The modern business world is rapidly changing. In this modern business environment, remote work will continue to be a common practice. With remote employees being hired across multiple cities, states, and even countries, managing payroll for a large and often global workforce presents many challenges for organizations.
Properly and timely paying employees is more than just an administrative duty; it’s an important element of employee trust and satisfaction and compliance. Many organizations are struggling with how best to manage payroll for their employees, and depending on manual payroll processes and spreadsheets used to track payroll information may not work well for distributed teams across regions.
As teams become increasingly remote, companies need to implement payroll systems that can automate the entire experience of managing payroll.
By utilizing payroll software designed specifically for remote teams, organizations can establish the most efficient means of managing salaries, meeting compliance requirements, integrating attendance and leave, and paying employees without regard to where they are located.
What Is Payroll Software?
Payroll software is the process that automates the calculation of employees’ pay, including salary, deductions, bonuses, reimbursements, and net pay. It provides for correct payroll processing each pay cycle by eliminating the requirement for manual calculations.
In addition to salary calculations, today’s payroll software also combines elements of other human resource (HR) software, such as human resource management systems (HRMS), attendance software, and leave software, to form a single system that provides more efficient management of the entire employee lifecycle, especially for remote and hybrid teams.
Top Payroll Software for Remote Teams
Below are some of the payroll software options used by organizations managing distributed teams across various locations.
1. Savvy HRMS
Savvy HRMS provides a complete HRMS and Payroll solution built for remote and hybrid employees. The software enables organisations to manage payroll, compliance, attendance, and employee self-service through one easy-to-use system.
Main Features of Savvy HRMS
- Automated Payroll Processing for Remote Employees.
- Attendance Management Integration.
- Customisable Leave Management System.
- Automatically Generating Reports for Statutory Compliance.
- Employee Self-Service Portals.
- Multi-Location and Multi-Shift Payroll Processing.
- Creating Custom Salary Structures and Deductions.
- Data Security through Cloud-Based Access.
Pricing: Starts from ₹80- ₹150 per employee/month.
(Pricing may vary based on features and organization size)
2. ZingHR
ZingHR offers a full suite of HR and payroll automation, employee planning, and analytics for multiple employees working in different locations.
Features of ZingHR
- Easy automation of Payroll.
- Attendance & Shift Tracking is manageable for employers and employees.
- The compliance-ready Payroll feature is easily accessible.
- The Employee Self-Service portal is available for employees.
- Easy HR Analytics and Insights.
Pricing: Starts from ₹100 – ₹180 per employee/month.
3. Darwinbox
Darwinbox is a next-generation HRMS that provides large enterprise customers with HR Automation, Payroll Automation, and Employee Management for distributed and hybrid work environments.
Why choose Darwinbix?
- Complete HRMS & Payroll functionality.
- Advanced workforce attendance tracking.
- Employee leave and policy management.
- Compliance assistance (both legal and financial).
- Strong business analytics on the workforce.
Pricing: Starts from ₹150 – ₹300 per employee/month.
4. Deel
Deel is an internationally recognised global which provides payroll software for both remote employees and contractors around the world.
Key Benefits of Deel
- Global payroll processing capabilities.
- Ability to pay employees and contractors globally.
- Integrated compliance monitoring and compliance tracking.
- Payments can be made in any local currency.
- Tax documentation can be uploaded directly into your account.
Pricing: Starts from ₹4,000 – ₹6,000 per employee/month (best for globally distributed teams).
5. Quandle
Quandle payroll software simplifies salary processing, statutory compliance, tax calculations, and payslip management, helping Indian companies run correct, secure, and fully compliant payroll functions.
Why is Quandle the best?
- Automated payroll and salary processing
- PF, ESI, PT, and TDS compliance
- Payslip and Form 16 generation
- Leave and attendance integration
- Secure employee self-service portal
- Detailed payroll reports and analytics
Pricing: ₹2,500 per month (for up to 30 employees).
How to Choose the Right Payroll Software for Remote Teams?
The right payroll software for remote teams determines long-term operational efficiency and compliance. Listed below are some factors that may help make this decision.
1. Payroll Automation
The payroll software should fully automate your salary calculation (including all deductions) and payout functions to eliminate manual errors.
2. Attendance and Leave Integration
Payroll software should interface smoothly with both attendance management software and leave management software to ensure accurate payroll processing.
3. Compliance Readiness
The payroll system should automatically incorporate all statutory rules and payroll regulations applicable to your remote employees.
