Payroll could be involved in every step of Mergers & Acquisition, but that is rarely or ever the case.

As the keyholders of vital data needed when it comes to these projects, it seems like a no-brainer to have payroll leaders involved from the start.

Richard Limpkin, ACMA, CGMA, the Chief Strategy Officer and Vice President of Multi-country Payroll Solution at Immedis, A UKG Company, kicked off day 3 of 2024 Payroll Congress with a workshop entitled “Accelerated Global Expansion—Payroll’s Ultimate Challenge.”

Limpkin advised best practices and counseled on managing the complexities of Mergers & Acquisitions and stressed the importance of payroll being involved in the initial stages of the process.

“Payroll always finds out last and knows the most,” he said.

Planning is critical in Mergers & Acquisitions: knowing your stakeholders, understanding the country/countries you’re working with, the levels of risk involved, and—most importantly—what the data tells you. Project Managers repeatedly face unnecessary challenges by bringing in payroll too late.

There are often trends visible in the data that can facilitate staying on track with the project.

One of the main obstacles faced with global expansion is bridging the gap between cultures. During the session Limpkin shared that while working in Bulgaria he quickly found out there is no word for payroll in Bulgarian, rather challenging when your job is payroll.