Makibe move from on-premise software to a future-proof cloud ecosystem

The introduction of Single Touch Payroll, or STP, by the Australian Taxation Office, left General Manager, Norm, and Regional Manager, Michael, from Makibe Australia with a problem. Their existing on-premise payroll software didn’t have a solution to this big compliance change, which meant they had to find a better solution. And one that meant they wouldn’t face this issue again in the future.

“We had been using our previous software for over 10 years, and unfortunately they didn’t have a plan to help keep us compliant with the new Single Touch Payroll from the ATO” said Norm.

“We were looking for a solution that could handle pretty much everything. For us the financial side, having the system connect with MYOB, was key.”

Norm and the team completed an extensive review and due diligence process to pick the right partner for the future of their business.

“We looked at a range of solutions, including dedicated front office software, but they couldn’t do everything Access FastTrack could.”

“It ticked the boxes from induction, to client management, to payroll and finance, as well as filling all the recruitment areas of the business. It covered the whole process end-to-end.”

The biggest change the team have noticed is how much smoother and more accurate the timesheets, payroll and billing processes are in Access FastTrack.

“Keying in timesheets and payroll is definitely a huge relief. It’s a lot breezier in Access FastTrack, even for adjustments. An adjustment used to take our payroll manager up to half an hour. Plus, there used to be lots of manual processes behind the scenes whereas with Access FastTrack, if you have an adjustment from the week before, you literally just back date it and pay” explains Resourcer and Payroll Assistant, Marley.

Despite not yet rolling out the Access FastTrack online and mobile timesheets, the Makibe Australia team are already seeing big time savings compared to their previous system.

“Not having to manually enter in a whole bunch of timesheets because they have already been pre-filled from that particular job is a real winner. Because the timesheets already have the time from the job schedule in Access FastTrack, it means we get rid of manual data entry when it comes to payroll.”

Plus, the timesheet review process has more than halved for two staff members.

“Our payroll manager used to print off the manual timesheets that came through. Then I’d have to go through and tick off to make sure the timesheet was matching up to job times and any overtime. I was having to go through sheets and sheets. Now I don’t have to do that, and it frees up my time. All Dasha, our payroll manager, has to do is review the times, and it makes it easier that she’s got it right there on the screen.”

“Previously we used to make a change to payroll every single day, despite only having two pay runs a week. Regardless, the pay runs took over 1.5 hours to process.”

“Since we’ve had Access FastTrack recruitment software, we’ve limited it to only touching payroll on those 2 days. It’s a lot easier. Our payroll manager interprets, and it goes through to payroll.”

On top of this, those rogue late timesheets used to chew up a huge amount of time to ensure a candidate got paid correctly.

“Previously, if we had a single timesheet on a Friday afternoon, it could take about an hour to get that one timesheet processed. including creating a report, and all that ‘fun’ stuff. Now with Access FastTrack if that happens, the timesheet is submitted, keyed, reviewed and paid. It’s pretty much done.”

The other key aspect to running complex payroll well is accuracy. To succeed as a staffing business, it’s critical that candidates are paid the correct wages efficiently, because errors not only cause time and effort to rectify, they can badly damage your business reputation and worse, put the business and directors at risk of being non-compliant.

A key cause for these issues can be any manual touch points in the timesheet or payroll process.

“In our old software there was lots of room for error because everything was manually keyed in. There was no pre-configured information. You were typing in what was on the timesheet and then trying to make it marry up. That was a big issue.”

“Fixing those manual errors used to take a lot of time to rectify.”

Now those headaches, and risks, are gone.

“In Access FastTrack we’ve cut down errors by 60 to 70%. The fact that the system automatically interprets the timesheet against awards has been a big saver. It’s a much smoother process with FastTrack.”

“It’s so much faster. After a timesheet has been keyed in and interpreted, we can even do invoicing outside of payroll. Our payroll manager doesn’t have to physically make the payments for the casuals before an invoice is created, because some of our clients have a strict day for when they do invoicing. We can now accommodate them. We can get the timesheet, key them in and get the invoice before having to actually do payroll. It’s a lot faster.” States Marley.

With a big vision for the business to increase their national footprint, Norm explains the future of Makibe Australia.

“We continue to head nationally. We’ve grown with branches in Queensland, Western Australia, Victoria and South Australia. We have a big focus on offering a great service for our blue-collar workers.”

When asked if Norm would recommend Access FastTrack to other staffing businesses his response was clear.

“Absolutely. By implementing FastTrack together with business changes, we have been able to setup our business and save at least 3-6 hours per week we can use in other areas. Plus, we have been easily able to accommodate multiple business entities.”

“It’s quicker doing payroll and invoicing in Access FastTrack, with less manual hours and the calculations all done in the system against the awards” explains Norm.