SAP and SAP SuccessFactors clients have several options for world-class payroll from SAP and thereis indeed a new payroll in development: it even has an official name: SAP SuccessFactors Payroll, which you may hear shortened to SFPAY. This is something that has been in the works for several years, and as SAP would say, they continue to innovate in every area including payroll.
To answer the question best, let’s start with the basics. SAP Payroll is the leading global payroll. Period. It has been the consistent standard for organizations since the 1980s, and it is the only one that can handle complex payroll and time, especially globally. There are thousands of clients around the world using on-premise SAP Payroll or SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Payroll to process over 100 million of employees' pay statements each month. The recommended solution for clients is SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Payroll, which is where all of the innovation exists (Such as a use case for their AI Joule in 1H/2024), and will be the gold standard for many years to come.
SAP SuccessFactors Payroll (SFPAY) is an extremely exciting option that will be coming to market in the next few years, however, it is an early adopter innovation available to smaller and simpler clients starting in the UK. The launch target market does not overlap with the type of clients using or that would consider an SAP based payroll system today and will give clients who could not previously consider an SAP based payroll system an awesome option. US Payroll is also being developed and is currently in beta testing. A few early adopters in the US and UK are participating in the design evolution and early testing to provide feedback to SAP on what a modern cloud-native payroll should do (such as a real-time payroll, interactive pay statements, simpler setup, modern integrations with other systems, and much more).
So should you wait for it if you use an SAP based payroll system today? That's an easy no. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither was SAP Payroll (Or any enterprise payroll system for that matter). The beloved payroll that is in use today has been in use and evolving for over thirty years continues to evolve and get investment from SAP. SAP SuccessFactors is consciously building a new payroll from scratch that runs in the cloud that will allow them to expand their market share, do some very innovative things in payroll, and we are all really excited about it. But it is not going to be readily available anytime soon for existing clients using SAP payroll, and clients should not wait for it to be built before making a change.
I heard a good quote from colleague and friend Brandon Toombs, that went something like this: “It’s like hearing your favorite team is going to build a new stadium. You are excited about it, but that doesn’t mean you stop cheering on the team until it's built”.
There is a legitimate urgency for existing SAP HCM clients to transform or move to the cloud because of the dates associated with the end of support for SAP Business Suite 7, as best explained in this blog: SAP Business Suite 7 Extension: What This Means for SAP ERP Human Capital Management clients. SAP SuccessFactors has been supportive of their existing client base in terms of extending the date, and options to ensure clients continue to have the opportunity to get a return on their investment, as detailed in the blog: Bridge options for SAP SuccessFactors clients: Part 2 What is SAP HCM for S/4HANA On-Premise?
It’s been my experience that clients know that they have to ‘do something’, but they are unclear of their options and the urgency associated with each. Our clients come to us for guidance to make and defend their business decisions and deploy them with confidence while operating in a continually evolving climate.
It’s easy to get started. There is no one-size-fits-all transformation path for all SAP SuccessFactors clients. Based on your requirements and goals, you should start by reviewing the complexity and configuration of your current system, which will impact your decision-making process.
