Article
18 min read
Behind the Scenes of M&A: Mastering Payroll Transitions
Global payroll
Author
Shannon Ongaro
Last Update
June 18, 2025
Published
March 25, 2024
Table of Contents
Addressing challenges for smaller businesses
Managing compliance across borders
Delays caused by external factors
Harmonizing compensation and benefits
Retaining talent during payroll transitions
Tech considerations for integration
A Step-by-step guide to payroll integration
Simplify M&A Payroll with Deel
Key takeaways
- Though merging payroll systems across various regions can be challenging, a global payroll solution can help by simplifying compliance, document management, and payment processes.
- A centralized system can help companies retain and engage new employees by ensuring payroll accuracy and increasing onboarding efficiency.
- An all-in-one solution like Deel consolidates payroll management across countries and strengthens compliance to reduce the risk of errors and penalties.
In 2025, 81% of CEOs who completed a major acquisition in the past three years are planning to pursue another within the next three. Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) signal opportunity, but they also come with operational hurdles.
One of the biggest? Payroll integration.
Merging systems across entities, countries, and compliance regimes can quickly become a minefield. Disconnected processes lead to compliance risks, pay errors, and frustrated employees, just when stability matters most.
At Deel, we help companies navigate this complexity with confidence. Our all-in-one global payroll platform is purpose-built to support M&A transitions. Operating in 150+ countries, we centralize payroll operations, simplify compliance, and streamline data migration—so teams can stay focused on growth, not admin.
With automation, localized expertise, and dedicated support, Deel eliminates friction when consolidating payroll during M&As. What could be a pain point becomes a strategic moment to modernize your payroll infrastructure, reduce risk, and boost employee trust.
This article contains insights from Deel’s recent Global Payroll Summit, where Dan Van Damme, Manager, Account Executive, ENT, Deel, spoke about how companies can use global payroll to streamline M&As. Watch the full summit on-demand to hear from Dan and other experts.
Addressing challenges for smaller businesses
Smaller businesses often face resource limitations managing payroll in mergers and acquisitions. Budget constraints, fewer HR specialists, and reliance on outdated systems can amplify payroll challenges.
It’s often the case that mobility teams, compliance teams, payroll teams, and legal teams are very disjointed and disparate across an organization. The conversations we’ve been in typically involve, ‘How can you help us quickly onboard employees? This merger or acquisition is coming to a close in a matter of weeks, and we need to set up payroll fast.’ With Deel's owned infrastructure, we can quickly onboard payroll in a specific country in a matter of weeks, not months."
—Dan Van Damme,
Manager, Account Executive, ENT, Deel
Deel’s scalable platform provides:
- Affordable solutions: Ensuring smooth payroll implementation without overwhelming limited budgets
- Simplified onboarding: Streamlined processes for small teams to onboard employees seamlessly
- Expert support: Access to compliance specialists, even for businesses without dedicated HR teams
Learn more: Top 10 Key Challenges of Cross-Border M&A Integration
Free guide: How to Use an Employer of Record to De-risk Global M&As
By using an EOR, you can provide your entire team with a better M&A experience. Read this guide to learn how to use an EOR to manage compliance, mitigate risk, and execute your international growth plans in record time.
Managing compliance across borders
Compliance becomes critical when merging payroll systems, particularly in navigating tax regulations, benefits, and employment laws across jurisdictions. For instance, US companies face EIN (Employer Identification Number) complexities that impact W-2 forms and tax filings. Missteps can lead to over/under-taxation and significant penalties.
Deel’s global payroll platform simplifies compliance by:
- Centralizing payroll management under one system
- Automating tax reporting and W-2 form management to prevent payroll errors
- Actively monitoring regulatory updates and providing actionable advice
Pro Tip: Use Deel’s compliance hub to stay ahead of local and international tax requirements during transitions.
Continuous Compliance™
Delays caused by external factors
External challenges, such as government updates or logistical issues, often cause delays in payroll integration. For example, global events like COVID-19 disrupted regulatory processes and payroll timelines. Deel mitigates such risks with:
- Proactive monitoring: Real-time updates on regulatory changes
- Built-in flexibility: Scalable solutions to adapt to unexpected delays
Free guide: Workforce Risks That Can Sink Your M&A Deal and Tactics to Overcome Them
This guide is for M&A leaders, private equity firms, and corporate development teams that know deal success hinges on more than the balance sheet. It shows you how to proactively identify and mitigate workforce risks before they impact your ROI.