4. Scalable
Selecting a payroll software solution that is scalable as your remote teams grow in multiple locations will save you money in the long run.
5. Employee Self-Service
Providing your employees with a self-service portal will enable them to independently access their payslips, tax information, and leave balance without having to contact HR.
6. Data Security
Payroll data is sensitive and should be protected by strong data security and access control policies.
7. User-Friendly System
Payroll systems should have a user-friendly system to reduce the time to train users and improve the adoption of the payroll system by both HR staff and employees.
8. Customer Support & Customization
Having dependable customer support and the ability to customize payroll structure will help you accommodate various payroll requirements for your employees.
Common Challenges While Implementing Payroll Software (And How to Solve Them)
1. Challenge
Employee and HR team resistance to change
Solution: Through clearly defined, standardized onboarding as well as hands-on employee training, use wide-open lines of communication to ensure understanding of the payroll system.
2. Challenge
Errors with data relocation that occurred during payroll system installation
Solution: Review, clean up, and validate all existing payroll data before relocating it into the new system. After all necessary data is in the new system, conduct several test payroll runs to verify that everything is accurate.
3. Challenge
Integrating payroll software into established human resource systems
Solution: Select a payroll solution that allows for simple integration with the current human resource system, along with any other tools used to manage workforce activities.
4. Challenge
Incorrectly set up payroll systems for compliance
Solution: Work with your vendor throughout the entire installation process, and conduct periodic audits of payroll compliance in order to prevent any legal or regulatory compliance risks.
5. Challenge
Problems with timekeeping accuracy for remote employees
Solution: Use an attendance tracking program that provides multiple ways to record attendance and facilitates real-time syncing to ensure accurate calculation of payroll.
Why Payroll Software Is Important for Remote and Hybrid Teams?
1. Precise Payroll Processing
The remote company’s payroll software system generates automated, accurate salary calculations (compilation of all pay) for each employee, thus eliminating human error.
2. Attendance Method Payroll System Integration
Using attendance software, a Payroll System can automatically compile an employee’s attendance record, which results in accurately calculating the employee’s pay based on hours worked, including but not limited to overtime, absence, and shift work.
3. Centralized Leave Management System Integration
The centralization of an employee’s leave records with Payroll Systems provides a single source of information for payroll deduction from paid, unpaid, or affected by policy company leave.
4. Compliance Assurance
The automated payroll solution ensures that all employees receive all related payroll deductions according to Federal, State, and Local regulations, including employee reporting requirements. Also, HRMS and the automated payroll systems monitor and maintain each company’s payroll reports for compliance on behalf of the employer.
5. Savings of Time And Money
In most cases, payroll automation reduces the amount of administrative work and improves the speed at which Human Resource Management can respond to employees, reducing overall HR Administration overhead. This allows for improvement of both human resources operations and focused strategy direction of human resource management.
6. Better Employee Experience
The timely deposits of digital payrolls into employee accounts of wages, access to pay information, and visibility into the payroll process enhance the employee experience through payroll and payroll-related activities.
7. Payroll Support for Distributed Employees
Payroll software supports a distributed workforce by managing payroll salaries across various geographies, time zones, and pay structures, thereby providing an equitable Payroll experience for all.
Why Savvy HRMS Is the Best Choice for Remote Teams?
Savvy HRMS is a valuable payroll tool for remote employees. Its unique ability to combine simple functionality with complex automation ensures that HR teams can effectively manage the challenges associated with having employees in multiple locations.
The integration of attendance management software (AMS) and leave management software (LMS) provides HR teams with accurate payroll calculations during each payroll cycle. Employees’ compliance is easily tracked using one central location.
In addition to offering flexibility and scalability, Savvy HRMS provides exceptional customer service, which makes it an ideal fit for start-ups and established businesses looking to grow, as well as for remote and hybrid teams.
Conclusion
For today’s businesses, managing remote team payroll has become an important part of their operations. As more and more companies are implementing flexible work arrangements, investing in a reliable payroll solution has become essential to ensure accurate payments, compliance with regulations, and build trust with their employees that they are being paid correctly.
Savvy HRMS stands out amongst the various options available as it provides an excellent blend of automation, usability, and affordability. Savvy HRMS simplifies payroll processing and integrates well with other key areas of HRMS, including time and attendance tracking systems, as well as leave management systems, making it an ideal solution for remote employee management.
