Outsourcing your payroll processing to a service provider can significantly boost your team’s efficiency almost immediately. Payroll is filled with administrative burden, requires a high level of attention to detail and is realistically only a sub-function of your HR department. By outsourcing this function, you allow your teams to focus on strategic business drivers that grow your company. As with all business decisions it’s critical to evaluate the advantages against your desired outcomes. Whilst there is a wealth of benefits associated with outsourcing your payroll, the top three would have to be: specialised/localised knowledge; reduced cost/timesaving and; data security.

Specialised/Localised Knowledge

One of the greatest benefits associated with payroll outsourcing is having a dedicated team of professionals, with local knowledge of Malaysia’s labour laws, running this important function for you. This means your business can benefit from years of experience as well as the strict protocols and multi-level cross-checking payroll vendors are subject to. This can be of particular benefit for companies that operate in different states or multiple countries, where the labour laws can vary. Having a group of specialised regional payroll experts ensures that your company can operate safely across borders and the burden is not placed on your in-house HR teams.

Reduced Cost & Timesaving

Payroll processing can be a resource drain when not managed carefully. Calculating payroll taxes and statutory filings, like Social Security Organisation (“SOCSO”) in Malaysia, handling payroll enquiries and disbursement; whilst being simple administrative tasks can be extremely time consuming. Add to this, factors such as rapid expansion and your HR teams can be put under immense pressure which can result in an increased propensity for error and a diversion away from strategic activities that enhance business performance. Payroll outsourcing passes the time-cost saving down to the bottom line.

In addition to this significant saving, there can also be visible savings to your business from not needing to maintain payroll software, manage paperwork and tax liabilities.

Data Security

A key concern in today’s highly digitalised world, HR departments are expected to adhere to local laws such as the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 (“PDPA”) in Malaysia. Payroll and employee personnel details are incredibly sensitive information that HR handles on a regular basis.

A good understanding of the personal data life cycle management process will enable proper protocols that comply with local laws. This can be especially complicated to implement for multi-national companies. Having an experienced regional payroll outsourcing vendor can help mitigate risk for your in-house HR team.

Another concern is the back-up of data; if there are any lapses in security or a hardware malfunction, this can paralyse key business functions. Most reliable payroll outsourcing service providers store their data on highly secure cloud-based servers. Backed up across multiple server locations, the servers are usually protected by high-end encryptions. All of which is managed by the outsourced vendor, taking away compliance risks and mitigating time costs.

Another option, if you wish to keep payroll processing in-house is to adopt an all-in-one HRMS to mitigate administrative burden for your in-house teams.

Below are some of the benefits associated with the implementation of a well-integrated HRMS.

Increased Productivity

By having an integrated HRMS system in place, HR teams can automate a large portion of the payroll workflow from calculating salaries, claims, deductions and leave.

However, selecting the right HR and payroll system is critical to success. For you to achieve the greatest benefits the system should include key modules like Leave, Claims, Time and Attendance, Personnel and Payroll.

An integrated system will also have added benefits like increasing data accuracy of pay runs through the automation of several payroll processes. For example, statutory payment requirements in Malaysia are automated within the HRMS. The system calculates all mandatory payments or tax deductions such as Employee Provident Fund (EPF), Zakat and Employment Insurance Scheme (EIS), which not only alleviates administrative burden it mitigates the risks of human error.

Eliminate Human Errors

When you use an all-in-one system, your risk of human error is significantly reduced. Much of the manual work is automated, from data entry to calculations. You can also ensure that there’s no important data missing and ensure uniformity by setting mandatory or restricted fields within the system.

Possibly the greatest benefit of an interconnected and automated HRMS is the decreased risk of important payroll calculations such as hours worked or tax deductions. This not only saves time but also ensures accurate disbursements to your staff every time.

HRMS simplifies employee service

A vital function of HR is employee servicing. The number of administrative tasks can be overwhelming for an in-house HR team especially those from larger businesses.

Self-service functions empower both the HR team and employees: staff can obtain basic payroll information such as payslips or leave balances without having to add to the HR team’s workload. Employee’s feel empowered as they’re able to access the information they need when they need it.

Reputable providers will also offer a mobile application, so employees have the convenience of accessing all their HR information as their fingertips, anytime, anywhere.

Ultimately, there are many solutions available to boost the efficiency of your HR team. In Malaysia, the two most common and effective are outsourcing payroll and adopting an integrated cloud based HRMS.

As with all change, success is dependent on your change management process. In the current Malaysian climate where people are worried for their jobs, it’s important that your change management processes are robust, and all designed with employee welfare in mind.

Efficiency does not always mean downsizing staff, instead, existing resources can be redirected to other roles such as data analysis, facilitation of outsourcing or integration.

What solution works best for your organisation will depend mostly on your current processes and the needs of the company, but it is always best practice to regularly monitor and review HR processes.

Interested to find out more about increasing the efficiency of your HR team in Malaysia? Speak to our payroll experts today.