Harmonizing compensation and benefits
Aligning pay scales and benefits is critical for retaining employees and avoiding pay inequities. Deel’s solutions ensure:
- Compensation transparency: Align pay scales to prevent discrepancies
- Localized benefits: Tools to match statutory, common, and competitive benefits in each region
- Employee retention: Fair and competitive benefits foster trust and reduce attrition
Example: Deel’s Benefits Tool highlights statutory requirements and competitive benefits, ensuring compliance while enhancing employee satisfaction.
Retaining talent during payroll transitions
Employee retention during M&As often falters due to poor payroll transitions. Deel’s payroll solutions prioritize employee engagement by:
- Ensuring pay consistency: Accurate, timely payments during transitions
- Providing analytics: Insights to identify pay disparities and engagement gaps
- Enhancing onboarding: Fast onboarding processes to maintain morale
M&A audits will often reveal employees who may need visa support as well,” said Dan. “That’s an implication, a very costly implication, that the folks working on the M&A may not even be aware of.
—Dan Van Damme,
Manager, Account Executive, ENT, Deel
Tech considerations for integration
Legacy systems, multiple payment methods, and differing pay frequencies pose technical challenges. Watch the video below to see what payroll implementation and consolidation are like with Deel.
Deel addresses these with:
- Seamless data migration: Automated processes ensure accuracy
- API integrations: Sync payroll with HR, accounting, and hiring systems
- User-friendly solutions: Intuitive platforms for employee and admin use
Platform Tour
A Step-by-step guide to payroll integration
- Assess current systems: Identify gaps in compliance, pay scales, and processes
- Plan data migration: Map payroll data, ensuring compatibility with new systems
- Engage employees: Communicate changes clearly to manage expectations
- Test and validate: Run parallel payrolls to catch discrepancies before the go-live date
- Monitor and optimize: Use analytics to continuously improve payroll processes post-integration
"We’ve onboarded payroll in weeks, not months, ensuring smooth transitions for businesses," says Van Damme.
See the full process: Payroll Implementation Checklist: Step-by-Step Template
Deel made the process of incorporating our company in Singapore seamless and stress-free. What stood out most was Deel's proactive approach to managing critical timelines, which were essential for our business. Deel’s exceptional service and reliability have set a high standard, and we wouldn’t hesitate to rely on them again for future needs.
—Alex Lemos,
People and Culture, Douro Labs
Simplify M&A Payroll with Deel
Deel’s platform simplifies payroll integration, ensuring compliance, accurate payments, and smooth onboarding. Features include:
- Unified payroll across 150+ countries
- Compliance tools to monitor regulatory updates
- Global gross-to-net reports for better financial visibility
- Visa and immigration support for global mobility
Book a demo today to see how Deel can simplify your M&A payroll integration.
FAQs
What happens to HR during a merger?
HR manages workforce integration, aligns policies, and ensures compliance. Strategies include:
- Conducting compliance audits
- Harmonizing benefits and compensation
- Communicating clearly to employees about changes
How do you manage employees during a merger?
Effective management combines transparent communication, compliance adherence, and unified onboarding. Deel’s platform provides tools for seamless transitions.
What happens to employee benefits during a company’s payroll merger? Benefits may undergo audits and realignment. Deel’s tools simplify the M&A process, ensuring compliance and fairness for global teams.
Should employees complete new hire paperwork after a merger or acquisition?
Whether employees must complete new hire paperwork post-M&A depends on the deal structure and how employee transfers are handled. In asset deals, re-onboarding is almost always necessary. In stock deals, often not, but companies may still opt to reissue documents for integration or compliance reasons.
What are the three common challenges in mergers and acquisitions?
Mergers and acquisitions often face three major challenges that can derail success if not properly managed:
Cultural integration: Misaligned values and work styles can lead to low morale, talent loss, and resistance to change
Operational integration: Incompatible systems and workflows disrupt business continuity and delay synergies
Regulatory compliance: Legal hurdles across jurisdictions can cause delays, penalties, or deal failure if not addressed early
About the author
Shannon Ongaro is a content marketing manager and trained journalist with over a decade of experience producing content that supports franchisees, small businesses, and global enterprises. Over the years, she’s covered topics such as payroll, HR tech, workplace culture, and more. At Deel, Shannon specializes in thought leadership and global payroll content.
