Continued tax and NICs changes will put pressure on already over-stretched payroll teams

In a year that has seen continued upheaval and changes in personal tax requirements and National Insurance Contributions (NICs), payroll teams are being burdened with additional work and wasted hours in light of policy reversals.

With significant uncertainty still ahead, payroll professionals and accounting teams are going to need a flexible and global pay-system to reduce the need for manual calculations and payslip mistakes. That’s according to expert in global pay solutions, CloudPay.

John Pearce, SVP Global Payroll Operations at CloudPay explained, “With so much change across UK policy this year, payroll teams have faced a juggling act to keep up with the latest developments and subsequent repeals. Having already invested resources into planned increases in NI only to face a reversal of this in September, teams will now need to brace for the planned tax increases across the country.

“While this is certainly a less-than-ideal scenario, it does highlight the need for flexible pay processes that are under-pinned by technology and efficiency. Out-dated tech stacks that can’t be amended easily and quickly aren’t valuable during times of continued uncertainty. Payroll teams need systems that can pivot and evolve to accommodate sudden changes in requirements without the need for manual calculations, additional manpower or overtime hours – all of which have the potential to lead to payslip errors.

“This move towards greater flexibility in how people are paid – and how payroll professionals work – is a movement that has been picking up pace for some time and shouldn’t just be a consideration during times of uncertainty. In fact, we’re increasingly seeing a demand from global workforces to have greater autonomy in how they access their salary, which has driven demand for Earned Wage Access (EWA) solutions worldwide.”