More than eight in 10 payroll professionals believe artificial intelligence will transform their industry, despite only 6% using it in their day-to-day role.
According to the Future of Payroll Report from the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals, just over a third (34%) are worried about the impact AI will have on their role.
More than half (52%) did not understand the difference between AI and robotic process automation (RPA), the CIPP found.
RPA is where the technology simply follows a set of commands provided by the user to execute repetitive tasks, while AI can increasingly “think for itself”, replicating more human thinking patterns to carry out more complex work.
Payroll challenges
Fewer than a fifth (17%) said they used some form of RPA within their organisation in relation to payroll processes, but 26% were unsure. Twelve per cent said they were using chatbots, but 24% thought this would increase in the future.
Among those who were using AI, only 3% said AI or RPA had replaced payroll roles
within their organisation. More than eight in 10 said this had not happened, but 13% said payroll professionals had taken on amended duties since AI tools had been introduced.
Eighty-two per cent of payroll professionals said there were not yet any processes in place in their organisation with regard to fair and ethical use of AI.
“At the CIPP, we don’t feel the payroll profession should be afraid of AI, instead we should be embracing it. Technological advancements will change and enhance the positions available in a payroll department, opening up more time to be strategic within your roles,” said CEO Jason Davenport.
“We are seeing more and more teams shifting their focus towards strategic aspects of the role such as greater collaboration with HR on compliance, data capture and staff engagement.
“We are also seeing payroll professionals recognised as financial experts and consultants within their organisations, as they let AI do repetitive tasks, freeing them up to analyse data and make financial recommendations to their businesses.
“Embracing AI is therefore something that we encourage, or you’re at risk of being left behind. Now is an exciting time to be in the industry, with new doors opening along with new developments.”
Discussing other technology updates, 20% had implemented new payroll software in the past 12 months, and 18% were thinking about doing so in the next 12 months.
Many also thought their career paths would change due to rapid technological change. Around three in 10 thought that the number of career paths in payroll was going down, with 8% feeling they were “greatly decreasing”.
Looking to the future, the key skills payroll professionals believed to be important were legislative knowledge (cited by 96%); organisational skills (cited by 93%) and technical knowledge (cited by 90%).
Just over half (57%) said their organisation offered to support them in acquiring payroll qualifications as a benefit, and 43% said their achievements were recognised by their employer.
Davenport added: “Payroll is an industry which influences every business, no matter how big or small, and there are so many career opportunities within the profession.
“Enticing more individuals into payroll is one of the challenges regularly faced by employers and respondents’ ideas on how to do this were varied.
“Overarching themes of education and awareness emerged, with those surveyed citing more visibility and information provided in schools, colleges and universities, as well as more apprenticeship opportunities.”
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