Global payroll, time & HR transformation
Transformation, done by people who’ve done it before.
An independent consultancy that fixes, transforms and governs global payroll, HR and time & absence operations. Deep knowledge of the payroll market, with no vendor ties.
The problem
Is your payroll held back by problems you’ve learned to live with?
Most businesses lose money through operational weaknesses they’ve learned to live with. Swapping vendors or buying new tech rarely fixes them. Redesigning the operating model does.
Sound familiar?
Data doesn’t match between HR, time and payroll.
Manual re-keying and late changes mean errors, corrections and off-cycle payments.
Technology & integrations · Data & controls
Every pay run relies on workarounds and heroics.
Spreadsheets, manual checks and a few key people holding it all together.
Business processes · Metrics
Nobody owns payroll from end to end.
Roles blur between HR, finance and providers, so issues fall through the gaps.
Target operating model · Governance & compliance
Your provider isn’t delivering what was promised.
Service levels slip, and what in-country partners do is hard to see.
Vendor management & supply chains
A merger, new countries or a new system is on the way.
Big change is about to land on a team that’s already at capacity.
Mergers & acquisitions · Change management
Leadership wants AI, but the foundations aren’t ready.
AI on messy payroll data just gets the wrong answer faster.
AI & automation readiness
Fix the operating model, not just the tech.
Recognise two or more? A Payroll Health Check shows where you stand before you spend.
What we do
Independent payroll expertise, wherever you are in the journey.
Specialists in global payroll, HR and time & absence. We know the provider market inside out and we’re tied to none of it, so our advice is about your outcome, not a software sale.
Assess · Start here
Payroll Health Check
Find out where you stand before you spend. A maturity baseline across payroll, HR and time & absence, including how ready you are for AI.
What’s included →Choose
Strategy & vendor selection
Requirements, global tender and business case, backed by deep market knowledge and no vendor ties, so you pick the right provider rather than the loudest one.
Deliver
Programme & project management
Governance, planning and controls that speed delivery up rather than slowing it down.
Recover
Project & payroll recovery
Project or payroll operation in trouble? An independent assessment and recovery plan to get go-live, or pay day, back on track.
How we work
Start with the problem, not the solution.
Most payroll projects go wrong before anyone signs a contract: the wrong problem gets solved with the wrong software. Our four steps make sure every decision rests on evidence, so you only pay to change what needs changing.
-
Identify
“What’s really going wrong, and what is it costing us?”
Define the real problem before anyone talks about software.
YOU GETA clear problem statement everyone agrees on -
Fact find
“What’s actually happening on the ground?”
Get the real data, not assumptions. Friction is a data point.
YOU GETA fact base: your data, processes and pain points, mapped -
Analyse
“What are our realistic options?”
Explore the options and tools that help. They needn’t cost a lot.
YOU GETPrioritised options with costs, risks and a clear recommendation -
Implement
“How do we make it stick?”
Make the change stick and the business ready to run it.
YOU GETA change that’s live, adopted and owned by your team
Understand first. Then transform.
Free self-assessment
Is your payroll ready for AI?
AI on messy payroll data just gives you the wrong answer faster. The AI Readiness Scorecard checks the foundations first, across the five areas that decide whether AI will work in your payroll.
- QUESTIONS
- 25
- AREAS
- 5
- POINTS
- 125
60-SECOND QUICK CHECK
One question from each area. Where are you today?
1 · DATA READINESS
Is your payroll data clean, consistent and accessible?
2 · TECHNOLOGY
Can your systems support AI, or will they hold it back?
3 · PROCESS MATURITY
Are your processes consistent enough to automate?
4 · PEOPLE & SKILLS
Does your team have the skills and ownership?
5 · STRATEGY & GOVERNANCE
Is AI tied to your goals and governed responsibly?
YOUR QUICK READ
Answer all five for your quick read.
A quick pointer, not your score. The full scorecard gives you that.
Free tools & guides
More practical tools for payroll and transformation leaders.
Understand where you are before you change anything. Each guide is free, practical and built from real global payroll programmes.
Insights
Practical thinking on payroll & transformation
Meet the founder
Lara Smart
ChFCIPPdip, WCoMC · Founder & Chief Problem Solver
Lara has led global payroll, time and HR transformation since 2012. She’s a two-time Payroll Consultant of the Year at the Global Payroll Awards, named in the Reward 300, a judge for The Reward Awards, a non-executive director and a regular speaker on the future of pay and AI.
She works with a trusted network of experienced consultants across HR, payroll, workforce and technology. No junior teams learning on the job, just practitioners who’ve done it before.
Recognition & speaking
Trusted by the industry, on stage and behind the scenes.
Awards, memberships & accreditations
Watch & listen
Talks, podcasts & interviews
The Payroll Playbook: a buyer’s blueprint for global payroll transformation
Watch → Talk show · Payzaar Plug & Pay, Ep 41The smart way to achieve flexibility in global payroll
Watch → Video · mywageWhat are the key challenges when implementing new payroll software?
Watch → Podcast · Women in PayrollLara Smart, payroll transformation consultant
Listen →Clarity before change