Payroll errors are more common than you might think – and fixing them can quickly become both time-consuming and costly. That’s why we developed SmartDetect, the AI assistant that catches discrepancies before they turn into problems. Following a successful pilot program, the feature is now being made available to all users in the Flex HRM Payroll system.em.
Did you know that 1–3 percent of all payroll disbursements contain some type of error? While this may not sound alarming, in a company with many employees, it can ultimately result in hundreds of errors each month. These errors lead to increased costs, lost trust, and unnecessary extra work for the payroll department.
Detecting these mistakes in time is therefore crucial, but manually reviewing large amounts of data is both time-consuming and uncertain. That's why SmartDetect exists—a tool that uses machine learning to help you identify missed compensations, incorrect deductions, and other errors before they appear on the payslip.
Following a successful pilot phase, it's now time: SmartDetect is being launched widely and is available to all users of the Flex HRM Payroll system.
Why Use AI in Payroll Management?
Behind every payroll disbursement lies a multitude of details that must align—from work hours, absences, expenses, and travel claims to employment terms and detailed system settings. The more employees, contracts, and regulations you need to consider, the more complex it becomes. In larger organizations, this involves tens of thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands, of data points affecting payroll each month. Manually double-checking all these details is practically impossible.
So what makes AI so effective for ensuring payroll quality? Unlike traditional, rule-based control tools, the AI model isn't programmed to search for errors based on specific instructions. Instead, it is trained on a vast number of payroll specifications to learn the typical pattern of how a payroll disbursement should appear at your company. Anything that deviates from this pattern is flagged as an anomaly by the tool. This allows us to identify more and increasingly complex errors than was previously possible.
And perhaps the smartest part of all? Each time the AI tool is run, it is trained and thus becomes increasingly accurate over time.
6 Compelling Reasons to Use AI in Payroll Management
How does SmartDetect work in practice?
SmartDetect is designed to save payroll specialists from the frustrating needle-in-a-haystack search, allowing them to focus on what truly seems incorrect. The result: less stress, fewer corrections later, and a smarter, safer payroll review from the start.
To streamline the process, we have integrated SmartDetect into the payroll preparation. This means you receive a clear alert about potential errors directly in the same view where you are already working.
Here's how it works:
- A red indicator in the payroll preparation immediately highlights any deviations from the norm that require attention.
- With a single click, you can access a comprehensive and easily navigable list of all detected anomalies.
- Clicking on an anomaly takes you directly to the relevant employee, allowing for a swift and detailed review. The list updates automatically with any changes made during payroll processing.
- If you make a correction, the change is saved as usual, and the anomaly disappears if everything is correct.
- When you mark an anomaly as handled, you can also provide feedback to the AI. This helps the tool learn what is normal, what deviates, and which types of anomalies are worth addressing, enabling it to deliver even more accurate results in the future.
Examples of anomalies SmartDetect can identify:
- Unusually high or low amounts
- Missing wage types and wage types that are not typically present
- Incorrect final salary
- Negative net/gross salary
- Missing tax deduction
- Final salary not paid out
- Excessive vacation withdrawal
What Do Our Pilot Customers Say?
The feedback from customers who participated in the SmartDetect pilot phase has been overwhelmingly positive. Rickard Åsell, Product Manager at Flex Applications, shares more about the experiences so far:
– Throughout the pilot, we worked closely with users and continuously gathered their feedback. It turns out that the AI has effectively captured discrepancies and, in some cases, identified errors that might not have been detected otherwise. Overall, test users feel that SmartDetect has simplified their daily tasks—saving time and streamlining the entire payroll review process, he says, adding:
– It feels very positive and promising for the future! We now look forward to all customers using Flex HRM Payroll to start with SmartDetect, while we continue to further develop the feature in close collaboration with our users.
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SmartDetect in Brief:
Learns Your Payroll Structure: The AI model is trained on past payroll data to understand what is typical for your company.
Identifies Anomalies in Real-Time: SmartDetect is integrated into payroll preparation and clearly alerts you if something deviates from the usual pattern—such as unusual amounts, missing wage types, a negative net salary, or a missed final salary.
Easy to Find, Easy to Fix: You can easily open a list of all anomalies directly in the work view. One click takes you to the employee concerned, allowing you to quickly assess if any action is needed.
Improves with Each Run: When you review an anomaly, you can mark it as handled and provide feedback to the AI. This way, the analysis becomes increasingly accurate over time.
Secure Data Handling: Data sent to the AI service is pseudonymized and cannot be directly linked to individuals. The model is trained separately for each company, and your information is kept separate from other users. All processing occurs within the EU/EEA and complies with current data protection regulations.
Interested in Smarter Payroll Management? Let’s Talk!
Are you curious to learn more about how our AI tool can save time, reduce errors, and simplify your payroll processes? Regardless of the solution you currently use, we are eager to share the benefits of SmartDetect and other features within the Flex HRM Payroll system. Contact us today!
