Artificial intelligence (AI) might sound futuristic, but the future is already here. It’s already an integral part of most industries, and payroll is no exception.
What might AI look like in payroll technology? AI removes room for human error, leading to higher accuracy, efficiency, and employee financial wellbeing and satisfaction.
Yes, that’s exciting – but how do payroll professionals feel about it?
At a recent CIPP roundtable on the future of payroll, our conversations helped us understand that most technology attendees are comfortable with this prospect, while payroll practitioners are generally uneasy. Education around AI in payroll is a must.
And that's why I’m here now, writing this blog post. To introduce you to AI in payroll – and help you see that it could be a very good thing indeed.
How AI in payroll could be a huge help
1. Automate repetitive tasks
How many hours do we waste on the daily, weekly or monthly non-negotiable tasks? Collecting payroll data, timesheets, all necessary – but they require human input or manual uploads.
AI could be used to automate inputs, calculate wages and validate the accuracy of the entered information. This reduces the risk of human error and can save valuable hours. And it gives payroll professionals more time to dedicate to legal compliance and payroll accuracy.
2. Enhance compliance
Compliance is critical: AI can help you stay in the know! It can keep track of changes in payroll regulations and automatically update payroll systems to reflect these changes. This’ll ensure compliance and avoid penalties (and, hopefully, reduce the stress of those payroll pros who worry about accidentally missing an important update).
AI can also be used to maintain a detailed audit trail of all payroll transactions, making it easier to comply with regulations and prepare for audits.
3. Improve accuracy, and detect and prevent fraud
Fraudsters are everywhere. AI in payroll could just save your bacon.
AI can help organisations to monitor payroll transactions and look out for unusual patterns or discrepancies that might indicate fraud or errors. For example, AI could flag an unusually high number of overtime hours or duplicate payments.
It can also be used to detect potential errors before payroll is finalised, which reduces the need for corrections and ensures employees are paid accurately and on time. Which, after all, is the most important thing.
4. Personalised employee self-service
Understanding how gross pay and deductions are calculated can be a slog for non-payroll experts. AI can generate personalised payroll reports for employees to help relieve some of that burden. It can be used to break down their pay, benefits, and deductions in a way that’s easy to understand. Which’ll save you from answering loads of questions in the long run.
5. Predictive analytics
AI can analyse historical payroll data to predict future payroll expenses. It’ll help you better understand peak periods and significant events, allowing you to budget more accurately.
It can also identify patterns in payroll data that correlate with employee turnover, helping HR teams take proactive measures to improve retention.
See? Told you AI was the future.
6. Real-time analytics and reporting
AI can give you real-time dashboards that HR and finance teams will love. You’ll get insights into payroll data, including trends, anomalies, and potential issues. And those dashboards will help track key payroll performance indicators, such as processing time, error rates, and compliance levels.
By incorporating AI in payroll, you can achieve higher accuracy, better compliance and increased efficiency. What a win.
However, I’ve got to add one important caveat: AI will never replace the role of payroll experts. It’ll just help them smash out those mundane tasks. Giving them more time to dedicate to the accurate payroll and financial wellbeing support for employees.
AI doesn’t have to be scary. In fact, it could be just the thing to save you time, money, and energy. And so could our payroll solutions. Download our brochure or request a demo to learn more about how the AI in our software can help your organisation.