Mastering global payroll: Multiplier’s Sagar Khatri on what matters

Managing payroll across multiple countries is no small feat. From navigating complex compliance requirements to ensuring timely payments, organisations today must tackle a range of challenges to keep their global workforce running smoothly. Beyond just processing salaries, payroll plays a critical role in financial planning, employee experience, and overall business efficiency.

We talk to Sagar Khatri, CEO and Co-Founder of Multiplier, to delve into the evolving payroll landscape, the hidden challenges organisations often overlook, and how technology is transforming the way businesses manage global payroll.

Here are some excerpts from the conversation:

Global payroll management is becoming increasingly complex with differing compliance requirements, tax laws, and payroll regulations. How do you view the current landscape of global payroll management evolving?

There are two fundamental shifts happening. First, the definition of globalisation has changed. Earlier, companies expanded globally to access demand markets. Now, they go global to access talent. From day one, companies are hiring across geographies, making distributed teams the norm rather than the exception.

Second, payroll has traditionally been a neglected industry—complex, compliance-heavy, and slow to adopt technology. It was one of those industries where no one wanted to innovate because of the sheer complexity involved. But now, with the rise of demand around real-time payments and automation, payroll is finally catching up.

Payroll is a function where accuracy is expected, and errors are highly penalised. If a payroll team gets everything right, no one notices.  However, a single mistake impacts employee satisfaction, compliance, and operations. Given how critical payroll is to employee experience, organisations are now prioritising smarter payroll management.

What are some key challenges organisations face when managing payroll across multiple countries? How do these challenges impact efficiency and compliance requirements?

Compliance is just one part of payroll, but if you look at it holistically, it’s an incredibly complex and integrated function. Let’s break it down into a few key dimensions. 

First, every country has unique labor laws, statutory contributions, and tax requirements. Organisations operating in multiple regions must stay on top of ever-changing regulations, making compliance a constant challenge. Then, there’s employee classification—freelancers, full-time employees, fixed term contracts— all of whom fall under different payroll structures, even within the same country. This adds another layer of complexity, especially when managing diverse workforce types.

Payments are another challenge. Companies must ensure salaries reach employees, tax authorities, and statutory bodies on time and in the correct local currencies. A delay—even by a day—can disrupt employee morale and impact the organization’s credibility. Reporting and analytics are also critical. Many companies struggle to get a clear, real-time view of payroll costs across countries, departments, or cost centers. This lack of visibility affects financial planning and decision-making at the leadership level.

Lastly, integration is key. Payroll needs to sync with HR systems, accounting software, and performance management platforms. Without seamless connectivity, inefficiencies arise, leading to errors and compliance risks.

What sets Multiplier’s Global Payroll Solution apart from traditional payroll systems? How does it simplify multi-country payroll management?

Multiplier’s core mission is to simplify global employment, and payroll is a huge part of that. Traditional payroll systems are country-specific, requiring organisations to juggle multiple vendors, processes, and compliance frameworks. Our approach is different.

Multiplier offers a single platform where organisations can process payroll for multiple countries without worrying about local compliance. We handle everything—from real-time currency conversion to tax filings—ensuring that payments are made accurately and on time.

Additionally, our solution integrates with HR, finance, and accounting systems, providing a unified view of payroll expenses across regions. This gives companies real-time insights into payroll spending, helping them optimise workforce costs and improve financial planning. 

In a world where a one-day delay can impact employee financial stability, damage morale, and hurt the organisation’s reputation, having a reliable and integrated system makes all the difference.

With AI and automation playing a growing role in HR tech, how do you foresee these technologies influencing payroll management in the future?

AI and automation are set to transform payroll in multiple ways. One of the biggest impacts is in error reduction. Manual payroll processing is prone to mistakes—miscalculations, incorrect tax deductions, or compliance oversights. AI-driven payroll systems can flag discrepancies in real time, ensuring greater accuracy.

If you think about industries like IT infrastructure, we’ve seen how cloud computing automated complex processes—removing the need for massive server rooms and manual intervention. It has also raised the efficiency levels. Similarly we’re working to change payroll through AI. 

One of the key solutions we’re rolling out is AI-powered global HR compliance. Imagine you’re a U.S.-based company operating in multiple states and countries—compliance goes far beyond just payroll. You need to navigate employment laws, onboarding regulations, and even country-specific termination policies, like in Japan, where firing an employee isn’t straightforward. With AI, we’re making this process seamless. AI-driven compliance enables businesses to proactively ensure that they’re aligned with local regulations—reducing risks, saving costs, and improving HR efficiency.

Looking at the year 2025, can we expect new integrations or advancements from Multiplier’s payroll solution?

We are continuously innovating to make payroll simpler and more efficient. A key focus area for us is expanding real-time payroll capabilities, enabling faster and more flexible payment cycles. We’re also enhancing integrations with leading HR and finance platforms, ensuring a seamless payroll experience.

Additionally, we’re working on advanced payroll analytics—giving organisations deeper insights into payroll costs, tax efficiencies, and workforce planning. Our goal is to make payroll not just a compliance function but a strategic advantage for businesses.