04:05 INTERVIEW
I thought that payroll situations should be pretty predictable because payroll is a recurring process that happens every pay period, usually every month in most countries in the world. I’d originally come from an HR background before going into business operations, and got into software development. One rule that my lead developer and architect said that stuck with me was: “Fidelma, if it recurs it can be programmed.” That simple statement liberates lots of thinking about what you can do with software. When situations arose for payroll, I would ask why there was no software to automate this workflow or data in some way that is useful to prevent the situation? GPA: And this led to you founding your company, Payslip? Fidelma McGuirk: In 2015, I was thinking about what to do next because I’d left all those external companies. I moved my family to live in the middle of nowhere in the west of Ireland. But I kept coming back to the fact that there’s still no software available in the market to help standardize and automate global payroll management in
This interview has been edited for clarity. GPA: What got you into the payroll industry? Fidelma McGuirk: I came from a very strong operations background. For more than 20 years I set up operations for high- growth companies, including some software companies across the world. I also managed those operations across 21 countries, impacting tens of thousands of people. What arose from that experience was a recognition that to successfully manage companies, processes need to be standardized, and to do that, really good information is necessary. The data needs to be available in a way that is comparable so important strategic investment decisions can be made. I rose to be CEO of an international tax company. I always found amazing situations that arose which I thought were avoidable. When a compliance deadline in Peru arose that required us to print a paper, sign it with a blue pen, get it notarized and posted within, like, four days, I wondered: “Why did we not know about this longer in advance?”
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GLOBAL PAYROLL MAGAZINE ISSUE 23
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