VSI Pty Ltd take their payroll to the cloud
Customer Success Story: Transitioning from on-premise payroll solution MYOB Exo Employer Services to cloud payroll software, MYOB Advanced Payroll.
Where it all started
VSI Pty Ltd are a wholesaler and importer of tile products, up and down the eastern seaboard of Australia. The company is also a part of a retail group, whose five stores sell carpet, timber and tiles.
VSI Pty Ltd began using on-premise payroll solution, MYOB Exo Employer Services in 2012 as a client of Momentum Software Solutions, (40 staff – more locations). A decade later, with approximately 30 people on payroll a few less but more effective locations, the company made the decision to move to a more modern, cloud payroll solution.
Time to move to the cloud
Finance & HR Manager, Fiona Allen and her team at VSI Pty Ltd lead the investigation into migrating to a cloud payroll solution.
“I wanted VSI to move to a cloud solution to make the business more flexible. To begin with, we were a little resistant to the cloud because of privacy concerns and responsibilities as a payroll officer, as the data we have access to and control over is important. However, as the business investigated further, we became more confident with the cloud” comments Fiona.
On-premise payroll solution holds business back
The company was seeking payroll software that would fit their business needs and solve the challenges they began to experience after using an on-premise payroll solution for over ten years. Lack of accessibility, reporting restrictions, and the general business environment’s shift to cloud software were the three key drivers which influenced VSI Pty Ltd to move to a cloud payroll solution.
“We had a choice, we could update Exo but at some point, we were going to have to move to the cloud and we knew Exo Payroll was nearing its end of life, so we thought why not move now”.
Covid made quickly realise that lack of accessibility using on-premise software was a key issue limiting VSI Pty Ltd. “Because our server is quite old, logging in from home was a challenge” states Fiona. This made ease of access and flexibility virtually impossible. If they could not access the office, payroll could not be completed.
VSI Pty Ltd also found the reporting in Exo Payroll limited and became a tedious task to complete at times. “Generating monthly reports in Exo Payroll was time consuming. As we had different datasets for our different branches, it meant we had to collate the data in Excel to produce the particular report we wanted”.
Transitioning to MYOB Advanced Payroll
After much investigation VSI Pty Ltd decided to transition their payroll to MYOB Advanced cloud payroll software which is a part of MYOB’s cloud ERP offering. MYOB Advanced Payroll is a standalone payroll solution that can be easily integrated with MYOB Advanced Business cloud ERP software.
“Cloud is the way of the future, so it just made sense to update our payroll software to a solution that was more flexible, and we had more control over”.
Fiona noted the transition from Exo Payroll to Advanced Payroll was “brilliant and very easy” with the help of Momentum Software Solutions, in particular their MYOB Advanced Consultant, Tariq Saeed. The migration process took about a month and involved implementing a completely new payroll solution. The implementation process included scoping discussions, configuration, data migration, training and testing. VSI was responsible for importing a certain amount of data which was all available in their STP files. “I certainly wasn’t stressed by the whole setup process”,says Fiona.
Fiona explains processes between Exo Payroll and Advanced Payroll are slightly different but it’s all just about learning a new way to do things. “I am now in the learning phase, so there are times of confusion, when I go back to old processes in Exo, but the more you use MYOB Advanced Payroll, the easier it gets”.
Work from anywhere, anytime
Now, the major advantage Advanced Payroll provides is the ability to access their payroll from anywhere, anytime, all they need is a web browser. Fiona recognizes MYOB Advanced Payroll as far more accessible and flexible solution when compared to Exo Payroll, as the cloud allows Fiona to work from home with ease. Another plus is the SaaS (Software as a Service) model has placed responsibility onto the cloud providers, not VSI Pty Ltd server and tech providers.
“If I go on holidays or I am unable to go into the office, I can still access our payroll, it’s great!”
Comparing the solutions Fiona states Advanced Payroll has saved her time especially on the reporting side of things. Instead of collating data in Excel to generate a report, MYOB Advanced Payroll provides those reports straight away.
The future is cloud – get onboard
“As Payroll and Finance people I think it’s our responsibility to know what the trends are and to influence the businesses next step.”
“Australia has some of the most complex industrial relations laws in the world and we need to be on top of things. STP2 is giving recognition to payroll professionals and the amount of responsibility that we carry. Being agile and accurate is an imperative”.
Moving the business’s payroll to the cloud first has also allowed VSI Pty Ltd to experience the benefits of the cloud, without taking the big step of moving their entire business at the same time. VSI Pty Ltd have now started discussing their strategy moving forward to transition the rest of their business to the cloud.