1.
CHANGING THE GAME:
NEXT-GENERATION PAYROLL ANALYTICS
USING END-TO-END ANALYTICS TO OPTIMIZE PAYROLL PERFORMANCE

2.
ABOUT
CLOUDPAY
GLOBAL PAYROLL
WITH PERSPECTIVE
CloudPay provides managed global payroll services to multinational organizations through a single,
unified SaaS solution. By delivering end-to-end managed payroll services through an innovative
platform, CloudPay ensures consistent and compliant payroll around the globe while reducing
operating costs and minimizing manual processes.
CloudPay’s services and technology standardize the payroll function across geographies, helping
organizations increase efficiency, streamline compliance, and achieve greater visibility into payroll
performance and costs. The CloudPay solution is backed by deep industry expertise earned over
twenty-plus years delivering services to over 2,400 multinational entities. CloudPay’s solution
guarantees accurate payroll processing across 120+ countries in more than twenty-five languages.
To learn more, visit www.cloudpay.net.

3.
3
INTRODUCTION
HOW ANALYTICS BRING GREATER PERSPECTIVE TO PAYROLL
Across business functions as varied as marketing, finance, IT, and
human resources, companies use sophisticated analytics to
conduct end-to-end performance analysis and generate
boardroom insights.
The exception: The payroll department.
As a 'legacy' business sector long dominated by outdated
solutions and manual processes, global payroll hasn’t become as
data-driven as other functions of the enterprise. Due to the lack
of automation and standardized processes in the space, analytics
have largely been an afterthought in global payroll.
Why? Because reporting and analytics are far from synonymous.
While most payroll providers send a wealth of reports to their
clients, their reports detail static information and present it in a
static way. Analytics, on the other hand, enable payroll customers
to visualize their data in real-time and understand it greater
context – providing far more actionable and insightful
intelligence than reports can.
The added sense of perspective that analytics delivers is crucial
to improving global payroll performance.
Even with so many reports in their arsenal, many managed
services providers supply customers with highly limited
information on payroll performance – allowing processing data to
stay locked in a “black box” until all pay cycles have been
completed and exception reports disseminated.

4.
4
That lack of real-time transparency has underserved multinational
companies of all stripes, because payroll is a unique data set that
houses information no other enterprise application holds. That
data can have immense strategic value when leveraged to full
effect – delivering intelligence that can power smart decision-
making around capacity planning, cost cutting, resource
allocation, expansion, and more.
The most valuable payroll intelligence is acquired when
organizations have a holistic approach to payroll across the
global enterprise: Armed with standardized processes,
automated workflows, and expert managed services and
support, multinational organizations that deploy integrated
payroll solutions can cultivate analytics valuable for a variety of
operational improvement initiatives.
Several focus areas are key to earning game-changing results
from global payroll analytics:
• Establishing a foundation for data integrity
• Building a cloud-based and analytics-driven strategy
• Using analytical insights to drive long-term improvement
This CloudPaper will outline how stakeholders can “change the
game” in their own organizations to elevate the role of payroll
through the power of next-generation analytics.
INTRODUCTION
HOW ANALYTICS BRING GREATER PERSPECTIVE TO PAYROLL

5.
ESTABLISHING A
FOUNDATION FOR
DATA INTEGRITY
When it comes to analytics, the goal of any business function is to
achieve a single version of the truth. And without a single, end-to-
end source of the truth, that’s impossible to realize.
The ideal resource for global payroll teams is a unified platform
where stakeholders can:
1. Search and access the information they need;
2. Assess data at both the broad and granular levels, from a
single location; and
3. Feel confidence in the quality of the data presented.
PART 1:
5

6.
Achieving a unified system of record is arguably
more difficult in Payroll than any other area of
the enterprise.
Organizations may work with anywhere from
one to one hundred payroll solutions providers –
each with its own processes and standards –
across a global operation. In addition, they often
rely on a variety of fragmented software (and
data) systems that connect HR and Finance to
the payroll function.
Realizing the value of game-changing analytics
requires game-changing data, cultivated in a
manner that maintains data integrity across all
systems and solutions involved.
A useful data set cannot be achieved without a
foundational strategy for collecting the right
data and processing it in a consistent way. Three
focus areas are key: Data Capture, Data
Integration, and Data Standardization.
ESTABLISHING A FOUNDATION FOR DATA INTEGRITY
I. DATA CAPTURE: UNDERPIN PAYROLL WITH PROCESS INTELLIGENCE
For most multinational organizations, completing the payroll cycle requires moving through
dozens of interconnected steps, taken by dozens of different individuals, at an extremely
high volume – making it a highly error-prone area of the enterprise.
Over the course of receiving employee data, locking payroll, approving payroll, producing
bank files, and sending payslips, a million things can go wrong. Given the breadth of
activities involved, even minor errors and oversights add up.
If left unaddressed, recurring process issues can negatively impact the efficiency and
productivity of the payroll function. Yet many organizations fail to collect process
information at all – let alone in a reviewable, auditable manner.
The first key to achieving a ‘single source of the truth’ is to collect detailed data on what
happens throughout the payroll cycle, how it happens, and why. Before incorporating
analytics into the payroll function, organizations should ensure they are capturing end-to-
end data on every element of the payroll process. That means logging who performs each
action or approval; how long certain steps take; what communication takes place
throughout the process; and so on.
6
PART 1:

