Expert take on how businesses can simplify the global payroll challenge

Mint

a day ago

For companies looking to expand their footprint across borders, managing payroll for employees based out of different geographies can be a challenging process as it involves gaining expertise on diverse regulatory frameworks, keeping abreast with changing tax laws and labour rules that are unique to every country and, sometimes, even states within countries.
In a special webinar, titled 'Solving Payroll for Global Teams: Precision, Compliance and Scale with Remote', Manasa Manogaran, Senior Product Marketing Manager, Remote shared her thoughts about how companies can streamline payroll, reduce risk and scale confidently in over 100 countries.
'Managing payroll globally is incredibly challenging because it involves navigating diverse regulatory frameworks, constantly changing tax laws, and also complex labour laws across multiple countries', Manogaran said. The fragmentation inherent in manual processes or the use of disparate tools leads to errors, delays, and compliance risks. In addition, businesses also struggle to adhere to each country's specific rules as they try to scale their business.
She cited an example where managing spreadsheets or having multiple vendors for different countries can make it harder to get real time insights and timely updates on things like changes in tax rates or labour legislation, which can result in costly mistakes.
Comparing payroll management across Indian states versus multiple countries, Manogaran spoke about the Indian system where a single national framework offers relatively greater levels of consistency compared to other countries like Mexico.
'In India, one of the things that are key for an employer is to make sure that the ESI and the EPF funds are remitted on time and as per the current specific year's guidelines, and it would be the same for Mexico.. In terms of managing payroll, say, across five different states in one specific country, it is a much easier landscape, because we are navigating within one specific country as to how we would operate if we were to go global,' she said.
Keeping pace with these dynamic international regulations becomes a demanding task for companies. She detailed the daily struggles faced by companies: administrative burden, data visibility issues, and compliance anxieties. HR teams spend hours on spreadsheet reconciliation and chasing updates from various local vendors in each of the countries they operate in. The absence of a single, real-time payroll overview leads to data being scattered, while unchecked compliance issues, such as delayed statutory remittances, can result in large fines and penalties.
Beyond operations and legalities, employee experience suffers from late payments or incorrect deductions, impacting satisfaction. Streamlining these processes from the outset is beneficial, Manogaran emphasises. This is where unified platforms like Remote come in to offer a real-time snapshot of what is going on.
One of the other major complaints is employee experience. When payrolls are being managed across multiple vendors, there can be late payments, errors in deductions, mismatched benefits, etc. 'It is important to make sure that these processes are removed from the start and they don't end up slowing down business operations or affecting employee satisfaction rates,' she said.
Manogaran described Remote as a global HR platform managing the entire employee lifecycle. 'Remote is a global HR platform which helps businesses hire, manage and pay their employees and contractors across the globe,' she said. Their services span from hiring employees locally or internationally via an employer of record solution, to full employee life cycle management including onboarding and benefits, to accurate and timely payroll, and even contractor management.
She also shared an example of Remote's impact on payroll management. A cybersecurity client with teams in five countries, previously using four separate payroll providers, faced delays and compliance gaps. By consolidating onto Remote's single, automated platform, they achieved operational cost savings and eliminated payroll errors within six months, improving employee satisfaction.
Also, Remote 'practices what we preach' – the organisation running its own global payroll for over 1,800 employees on its platform. This internal application provides valuable insights, allowing continuous refinement of the product to meet high standards of accuracy, compliance, and efficiency, proving its scalability in real-world scenarios.
Looking ahead, she sees the future of global payroll driven by intelligent automation, especially Artificial Intelligence (AI). 'One of the key trends that I would like to call out is that we need people who are backed by local expertise. So I would say it is a combination of automation backed by local expertise,' she said. Remote's in-house country experts provide detailed familiarity with local regulatory knowledge, ensuring businesses remain compliant and stay on top of ever-evolving labour laws and regulations. This integrated approach offers consistency and a seamless payroll process.
Manogaran advised businesses to view payroll as a global necessity from day one, and not an afterthought. Investing early in a scalable platform like Remote can save time, reduce compliance issues, and allow companies to focus on business growth rather than getting bogged down by intricate country-specific regulations. 'Choose a platform that grows with you as you scale your business', she said, highlighting the need for flexible and efficient payroll solutions.
Talent is everywhere — opportunity should be too. Remote's mission is to create opportunity everywhere, empowering employers to hire, manage, and pay the best talent while allowing individuals to connect with the companies and roles that best suit their skills. As the global authority on remote employment, Remote makes it possible for businesses to build strong teams without geographic constraints, simply and compliantly. Remote was founded in 2019 by Job van der Vorrt and Marcelo Lebre, and is backed by leading investors including SoftBank, Accel, Sequoia, Index Ventures, Two Sigma Ventures, General Catalyst, and B Capital. In the APAC region, India is one of key emerging markets for Remote services.
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