Payroll solutions in South Africa must be modernised to benefit from the likes of cloud computing, robotic process automation (RPA), and artificial intelligence. If companies are to effectively contend with evolving payroll legislation in the country, they need to embrace these technologies and transform into digitally driven organisations, says Ian McAlister, General Manager at CRS Technologies.

The digitalisation of payroll means companies can now become more agile with their upgrades and complete them in record time, as opposed to traditional approaches which could easily take seven months to implement. This delivers more efficient ways of realising the value from payroll and other systems. The resultant process automation that comes from digitalising the payroll environment will see an organisation become more efficient. It also delivers numerous benefits to human resource departments while freeing up staff capacity to focus on strategic deliverables.

Something as basic as converting printed payslips into a digital experience not only reduces costs but helps strengthen the mobile culture within the business which has become critical in a distributed working environment. For instance, a mobile application that incorporates the likes of payslips, leave applications, employee appraisals, and other relevant internal information can propel an organisation into becoming more digitally led.

“Part of digitalisation entails outsourcing some of the core functions of a payroll service to external specialists. Working with a trusted partner who understands the South African regulatory environment and can ensure all the human resource processes are properly set up and designed can save the organisation significant time,” says McAlister.

The South African operating environment, like its international counterparts, had to contend with lockdown conditions that gave impetus to digitalising aging processes and embracing modernisation. Remote work has provided the catalyst to review traditional systems and identify more effective ways to do business.

“Given how critical and integrated human resources are at every organisation, this must be one of the priority areas in the push towards digitalisation. Cloud-based payroll systems have become more affordable while delivering advanced functions capable of integrating machine learning and RPA functionality. By capitalising on the high-performance computing capabilities delivered through the cloud and the local expertise of the right partner, organisations can become more agile in meeting the demands of digitally aware employees, suppliers, vendors, and other third parties,” says McAlister.

A digitalised payroll system significantly reduces the risk of human error as many of the administrative-intensive functions are automated. It removes the need for traditional spreadsheet-driven environments that can potentially exacerbate the risk of duplicate records which often contain conflicting information. In this environment, a payroll is ‘always on’, with the data and processes available in the cloud for all authorised employees to access.

“A digital payroll system is no longer a nice-to-have but is critical in positioning a company for growth as the market evolves and employee needs change. It delivers a secure and integrated way for organisations to manage the new operating environment while still fulfilling their regulatory requirements when it comes to financial management,” concludes McAllister.

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