7.
Few organizations can execute global
payroll without information housed in either
an enterprise resource planning (ERP)
solution, a human capital management
(HCM) system, or both.
Given payroll’s reliance on data about
employees’ benefits details, time and
attendance, and personal information, the
most reliable analytics stem from solutions
that integrate with the systems that manage,
track, and monitor those functions.
The more seamless and automated the
integration, the better the data quality.
Desktop-bound processes – export the
spreadsheet from the ERP or HCM, save it
to a local folder, then load it to the payroll
system – increase the likelihood of manual
errors while making sensitive employee data
more vulnerable from a security perspective.
The approach has other unintended
consequences, as well. For one, it creates an
enterprise-wide reliance on out-of-date
information: By the time data is exported,
saved, and uploaded, it may already be
inaccurate compared to more recently
supplied employee information.
Secondly, desktop-bound data sharing also
contributes to a lack of collaboration.
Making use of complex data requires cross-
departmental cooperation around spotting
troubling trends, identifying solutions, and
setting goals for improvement.
But when payroll data is shared via static,
manual uploads, it rarely facilitates
actionable engagement between the HR
and payroll functions.
Automated system-to-system integration
can extract real-time payroll data from an
ERP or HCM solution in a seamless manner –
setting global payroll teams up for more
accurate, timely, and collaborative analytics.
From there, it can export data back to
external systems the same way: Certified
connectors and application program
interfaces (APIs) enable two-way data
transfers that lessen the time and manual
effort involved in importing and exporting
payroll information.
PART 1: Tip #1: Engage in real-time data
collection. When launched from a dated
starting point, an organization’s
analytics can never be entirely reliable.
7
II. DATA INTEGRATION: LESSEN MANUAL EFFORT & ASSESS REAL-TIME INFORMATION
ESTABLISHING A FOUNDATION FOR DATA INTEGRITY

8.
8
III. DATA STANDARDIZATION: DECREASE ERRORS & ENSURE DATA INTEGRITY
PART 1:
ESTABLISHING A FOUNDATION FOR DATA INTEGRITY
Secure integrations among commonly used
systems help organizations lower
processing times, decrease error rates, and
reduce the frequency of payroll
reprocessing.
They’re also the ideal starting point for
enterprise-wide standardization of the
global payroll function.
With the average multinational organization
relying on 3.7 payroll systems (and large
organizations relying on dozens more)
executing payroll across the globe typically
means sending and collecting data from at
least three disparate vendor systems – each
with disparate workflows.
To achieve game-changing analytics,
organizations should ensure that a
consistent and standardized payroll process
(mindful of local and regional
considerations) is applied across all
geographies – ideally by consolidating
global payroll into one end-to-end solution.
The most effective infrastructure for any
analytics-driven strategy is a proprietary,
end-to-end platform that operates with
standardized global processes and adheres
to pre-defined data standards.
Once equipped with a foundation for
accurate and consistent data collection
across the globe, organizations can look
ahead to their needs and goals in global
payroll and determine how analytics can
support them.
Establishing that ‘data foundation’ can also
be the first step to a game-changing culture
shift across the company: Once
multinational organizations understand the
usefulness and value of a standardized
payroll data set, there’s no going back to
static, report-driven decision-making –
setting a high bar for further software
change initiatives across the enterprise.
Tip #2: Ensure that a consistent and
standardized payroll process is applied
across all geographies.

9.
BUILDING A
CLOUD-BASED &
ANALYTICS-DRIVEN
STRATEGY
As with any change initiative, a shift to next-generation payroll
analytics has the best chance of success when it’s powered by
strategic thinking. By planning out their approach to payroll
analytics in advance, organizations can realize stronger benefits
and value from their analytics over time.
Before jumping ahead to the implementation details and use
cases of their analytics program, organizations are wise to:
1. Assess value what they are, and aren’t, getting from their
current approach to analytics; then
2. Incorporate ‘value-add‘ tactics into their analytics-driven
payroll strategy to drive long-term ROI.
PART 2:
9

10.
Processes and consolidates all
global payrolls. A scalable and fully
compliant single-contract payroll
solution, it is accessible anytime
and anywhere, with industry
leading features that improve labor
distribution and visibility into your
payroll costs.
Goes beyond typical payroll
reporting, helping uncover new
insights that drive strategic value.
CloudPay Analytics continues to
expand its dashboard of
predictive analytics that provide
the underlying information
needed to improve efficiencies,
optimize costs and ensure
continuous compliance.
Automatically issues accurate and
compliant payments, directly from
CloudPay Payroll, to all of your
employees and third parties.
Manages secure communications
for all process participants,
including any local vendors. With a
real-time “chat” function,
questions, changes and requests
are managed instantaneously
through dedicated teams in our
seven global service centers.
Automates and standardizes all
payroll and payments processes,
regardless of the country, and
provides key data that identifies
opportunities for process
improvement and performance
measurement.
Is a framework that standardizes
how employee, demographic and
payroll data is imported by
CloudPay from a wide range of
external sources, including HRM
platforms such as Workday,
Success Factors and PeopleSoft.
REDUCE OPERATIONAL COSTS
Remove complexity and reliance on multiple
platforms while optimizing how you staff
payroll.
Increase operational efficiency by storing and
analyzing all of your payroll data in a single
solution.
Reduce overall payroll processing costs and
errors to improve your business performance.
THE CLOUDPAY SOLUTION
THERE IS GREAT POTENTIAL IN PAYROLL. COME FIND IT.
WHY CLOUDPAY?
TRUST YOUR PAYROLL
Have confidence with our fully compliant,
highly secure payroll solution and our skilled
subject matter experts.
Minimize the risk of non-compliance with
local and statutory regulations, and a fully
integrated compliance interface.
Maintain greater internal governance.
FOCUS ON YOUR BUSINESS
Gain the freedom to focus on your core
business with the reliability, simplicity,
and assurance you get with CloudPay’s
integrated global payroll solution.
Harness more accurate global insights to
improve your business performance with our
interactive dashboards.