Cognizant is both a ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ strategic partner and a customer, using ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Human Capital Management and ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Financial Management in its offices around the world. As a leader in Cognizant Australia¡¯s ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ practice, Mitch Collins was excited when he heard ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ payroll was coming down under. ¡°We have complex employer obligations in Australia, including Single Touch Payroll, where companies have to send tax and superannuation information for individual employees directly to the tax office within 24 hours of running payroll,¡± Collins explains.?
Companies that fail to keep up with the intricate legislation risk? severe penalties and reputational damage. In fact, Australian payroll is so complicated, time consuming, and fraught with risk that Cognizant used to outsource it.?
With ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ now offering payroll software specifically for Australia, the team saw an opportunity to bring payroll back in-house, automate everything, and regain control. ¡°We wanted to give the power back to our payroll team and start using AI tools to support compliance,¡± Collins says.
Accelerated payroll processing.
With its in-house team back in charge, Cognizant has control over its payroll processes, data, and costs. Smart calculations are streamlining payroll runs, with processing time reduced from nine days to just two.
Collins says the payroll team no longer has to close payroll mid-pay run. ¡°We can wait until the end of the period, which reduces our amount of retrospective processing and improves accuracy,¡± Collins explains. ¡°We¡¯ve also reduced the need for manual reporting and journals.¡±
?
It¡¯s a massive saving for the payroll team.
Director, ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Consulting
Data connectivity improves visibility.
Both the visibility and granularity of people data have increased now that payroll is connected to other parts of the ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ platform. ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ HCM, ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Absence, ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Compensation, and ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Time Tracking are connected to payroll, which is also integrated with banking and settlement, as well as the general ledger.
We can surface data for our downstream teams a lot faster than before.
Director, ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Consulting
AI tools will improve compliance.
Collins is keen to use AI to find patterns and trends to support compliance: ¡°We need to see what¡¯s happening across multiple payrolls to ensure they're compliant and consistent.¡±?
Collins believes this is a good use case for AI, pointing out that part of responsible AI is using the technology for the right reasons. ¡°It¡¯s really important to understand why you need to use AI and not just use it for the sake of it, which can create problems,¡± Collins explains. ¡°At Cognizant, we're really trying to use AI for better processing and to make better decisions.¡±