From chaos to control: Centralising global payroll with Remote
- HRM Asia Newsroom
In today’s rapidly globalising economy, organisations of all sizes are expanding across borders to tap into new talent pools and markets. However, as organisations expand globally, payroll complexity increases significantly.
Managing international payroll is no longer just about making timely salary transfers–it is about navigating an intricate web of local laws, compliance risks, and employee expectations. “Payroll is now a strategic differentiator,” Eli Chuah, Senior Solutions Consultant for Asia-Pacific at Remote, told HRM Asia. “At its core, payroll is the financial relationship between an organisation and its talent, whether they are full-time employees, part-time workers, or independent contractors.”
Yet, many organisations expanding into new regions encounter significant payroll compliance challenges. Without unified systems in place, they often end up spending considerably more time and resources trying to meet country-specific labour laws. The risks of getting it wrong are serious, ranging from hefty fines and reputational damage to a direct impact on employee trust and retention.
As highlighted in Remote’s Expert Guide to Managing Global Payroll, Jonathan Goldsmith, VP of Payroll at Remote, underscored the high stakes, explaining, “For any organisation, 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.”
The global payroll challenge: Complexity and consequences
Managing global payroll involves far more than just issuing payments in multiple currencies. Organisations must deal with fragmented legal landscapes, inconsistent payroll timelines, evolving tax regulations, and disconnected systems.
“The payroll team will find it challenging to compare costs, generate consolidated reports or conduct variance analysis for budgeting and auditing purposes,” explained Chuah. These issues are particularly daunting for start-ups and mid-sized organisations without dedicated legal or financial teams. As a result, organisations must make a strategic decision: manage payroll in-house, outsource to local providers, or partner with a global platform like Remote, which provides payroll services and also acts as an Employer of Record (EOR).
Remote addresses these challenges head-on with an integrated, tech-enabled payroll solution built for today’s dynamic global workforce. The platform simplifies global payroll across four core pillars:
1. Centralised Payroll Management
Remote’s single, unified platform allows organisations to manage payroll across multiple countries seamlessly. Employees can access payslips, manage expenses, submit time-off requests, and view pay details all in one place. This unified approach reduces errors and ensures consistency across the organisation.
One user of the Remote platform is Tablevibe, whose CEO, Jeroen Rutten, stated, “With Global Payroll, we’re able to keep everyone in the same structure within Remote. Everyone manages their holidays from the platform and has their payslips and other employment details in there, which helps us structure our entire HR function.”
2. Built-in Compliance at Scale
Remote’s 2024 customer survey revealed that 90% of users reported a significant reduction in compliance overheads, with an average 50% reduction in time and resources spent managing regulatory tasks.
Chuah highlighted one of Remote’s most powerful features, the Compliance Watchtower, and said, “It ensures that our customers are always ahead of the game when tracking changes in labour laws and understanding how these impacts employees’ pay right within the platform.”
3. Operational Efficiency and Cost Savings
One of the biggest inefficiencies in global payroll arises from the use of multiple providers and platforms. “The time spent reconciling data and accounting across disparate systems is highly inefficient,” noted Chuah. “In one of our surveys, customers reported a 47% average boost in efficiency after switching to Remote.”
4. An Enhanced Employee Experience
Payroll is deeply personal. Errors or delays impact employee trust and morale. Remote ensures consistency, transparency, and reliability in payroll, contributing to a better overall employee experience.
READ MORE: Beyond the contract: How strategic benefits forge contractor loyalty in the blended workforce
Chuah highlighted Remote’s responsive, region-specific support, explaining, “Our local payroll specialists are available 24/5 and can respond within 1-2 minutes in most cases. If input is needed from our taxation or benefits teams, we have in-house experts ready to assist immediately. This prevents delays and ensures local accuracy.”
5. Designed for scale, built for peace of mind
Whether you are a start-up expanding overseas or an enterprise consolidating multiple systems, Remote’s platform adapts to your needs. Implementation can take as little as six weeks for simple setups, and 8-12 weeks for more complex structures.
Most importantly, Remote helps organisations avoid the pitfalls of global payroll compliance, from misclassification risks to permanent establishment exposure. As Goldsmith noted in the report, “If you’re treating payroll as a back-office function, you’re already behind the times. Payroll is not just ‘those people over there that process payslips’; it’s a mechanism to help recruit employees and give them a good experience. It’s a highly strategic asset and organisations need to think of it that way.”
To dive deeper into the evolving landscape of international payroll and how to streamline your global operations, download Remote’s Expert Guide to Managing Global Payroll.
This is the fifth article in a six-part series on global talent strategy brought to you by Remote. In the next article, we find out how Remote can support start-ups to grow their international business.
Get the full picture–discover all six articles in this compelling series.
- The borderless workforce: Navigating the new era of global hiring in Asia-Pacific
- Why the contractor boom in Asia-Pacific demands a rethink on talent strategy
- Flexible work, stronger culture: What HR needs to know now
- Beyond the contract: How strategic benefits forge contractor loyalty in the blended workforce
- From chaos to control: Centralising global payroll with Remote
- Global growth, simplified: Navigating cross-border expansion with confidence