With a cloud-based SaaS model, the payroll software is hosted offsite and HR managers gain access to the software via a network. With such a model, the SaaS service provider undertakes maintenance of the software and server, technical support, and data backup of the software system for a subscription fee. As such, HR managers do not have to pay a hefty price tag for owning the software. This is not only cost-saving for the business but takes away the burden of maintaining a proprietary system, consequently allowing HR managers to spend more time on handling employee requests, processing payroll and other primary HR duties.

Comparatively, a full or partial payroll outsourcing service can provide an even higher level of ease to HR managers. Such services take on most, if not all, of the payroll function with little need for HR management intervention. This implies that the HR department can enjoy greater flexibility in deploying its manpower to manage other in-house duties.

Let’s look at a summary of the key tasks and who is responsible in both scenarios.

As a company expands operations to global markets, the complexity of payroll management will multiply because of legislative requirements, market regulations and even differences in cultural practice.  Furthermore, employees’ expatriate terms and tax obligations can make payroll processing increasing tricky especially if HR managers are unfamiliar with local regulations.

Take China as an example, due to the city-tier classification within the country, companies that are expanding their business into this market are faced with complex regulatory requirements because each city-tier has its own set of rules and conditions.  As such, the structure of employee tax, insurance and allowance are also processed very differently across different states.

For companies venturing into new markets abroad, payroll outsourcing can offer an efficient and effective solution to this problem.  Such service providers are usually well-versed with local policies and are in the best position to respond to dynamic changes that are happening in the global market. Entrusting payroll processing to an experienced service provider can reduce the risk of errors and non-compliance, freeing up local managers to concentrate on the growing business.

While the cloud-based SaaS model can provide software support that is essential for upkeeping payroll processing, HR managers who are unfamiliar with the foreign markets are still faced with tremendous difficulties in managing the payroll and employees’ enquiries.  Unless the in-house HR team has a clear understanding of the foreign regulations, adopting a SaaS solution alone may still present a high degree of challenges for the business.

For larger companies that operate in multiple markets with a fair number of employees (usually more than 100), outsourced payroll can serve as an efficient solution that is both timely and cost-effective. With such services, companies need not invest in costly proprietary payroll software or hire and train an in-house HR team in each market to facilitate payroll processing.

This is especially true for foreign companies that are managing payroll out of a regional headquarter. As per the example on China, illustrated in the above point, it can be a mammoth task for HR managers to keep abreast of regulatory standards and changes across multiple countries/regions when they are not physically based there. At the most basic level every market has its own unique tax rates, standard employee entitlements, currency exchange and employee social security contributions. HR managers will need to spend a significant amount of time to acquire this information and more importantly stay up to date with any changes happening across the individual markets.

Appointing an outsourced payroll service provider that has a deep understanding of the local market can ensure that payroll processing is executed professionally and according to government standards.

Is a cloud-based SaaS model beneficial for companies that operate in multiple markets then? Using SaaS does present its own advantages, especially for companies with smaller headcounts. The subscription-based model is cost-effective and easy to implement across various markets. In addition, many SaaS solutions are robust enough that once the initial setup is complete the remainder is largely automated, simplifying payroll handling. However, for it to be successful HR managers will need to be prepared to spend time on staying up to date with the requirements of each market they operate within and updating the system settings accordingly, which in itself can be a time consuming task.

One of the key concerns of HR managers when selecting between an outsourced payroll service provider and a cloud-based SaaS solution lies in confidentiality and security issues. Payroll processing is an extremely sensitive matter that involves employees’ personal data and compensation details, the risks of such information becoming public knowledge can be detrimental for any organisation.

While it is common knowledge that payroll service or software providers will attest to maintaining the confidentiality of data provided to them, HR managers must still take steps to consider if these partners have legitimate security features and robust processes in place to uphold the claim.

This is especially true for payroll outsourcing service providers that have full access to employees’ records, the risk/cost of a confidentiality breach may far outweigh that of the increased time required to implement a cloud-based SaaS model. The lack of in-house HR personnel involved in the outsourced process can certainly heighten the risk of exposure.

In the case of the cloud-based SaaS model, it is not without its risk too. Fundamentally, the cloud-based system is hosted on a network that has potential for security breaches by external parties.

Every company has its own unique objectives and considerations when selecting a payroll solution. There is no right or wrong option but rather one that fits into the specific HR strategy seamlessly.

Outsourced payroll processing may be the easiest option for most HR managers, however, choosing the cloud-based SaaS model can be just as beneficial if the HR team requires a flexible and cost-effective solution that can simplify a legacy in-house process.

Whatever the choice, selecting a model that aligns with the company’s go-to-market plan can certainly optimise business potential and encourage long-term growth.

At Boardroom, we are experts in helping companies, from corporations to fast-growing SMEs, with their payroll, allowing them to focus on what matters – growth and profitability.

From local payroll services handling to managing substantial payroll obligations for bigger companies spread across Asia-Pacific, we help businesses comply with local statutory regulations while ensuring their most valuable asset, the employees, are paid on time.

Contact us today and empower your organisation with greater freedom through our payroll solutions.

Or you can also learn more about our payroll solutions here.

This article is for informational purposes only and not intended to convey or constitute legal or any other advice. It is not a substitute for advice from a qualified professional.