The top 8 benefits of using cloud-based payroll software

Access to a global workforce expands your talent pool — but paying everyone can pose a challenge. You need to juggle compliance with tax and employment regulations in multiple countries, all while managing the many other administrative aspects of payroll.

Cloud-based payroll platforms are designed to alleviate this problem. They make it quick and simple to manage international payroll and scale alongside your organization.

In this article, we’ll explore the benefits of using cloud-based payroll software, and discuss some of the things to look for when selecting a payroll partner.

So let’s dive right in.

How does cloud-based payroll help your business?

If you have team members in multiple countries — and even if you don’t — cloud-based payroll can be a game-changer. Here’s how:

1. It centralizes employee data

A global payroll system — like Remote’s — collates all relevant data in one central hub. This makes it easier for your HR and payroll teams to track everything and ensure your team members are paid on time.

It also makes it easier to retrieve data, view analytics, and generate reports without navigating multiple systems. As a result, it becomes far quicker and easier to make decisions and answer queries.

2. It cuts costs

Cloud-based software of any kind can significantly reduce costs across numerous business areas. For instance:

• It lessens the need to invest in IT infrastructure. This saves you having to purchase and store equipment, as well as hire people to manage it. 

• It lets you cut down on paper-based processes. This means spending less on paper, printing, ink, and similar items.

• It alleviates the need for physical server storage or space. Downsizing your physical office space can save your business a lot of money.

3. It simplifies compliance

Remote’s cloud-based payroll platform is built and maintained to comply with tax and employment regulations.

It does this in countries all across the world, reducing the risk of legal penalties and other issues — and allowing you to focus on running and growing your business.

4. It reduces workloads

Cloud-based payroll software automates many of the manual tasks that typically occupy payroll teams, such as:

• Calculating taxes

• Generating payslips

• Moving tasks along workflows

Automation reduces manual errors, as well, which increases accuracy and lowers the chances of employees being under or overpaid. By extension, this increases job satisfaction among your workforce.

“For any business, poorly-run payroll impacts retention, sentiment, and motivation. Those are all really big. It doesn't matter that you pay your employees well if you’re not paying them correctly.”

Jonathan Goldsmith, GM of Global Payroll at Remote

With fewer manual tasks and errors to worry about, your payroll team can also focus on more strategic tasks instead, such as:

• Analyzing data and reporting

• Improving processes

• Training and development

5. It makes it easier to stay updated

Cloud-based payroll providers handle software updates, reducing the need for your IT team to perform software or hardware updates. As with your payroll team, this frees up time and resources for your people to focus on more strategic issues.

These automatic updates may even come with new features and tutorials. As a result, you’ll always have cutting-edge features to improve your processes without having to build and implement them yourself.

6. It scales with your company

Cloud-based payroll plans should be scalable with your company’s growth. If you want to expand into new markets and hire talent in different countries, Remote supports that growth and ensures that you don’t have to rethink your plans or search for a new provider.

Conversely, if you need to cut back, a cloud-based plan enables you to downsize as necessary and optimize your ROI.

7. It is accessible from anywhere

Cloud-based payroll tech enables real-time access from anywhere. At a minimum, this means a laptop, although some payroll platforms are accessible on a mobile browser or even through a mobile app. 

This is convenient for both businesses and employees. Your team can manage payroll from any location, while your employees can view their pay information, submit expense reports, and self-serve other key payroll functions on their smartphones.

8. It improves data protection

Cloud-based providers invest in state-of-the-art security, as they are responsible for many companies’ data. This means ISO-standard protections with regular security updates.

Cloud software providers also ensure data redundancy and backup, as well. Since data is in the cloud, disaster is less likely to compromise it — and you don’t have to maintain the backup infrastructure.

“Payroll providers like Remote can help organizations grow secure global teams, while also ensuring they are compliant with local and international data protection laws in the markets they operate in. This frees them to focus on managing and growing their business.”

Marcelo Lebre, co-founder and CTO at Remote

What to look for in a cloud-based payroll provider

There are many cloud-based payroll software options. Here are some key features to look out for when assessing potential partners:

Automation capabilities

Automation can save your business considerable time, and enables you to focus your resources and energy on other areas.

Remote, for instance, automates many payroll functions, including tax calculations, deductions, and filing — all in compliance with local tax and employment laws.

Our platform also tracks time and attendance to ensure your people are getting paid correctly and using their allotted amount of leave.

Integrations

Your payroll software should integrate seamlessly with your other HR tools. This allows data to flow between systems, reducing manual work and streamlining the entire process.

In particular, your payroll platform should integrate with:

• Accounting systems: Payroll info flows to your company books, impacting the correct accounts and ledgers for increased accuracy and faster closing. Remote’s payroll platform integrates with numerous accounting tools.

• HR tools: This is a great way to streamline your HR processes and save your team repetitive and manual tasks. As well as offering integrations with leading HR platforms, Remote provides an all-in-one global HR platform that enables you to hire, onboard, and pay talent anywhere in the world, as well as provide benefits and manage their day-to-day HR needs..

• APIs: These are helpful if you want or need to build custom integrations. Remote provides a powerful API.

Free trials or demos

As with any software, it’s important to try before you buy. Look for platforms with free trials, or pre-purchase, sales-led demos that shorten the learning curve and give you an in-depth picture.

Strong customer support

Your payroll provider should have a robust, active support network, not just during the sales and onboarding phase, but during day-to-day operation too.

Ensure that customer service is available 24/7 through multiple channels, such as: 

• Phone support

• Live chat / instant messaging

• Email

• Social media

Look for providers that also enable you to self-serve answers through an easy-to-navigate knowledge base or FAQ section.

Contractor management solutions

If you also work with independent contractors, it can be tricky to manage payments alongside your employee payroll. And when you’re dealing with various legal frameworks across multiple countries, it can become outright confusing.

This is why it’s advisable to work with a partner that can simplify and handle both. With Remote, you can use our Contractor Management tool to onboard, manage, and pay contractors compliantly (and in multiple currencies), ensuring that all your employees and contractors are tracked and managed through one platform.

Remote even lets you convert your contractors into employees.

Cloud-based payroll with Remote

Remote’s secure cloud-based payroll solution does all of these things and more, with our platform allowing you to:

• Consolidate and streamline your payroll processing

• Minimize your administrative tasks

• Ensure compliance with local labor laws

• Reduce payroll costs

• Make international payments and capital cash transfers

• Outsource tax deductions and returns

We do all the heavy lifting for you, allowing you to focus your time, money, and resources on growing and running your business.

To learn more about how your business can benefit from our payroll solutions — and to see how you can set it all up — speak to one of our friendly experts today.

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