Solving the compliance issue for unsupported IFS payroll modules

Author: Paul Allan, Functional Principal, Cooper Software.

Payroll management is time intensive for any human resources (HR) department and managing it without a robust application can become unwieldy as your business grows. Some of our innovation-focused customers have been streamlining their employee and payment processes with enterprise resource planning (ERP) software from IFS for a number of years. But when their version of the payroll module became unsupported, they turned to Cooper Software to keep pace with the regulatory and compliance requirements that vary across different countries. We recently undertook some work to enable a customer to continue using the payroll solution in IFS Applications 10 – which is something we can replicate for other IFS users in the same situation.

Implementation of regulations and compliance measures by various governments and regulatory bodies have become stricter over the past few years. And payroll non-compliance can have serious consequences for businesses. Painful fines can result for failing to meet submission deadlines, not paying the right amount of tax, pensions benefits or holiday pay, failing to notify revenue and customs bodies of certain changes, and for submitting incorrect information or documents.

Companies from all sectors of industry can be affected. In Europe for example, organisations such as Pret a Manger, John Lewis and Marks & Spencer have appeared on the government’s list of shame, and Google was recently fined €50 million for GDPR privacy breaches.

Our customers are often managing these kinds of risk across multiple sites and hundreds if not thousands of employees. IFS applications bring together different processes within its HR and payroll functionality to create an efficient experience for employees and HR teams.

Journey to 2028

Cooper Software have worked with over 130 IFS customers in the last three years. As an IFS Gold Channel Partner and an IFS Gold Services Partner, we are involved from project evaluation and inception, through to post go-live support services and the delivery of continuous improvement programs. And working with payroll projects has been no exception – supporting our customers on their IFS upgrade journey and assuring ongoing business effectiveness.

Our customers often have the global presence to serve their customers worldwide and need to upgrade their IFS software to support their operations holistically and consistently.

However, organisations can often face some important upgrade decisions – like our recent payroll example illustrates. Upgrading to IFS Applications 10 or a later release results in the loss of the IFS payroll module altogether. But staying on IFS Apps 9, would result in systems falling outside of extended IFS support.

We have helped customers to move to IFS Applications 10, to secure extended support until 2028, along with more flexible possibilities for access monitoring, access set-up, and payroll. Enabling the payroll module to continue working would assure their all-important HR compliance requirements, while extending the application lifecycle for a few years.

Expert counsel

One of the main reasons that customers turn to Cooper Software to partner in this program is because we are able to respond to their brief incredibly quickly and have the skills on board to resolve any and every issue that might arise.

I take special pride in the methodology our team employs throughout these programs of work. We blend a deep understanding of IFS applications, along with the nuances of payroll systems and regulatory compliance, and an extensive experience of specific sectors to create a blueprint of sorts to resolve very real issues.

Focussed on helping customers to drive value from their ERP investment, we consult with IFS whose development teams are willing to discuss code and solutions, and we project manage everything on their behalf.

We can bring regional HR and payroll onto the same platform as the rest of a customer’s business. To support the full extent of the legal requirements, heavy configuration can be required for any customised regional solutions where we might merge two solutions into one.

With the seamless integration of IFS, customers can command absolute confidence in managing time and attendance, payroll calculations, and reporting functions across all of its regional operations. Payroll operations can be fully integrated with revenue services as well as the appropriate country operations.

A payroll solution

2024 looks set to be a year when organisations will continue to face issues such as global talent challenges, while continuing to respond to ever-changing regulatory and business pressures. While HR teams continue to adapt to a post-pandemic ‘new normal’, so too does the payroll function. 

In support of all this, Cooper Software has developed a cutting-edge bridging resolution for IFS customers seeking a contemporary payroll solution for all regional needs. To learn more contact us here.