Payroll Management Systems: 7 Fastest-Growing Trends in India

The future of payroll processing is affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, advancement in AI technology, and automation. These factors have caused a shift to adoption of digital processes, transparency of data, and real-time access to employee information.

Companies that want to stay relevant and efficient should be aware of the following payroll trends:

7 Fastest-Growing Payroll Trends

1. Cloud-based payroll systems

There is an uptick in the use of cloud-based payroll systems to make payroll departments more efficient and flexible. This is reflected in the fact that the global cloud-based payroll processing software market is set to reach $10.33 billion by 2023.

The benefits of a cloud-based payroll system over spreadsheets are:

• Eliminates data entry errors.
• Saves time that would be spent gathering, entering, and validating data.
• Allows remote access for both employees and payroll processing staff.
• Offers better security of data from cyberattacks.
• Enables easy scaling up or scaling down as per requirements.

2. Integration of payroll with attendance and leave management

Traditionally, attendance and leave management was handled by the HR department, whereas payroll was processed by the payroll department.

Now the trend is to combine these functions so that access to employer data is streamlined and data accuracy is improved.

Inaccurate payments are reduced when information like timesheets, schedules, and leaves are made accessible to the payroll system. It also speeds up payroll processing and report generation.

An integrated leave, attendance, and payroll system allows managers and team members to access appropriate information from a single dashboard.

3. Pay transparency

The concept of revealing who gets paid how much in a company is alien to us. Managers are afraid that making salaries public will cause resentment among employees.

However, the trend of disclosing salaries for each role is rising because it has been shown to:

• Build employee trust and loyalty.
• Reduce pay disparity.
• Increase employee retention.

Companies that review and set salaries based on fairness and equality do well in employee engagement parameters. Now isn’t this a welcome trend?

4. AI-powered payroll systems

Artificial intelligence (AI) has touched every industry in some capacity or the other. Payroll is no exception.

AI-based payroll systems eliminate the tedium of manual work, significantly cutting down on the time required to process payroll data. This, in turn, lowers costs for the company.

The investment in AI is more than repaid in terms of improved efficiency, automation of repetitive tasks, freeing up payroll staff for value-added tasks, and error-free report generation.

Payroll chatbots are an interesting AI-powered application that humanizes interactions with employees through text or voice.

These chatbots can assist employees to find information like leave and attendance data or payslips. Chatbots work 24/7 unlike humans, enabling employees all-time access to their information.

5. Payroll mobile apps

The COVID-19 pandemic has given a push to digitization efforts in India. By now, employees are used to remote work as the “normal” way of working.

Payroll mobile apps support this “anytime, anywhere” culture of work.

Employees can access their payslips or verify their personal information at the click of a button.

Real-time payroll reporting also helps companies make informed business decisions more quickly.

6. Payroll flexibility

Small and medium businesses have survived the economic downturn due to COVID-19 by hiring gig workers instead of full-time workers. Thus, payroll flexibility is required to handle the fluctuating volume of temporary workers.

Flexible payroll management systems that can handle a dynamic workforce are in demand. These systems can also manage different tax requirements and legal compliances.

7. Financial wellness programs

2020 has been a double whammy for employees with the fear of infection and fear of losing jobs. Companies are rolling out financial wellness programs to counsel and assist their employees in financial matters.

Personnel departments are also releasing programs to link payroll with employee benefits.

These initiatives boost the morale of employees, make them feel like the company cares for them, and ultimately improve productivity and engender loyalty.

Final Thoughts

Now that you are aware of the growing trends in payroll processing, you can choose the right payroll management system to simplify things for your employees. Work-from-home (WFH) is here to stay and will necessitate real-time capture of working hours for accurate payroll calculations.