Ask a room full of comp leaders whether their process takes more effort than it should, and hands go up everywhere. It's a common trap: a comp program that works now doesn't mean it'll still work in 18 months, once complexity increases. That gap, between “working” and “working well,” tends to get more expensive the longer it goes unaddressed.

Two incentive comp leaders who've made the move off spreadsheets laid out, step by step, how they actually did it.