamless experience for your employees. Paying your employees should be straightforward, but it involves a list of time-consuming tasks like entering employee compensation information, calculating and filing payroll taxes, processing one-off payments, and much more. 

When evaluating your options, check to see what automation features the payroll provider offers:

• Do you have to re-enter employee information manually?
• Is overtime and minimum wage calculated automatically?
• Can you set up automatic notifications or auto-approvals?

Rippling automates nearly any payroll operation. Our integrated workforce management platform syncs all your HR data with payroll—including hours, time off, deductions, and more—making it easy to manage payroll, without the hassle of re-entering data. 

How robust is the customer support?

Customer support is essential for any payroll system. Whether you’re implementing one for the first time or transitioning to a new system, good support will smooth out the learning curve. 

First, determine what level of support you’re going to need. While most global payroll providers offer some customer support, the format and timing of it will vary. Consider the following:

• What’s the average response time for customer support?
• Is it provided over email, phone, chat window, or video call?
• Do you have a dedicated customer service representative?
• Are they able to answer technical questions accurately?

With Rippling you get real-time support status, so you always know how long chat, email, or call responses will take. This level of transparency allows you to resolve your support questions quickly and effectively. 

Easily pay employees and contractors around the world with Rippling

Rippling is the first global workforce platform that supports companies at every stage of growth—from paying your first international contractor to managing entities with large workforces worldwide. With software that adapts to country-specific regulations, a global payroll system that pays employees in local currencies and automatically files in-country taxes, tools that automate your global compliance for everything from sick leave to overtime laws, and more, it’s never been easier for HR teams to manage a global workforce.

Rippling and its affiliates do not provide tax, accounting, or legal advice. This material has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, tax, legal, or accounting advice. You should consult your own tax, legal, and accounting advisors before engaging in any related activities or transactions.