Payroll in Europe: New 2025 Forvis Mazars report
Drawing on responses from more than 1,000 leaders in 13 countries — with 8.6% of inputs coming from Switzerland — the new Forvis Mazars 2025 report highlights how compliance, accuracy and visibility are becoming the core pillars of modern payroll across Europe. Swiss decision-makers in payroll, HR and finance contributed actively to the findings.
The 2025 Forvis Mazars study combines large-scale quantitative survey results with in-depth interviews from C-level leaders and payroll specialists operating across multiple jurisdictions. The findings highlight a decisive shift: European organisations now view payroll as a core strategic function — essential for maintaining cross-border compliance, safeguarding business integrity and strengthening employee confidence.
Compliance challenges drive new payroll priorities
- 60% of payroll leaders say they cannot keep up with fast-changing labor laws.
- 62% identify frequent regulatory updates as one of their biggest operational challenges.
Managing payroll across several countries means dealing with different rules, deadlines and reporting formats. This complexity makes local expertise essential for any organisation with a cross-border workforce.
Outsource or not? Compliance drives the decision
- 48% say regulatory compliance is a key factor when deciding between managing payroll internally or outsourcing it.
- 53% already use external payroll providers to ensure accuracy and legal alignment.
- Another 53% rely on tax and legal advisors for deeper regulatory guidance across countries.
Accuracy builds or breaks trust
Across all markets surveyed, accuracy remains the single most important expectation for both employees and employers.
- 1 in 3 organisations report payroll calculation errors.
- 1 in 5 acknowledge that these mistakes have damaged employee trust.
In modern payroll, accuracy is not merely operational — it is a reputational and organisational trust factor, directly influencing employee experience, satisfaction and retention.
The strategic value of payroll data remains unused
The report highlights one of the key insights of the research:
- 70% of business-critical data flows through payroll systems — including salaries, benefits, tax IDs, time logs and cost-centre data. Yet most organisations are still not leveraging this data to its full potential.
Automation needs human expertise to deliver results
Automation is reshaping payroll operations across Europe, but technology cannot solve everything on its own. The study reveals that:
- 45% of leaders identify process optimization and cost reduction as their top challenges.
- Yet fewer than 1 in 5 organisations have implemented automated monitoring tools.
A balanced approach is essential. Combining intelligent automation with human expertise enables payroll teams to work faster, reduce errors and make better decisions — pairing technology’s precision with the judgement and context only people can provide.
Pay transparency and equal pay: compliance requirement that creates opportunity
Equal pay has become a major focus across Europe. The EU Pay Transparency Directive (2023/970) requires companies to assess and disclose gender pay gaps — and if differences exceed 5%, take corrective action within six months. The study shows that:
- 45% of HR leaders see compensation management as a key challenge.
- 51% of organisations would change providers for stronger compliance support.
As a result, payroll teams now play a central role in ensuring accuracy, transparency and fairness. Experience from the CEE region shows that the new directive is more than a compliance requirement — it is an opportunity to streamline remuneration systems, improve HR data quality and enable more open conversations about pay.
Fill out the form to download the full European Payroll 2025 report below. Access data, trends and expert commentary to understand how payroll is evolving — and what it means for your organisation.
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