Professional February 2021

Feature topic - Remote working and payroll software in the cloud

Remote working and payroll software in the cloud

The pandemic has compelled businesses to radically revise operational practices and services. Jerome Smail, freelance journalist , presents the views of industry luminaries

T here was a time when spending your time at work with your head in the clouds was considered a bad thing. But that was before the advent of innovations such as the internet, software as a service and remote working. Now, cloud technology is conquering all before it – or so it seems. So, what does the future hold for payroll within this brave new world, especially given that working from home appears to be the new normal? To find out, I spoke to a selection of top payroll professionals at the cutting edge of the industry: ● Jason Davenport MCIPP MIoD, CIPP chairman ● Chris Deeson, UK country lead at Keypay ● Pauline Green FMAAT ACIPP MBCS, compliance manager at Intuit QuickBooksUK ● Brian Sparling ChMCIPPdip, senior manager, global payroll operations at Ceridian. In addition, a team of payroll experts at

Moorepay have contributed; and there is a special contribution from Simon Bocca, founder of PayCaptain. How widespread is the use of cloud-based payroll software at present, and has the Covid-19 pandemic been a catalyst for its greater adoption? Jason Davenport: From a CIPP membership perspective, the recent Future of Payroll survey showed 37% of members already have software in the cloud, and that this number was set to increase. Anecdotally, there are many more requests for information being received about software in the cloud. The pandemic and need to move to remote working have certainly been catalyst for the review and consideration of whether cloud technology is the right fit for a business. Chris Deeson: Cloud payroll already represents a sizable and growing proportion of the SME [small- to medium-

size enterprise), bookkeeper and smaller accounting markets. Cloud accounting software is ubiquitous in these sectors and payroll software often stands out as the only non-cloud solution in a practice. The pandemic has significantly increased the uptake of cloud payroll and has been a catalyst for many to make the commitment to change. April 2021 will see a new high tide mark for true cloud payroll. Pauline Green: The use of cloud-based payroll is rapidly increasing, particularly in the small- and medium sized employer base. For smaller businesses that do it themselves, the ability to do their payroll anytime and anywhere is definitely a bonus. We have some running their payroll on a Sunday night at 10p.m. You don’t want to be in an office on your own at that time, but from your living room it’s not an issue! Intuit, and I am sure other companies, have found that the pandemic has certainly increased the adoption of cloud- based payroll. As the initial lockdown happened in March, it did enable people to switch to cloud-based software at the start of a new tax year easily. Brian Sparling: In general terms, the use of cloud technologies in business is widespread when you think of sales,

...catalyst for the review and consideration of whether cloud technology is the right fit for a business.

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| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward |

Issue 67 | February 2021

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