Robots are one of today's buzzwords and are often highlighted in connection with efficiency gains in both private business and the public sector. They have long been a familiar part of production, but now robots have also found their way into home care, for example – in the form of self-driving vacuum cleaners – and as a help with other kinds of care – not to mention self-driving cars! And now robots are also becoming part of the software solutions of the future.
Most recently, the concept of robots/“robotics” (Robotic Process Automation) has also appeared in the financial world. Here you can see examples of robots handling both customer advice and credit assessment. And in the legal profession you meet robots that review and help with various kinds of casework – a development that has only just begun.
So there is no doubt that robotics and artificial intelligence are moving at full speed as part of digitalisation in general. And robots will also make their entrance in less tested areas such as payroll administration – without needing to be paid themselves!
But what are robots, then, in payroll administration, where the main focus is on making sure pay is correct and on time? A focus that must be kept while operations here too have to run as efficiently and cheaply as possible. Robotics and artificial intelligence can be built into payroll systems and create automatic links between processes and other systems. This means the payroll administrator can save a large part of the manual data entry. That might be, for example, in the work between payroll and accounting, where robotics makes it possible to set up an automatic integration that can “think” for itself and will therefore automatically follow up on deviations and the like.
The development will happen on several different tracks:
- The number of manual tasks will be reduced over time.
- Integration and automation with various internal and external systems will increase.
- There will be better quality control and follow-up on deviations.
The broader understanding of legislation and collective agreements in payroll can also be built into robotics. This will help support payroll administrators in their work and so make even more sure that all employees are paid correctly and on time. And it doesn't have to be difficult. Because even though payroll systems have traditionally been associated with great complexity and many manual integrations, open APIs now make “robot integration” possible. This can greatly improve the connection between old IT systems and new digital solutions, and so ensure automated integration between the company's IT systems, internally as well as externally.
So robotics will play a crucial role in the development of payroll administration – welcome the robots and jump on the bandwagon: it's going to be an exciting journey!
