Trends affecting payroll and HR in 2015 and beyond

In addition, many existing businesses will look at the cloud as a way to save operational and capital costs in their IT environments, including payroll systems. What's more, many companies that have not yet done so will put in place online employee self-service solutions to automate processes like expense claims and leave approvals.

Part of the reason that the cloud will play such a big part in the future is the way that it empowers people to be productive while they're mobile. According to the Sage Business Index survey for 2014, 59% of South African businesses believe the mobile infrastructure in South Africa makes it possible to work effectively on mobile devices. And more than 40% think that, in the future, tablets and smartphones will be of most use for accounting and/or payroll;

For that reason, many companies are automating or outsourcing routine HR processes so that HR managers can focus on performance management, training, skills development, alignment of the workforce with the business strategy, and other key strategic initiatives;

In time, they'll even be able to export job specifications from their HR systems to online recruitment platforms or import a successful job applicant's details directly into their payroll and HR software. This will bring new levels of efficiency to the admin processes that surround recruitment.