Payroll software: wage and salary processing at a glance

What payroll solutions do

Payroll calculates gross and net pay from master data, working hours and benefits, generates payslips and triggers payments. It also covers filings with tax and social insurance bodies, statutory certificates and the transfer of posting data to financial accounting.

Offerings range from pre-payroll, which prepares data for an external accountant, through full payroll software to outsourced services. International solutions consolidate payroll for several countries in one interface.

What to look for in payroll solutions

Payroll errors are noticed immediately, so the evaluation should be correspondingly thorough:

• Depth: preparation, full calculation or managed service – and who carries professional responsibility for the result?
• German specifics: handling of wage tax, social insurance, collective agreements, short-time work, benefits in kind and occupational pensions; ongoing maintenance when the law changes.
• Country coverage: for sites in Austria, Switzerland or elsewhere, dedicated calculation logic per country.
• Interfaces: connections to the core HR system, time management, financial accounting and tax advisers.
• Security and cost: protection of sensitive pay data, role-based access, hosting location; price per payslip or per employee.

Payroll, HR Admin / Core HR or Employer of Record?

HR Admin / Core HR holds the master data that payroll builds on. Time Management supplies hours and pay supplements. An Employer of Record (EoR) goes further than payroll by becoming the legal employer abroad. An HR Suite may include payroll as a full module or only as preparation.