Rippling is a workforce management software company that aims to provide a place to run HR, finance and IT operations for the workforce. The platform brings together employee data that is typically “dispersed throughout the company,” such as payroll, expenses, benefits, and device management.
Founded seven years ago in the US by Parker Conrad, it opened a new APAC base in Sydney, Australia, in February 2024 as part of a multi-year investment initiative in the region. The firm has hired a team of 30 people in Australia and sees the country as a launch pad for regional growth.
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The goal is to unify disparate systems and mitigate silos.
A survey of 500 Australian payroll managers conducted by Censuswide in partnership with Rippling, shared with TechRepublic as part of the platform's launch, found:
- 63% of companies use three or more solutions to manage their human resources and payroll.
- More than a third (37%) use five or more systems.
- 48% still rely on manual employee data entry, increasing the risk of human error.
“It's challenging to maintain employee data consistency when it's dispersed across isolated, disparate systems,” said Matt Loop, vice president and head of Asia at Rippling. “Many end up spending too much money on too many pieces of software and end up wasting countless hours on mundane tasks that can easily be automated or eliminated.”
Loop said Rippling is a move away from niche point solutions toward a single-solution approach. He said this means managing employee data and everything it touches, including things like employee benefits.
Rippling aims to combat the employee domino effect throughout the organization
The name Rippling comes from the series of ongoing tasks and effects created in an organization when there is a trigger, such as the hiring or leaving of a new employee. Loop said that with a single system, HR and payroll can better automate tasks to improve HR and payroll operations.
“Onboarding and offboarding are great examples of situations where there is often a long manual list of tasks,” Loop said. “When someone leaves an organization, 30 or more things may be necessary. “Rippling can automate that based on a change in the employee profile.”
SEE: For more information, check out TechRepublic's full Rippling review.
During exit, Rippling can make it easy to automate tasks like employee exit surveys, cut off access to tools like software subscriptions, and recover company hardware, which is important for companies maintaining compliance with their work center. security operations.
Software identified as a key issue for payroll professionals
The Australian Payroll Association's 2023 Australian Payroll Survey found that 31.2% of payroll professionals were expected to change jobs within 12 months, and almost 40% said efficient payroll technology and processes would be the most important factor in your search for a new role.
This is because 38.7% of respondents considered payroll processes and technology to be the biggest challenge. According to the APA, payroll staff retention is critical for those who want to maintain payroll compliance and avoid underpayments to the workforce.
Adapt to the growing global workforce of Australian companies
Australian organizations can benefit from Rippling's global presence. Loop said with more local Australian businesses going global or looking to other markets, including APAC, to hire overseas, there was increasing complexity and challenge in paying and managing employees.
“With Rippling you can pay your contractors and set up your legal entities through our EOR (Employer of Record) service,” Loop said. “So we have an Australian payroll that is STP compliant and does everything necessary, and global payroll capabilities for other major countries.”
Digitization is top of mind for payroll operations in Australia
What really “moves the needle” for a payroll function is when the entire payroll process is upgraded from a manual process to a technology-enabled process, according to the Australian Payroll Association. APA Director Tracy Angwin gives the example of the ability to onboard from a mobile phone, which can be done without a payroll person even touching the process.
“We still have organizations in Australia that rely on paper timesheets and leave forms,” Angwin said. “If you are one of them, without engaging in a conversation about topics such as governance, fraud and manual data errors, your number one goal should be to get rid of paper processes. It is one of the easiest victories you are going to achieve.”
Entry of global payroll tech players good for local Australian market
While Angwin says the existence of integrations between systems via APIs could make a single system redundant, the entry of global technology players like Rippling could have advantages for Australian employers. Since Australia has a low workforce compared to the United States and Europe, it provides local employers with the opportunity to take advantage of innovation in global technologies.
Tracy Angwin said there is a risk that some incoming global players underestimate the complexity of building a system that is suitable for Australian payroll compliance, but said she was “encouraged by global suppliers coming to Australia”.
