Metro Recycling sees fewer errors, greater flexibility with web-based system
A couple of years ago, Metro Recycling used a payroll management system that sent the pay data for about 40 salaried employees and 60 hourly employees by modem to a payroll provider. The going was not always easy, says Marilyn Rea, payroll co-ordinator at the metal-recycling company in Guelph, Ont., as this method left little time for changes.
Now the company has a much smoother process with an online product, ADP’s Premier Performance Pack, that works through browser-enabled personal computers and “marries” HR and payroll administration, such as data entry and reporting, and provides unlimited data storage.
“It’s much easier,” says Rea. “The main thing I really like is when I input everything and send it to ADP, they send it right back to me immediately so I can check the payroll thoroughly, make sure it’s correct. If there are any problems, I can resend it as many times as I want for changes and when I’m completely satisfied it’s correct, then I send the final version down to them. That’s been a godsend.”
Often employees will call and request a change after payroll has been sent out, she says, so with the old system, ADP’s PC/Payroll for Windows (PCPW), Rea had to wait until the following pay period to do any adjustments.
With the web-based product, as long as the final version hasn’t been sent out, changes can be made “right then and there.” For example, Rea inputs the data on Monday and it can be sent as late as 6 p.m. for payroll to come through the next day, she says. (Metro employees are not paid until Thursday because of the delay involved with bank deposits.)
Before, Rea had to check all the pay data when it came back from ADP on Tuesday and keep her “fingers crossed that there weren’t any errors,” she says, whereas with the new version, the details have already been checked on the Monday. And this means fewer errors.
Easy transition
In doing the upgrade, Rea underwent one day of on-site training with ADP along with web-based training to test the system herself. But there was not much involved, she says, as the system is user-friendly. ADP moved everything over though Rea had to input additional information, such as job titles, because of the product’s integration with HR (which was available with PCPW but not used by Metro).
As for any concerns about security, ADP promises a secure facility with all activity continuously monitored. But Metro Recycling’s vice-president of finance, an IT manager and Rea decided to visit the provider’s set-up anyway, to look over the whole system, especially because Metro pays employees through bank deposits.
“Because of it being web-based, they wanted to make sure (it was secure),” she says.
And if an error occurs, such as an incorrect account number by the bank, it’s just a matter of calling ADP to resolve the problem.
With both systems, Rea manually enters the time card data into a spreadsheet but Metro would eventually like to move to an automated system where the time cards go directly into the computer. The move would also make sense considering Metro has grown in the past few years, from one location to two, with an HR director joining the company two years ago.
If Rea has one complaint, it’s that the system can be slow sometimes on Mondays, probably because many clients do payroll on the same day.
“But I’ve never really had any problems,” she says.
And while there are additional costs to the web-based system, it’s well worth it, says Rea.
Now the company has a much smoother process with an online product, ADP’s Premier Performance Pack, that works through browser-enabled personal computers and “marries” HR and payroll administration, such as data entry and reporting, and provides unlimited data storage.
“It’s much easier,” says Rea. “The main thing I really like is when I input everything and send it to ADP, they send it right back to me immediately so I can check the payroll thoroughly, make sure it’s correct. If there are any problems, I can resend it as many times as I want for changes and when I’m completely satisfied it’s correct, then I send the final version down to them. That’s been a godsend.”
Often employees will call and request a change after payroll has been sent out, she says, so with the old system, ADP’s PC/Payroll for Windows (PCPW), Rea had to wait until the following pay period to do any adjustments.
With the web-based product, as long as the final version hasn’t been sent out, changes can be made “right then and there.” For example, Rea inputs the data on Monday and it can be sent as late as 6 p.m. for payroll to come through the next day, she says. (Metro employees are not paid until Thursday because of the delay involved with bank deposits.)
Before, Rea had to check all the pay data when it came back from ADP on Tuesday and keep her “fingers crossed that there weren’t any errors,” she says, whereas with the new version, the details have already been checked on the Monday. And this means fewer errors.
Easy transition
In doing the upgrade, Rea underwent one day of on-site training with ADP along with web-based training to test the system herself. But there was not much involved, she says, as the system is user-friendly. ADP moved everything over though Rea had to input additional information, such as job titles, because of the product’s integration with HR (which was available with PCPW but not used by Metro).
As for any concerns about security, ADP promises a secure facility with all activity continuously monitored. But Metro Recycling’s vice-president of finance, an IT manager and Rea decided to visit the provider’s set-up anyway, to look over the whole system, especially because Metro pays employees through bank deposits.
“Because of it being web-based, they wanted to make sure (it was secure),” she says.
And if an error occurs, such as an incorrect account number by the bank, it’s just a matter of calling ADP to resolve the problem.
With both systems, Rea manually enters the time card data into a spreadsheet but Metro would eventually like to move to an automated system where the time cards go directly into the computer. The move would also make sense considering Metro has grown in the past few years, from one location to two, with an HR director joining the company two years ago.
If Rea has one complaint, it’s that the system can be slow sometimes on Mondays, probably because many clients do payroll on the same day.
“But I’ve never really had any problems,” she says.
And while there are additional costs to the web-based system, it’s well worth it, says Rea.
