How long does it take to process payroll?

Payroll is more than just numbers and deadlines because it’s the backbone of your employee experience and financial compliance. If you get it right, you’ll build trust while avoiding penalties. Get it wrong, and things can unravel fast.

But exactly how long should payroll processing take? 

If you’re wondering what’s reasonable (or if your current process is too slow), you’re in the right place.

In this article, Aniday breaks down everything you need to know about payroll processing time. If you’d rather skip the admin altogether, our Employer of Record (EOR) service takes care of contracts, salary, taxes, and compliance so you can focus on growing your team, not chasing paperwork.

What is the payroll process involved?

Payroll processing goes far beyond just transferring salaries into employees’ bank accounts. It’s a multi-step operation that ensures your team is paid accurately and on time, while keeping your business compliant with tax and labor laws. 

Here’s what payroll processing typically involves:

• Collect employee attendance and work hour records
• Include all extra compensation, such as bonuses, commissions, and approved overtime
• Calculate and apply required deductions, including taxes, insurance, and employee benefits
• Prepare and submit tax filings and mandatory compliance reports
• Generate accurate payroll reports and digital payslips for employees

When done right, payroll keeps everything on track. Otherwise, it can lead to fines, frustrated employees, or even legal trouble. While it might sound simple at first, payroll can get complicated fast, especially if you’re handling it across multiple countries or regions.

Payroll processing timeline: A step-by-step guide for employers

If you’re managing payroll in-house, especially across borders, you’ve probably realized it’s not just about sending salaries on time. From collecting hours to applying deductions and filing reports, each step takes time, and small delays can snowball quickly.

That’s why many growing businesses turn to Aniday. 

As your trusted Employer of Record (EOR) partner, we help you handle the entire process accurately and efficiently. Here’s how it usually plays out:

1. Collecting Payroll Data (5 business days)

You start by gathering everything from employee timesheets, paid leave, bonuses, and commissions to reimbursement claims. Aniday helps streamline this with standardized templates and real-time coordination, so you don’t waste days chasing down last-minute inputs.

2. Sending Timesheet and Invoice

At the start of each month, Aniday sends your team a detailed timesheet and corresponding invoice covering all employee hours and compensation items. We calculate everything from base pay to bonuses and any custom pay structures, ensuring everything is accurate and easy for your finance team to process, usually within just a few hours.

3. Client Payment (Up to 10 business days)

Once the payroll summary is finalized and approved, we issue an invoice to you for salary disbursement, tax payments, and any applicable contributions. You then complete the payment to Aniday’s designated account, typically within 7 to 10 business days. Prompt payment at this stage ensures there are no delays in salary transfers or statutory filings on behalf of employees. 

4. Deductions & Tax Withholding (Same day)

This is where things often get tricky: applying personal income tax, health insurance, social security, and other statutory deductions. If you’re hiring across countries like Vietnam, Indonesia, or Thailand, this gets even more complex. 

But when you partner with Aniday, you won’t have to worry because we stay up to date with every country’s latest regulations to make sure all deductions and filings are done right.

5. Payroll Review & Approval (before salary disbursement day)

Before anything goes out, we send you a full summary to review. Whether it’s your internal finance team or country managers giving the green light, Aniday builds in the buffer time you need for approvals, while keeping the whole process moving smoothly.

6. Salary Disbursement (1- 2 business days)

Once approved, we take care of the rest, transferring salaries to your employees’ local bank accounts and ensuring they receive digital payslips after 3 days in both the local language and English. 

What factors can slow down your payroll process?

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer when it comes to payroll processing time, it depends on a few key things:

• The size of your team: The more employees you have, the more information you need to gather and verify. Larger companies may even need to process payroll in batches, by department or region, which can take longer.
• How often you run payroll: In some countries or regions, payroll frequency is regulated by law, weekly, biweekly, or monthly. Each schedule comes with its own deadlines and workload, which can affect turnaround time.
• How complex your payroll is: If your team includes people on varying pay structures, with bonuses, commissions, shift differentials, or multiple contracts, expect the process to take a bit longer.
• Manual vs. automated systems: Handling payroll manually can slow things down and increase the risk of errors. Meanwhile, automated payroll software, or better yet, outsourcing to a reliable partner, can help speed things up significantly.
• Where your employees are based: If you’re hiring across different countries, you’ll need to juggle local tax laws, exchange rates, and even national holidays. These regional differences can make global payroll more time-consuming and complex.

How to speed up payroll processing (without slipping on compliance)

Running payroll is about doing it efficiently and by the book. Even minor delays can impact employee satisfaction and your team’s trust. So, how can you streamline the process while still staying fully compliant?

Here are a few practical ways:

• Automate where you can: Manual spreadsheets can only take you so far. Switching to an automated, cloud-based payroll system can save hours and help reduce errors. 
• Set clear internal deadlines: Don’t let late submissions hold you back. Set fixed cut-off dates for submitting work hours, bonuses, or expenses, and make sure everyone on your team knows the timeline.
• Centralize your data: If your payroll, HR, and time-tracking tools aren’t talking to each other, you're wasting time. Try to connect these systems or use an all-in-one solution, or let Aniday handle it for you, especially across multiple countries.
• Review before you run: Use pre-payroll reports to catch red flags like missed shifts or unusually high payouts before the payroll is finalized. This helps avoid last-minute corrections.
• Stay on top of tax and labor law updates: Tax rules don’t stay still, and keeping up can be exhausting, especially if you’re operating in different countries. 

If managing payroll is starting to feel like a bottleneck, especially with growing headcount or multiple locations, you don’t have to tackle it alone. Instead of building everything from scratch or delaying cost optimization, you can partner with Aniday - your trusted Employer of Record (EOR) provider.

Our centralized global payroll platform takes the heavy lifting off your plate. It automates tax calculations, payment processing, and compliance reporting, helping reduce errors, speed up payroll cycles, and keep your people paid correctly and on time.

We also supports payroll and compliance across multiple countries in APAC, including Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, India, and more. Leading companies like ST Engineering, Thomson Medical, YGG, Carsome, and Travelstop have already chosen to partner with us through our Employer of Record (EOR) service to streamline payroll, reduce admin burden, and stay fully compliant as they expand.

We’re backed by 5-star reviews on G2, Trustpilot, and Crozdesk, and our responsive support team is here for you 24/7. Whether you’re expanding into APAC, we make sure you stay compliant with local labor laws and tax regulations.

Payroll shouldn’t be stressful, and global hiring doesn’t have to be complicated. Let Aniday keep it simple for you.

Contact us today for more personalized consultation.