When Evan Drury came to Vernon to work in a bookkeeping office two years ago, he was shocked by the systems that were in place for processing payrolls.
Drury knew there had to be a better way.
“It’s such a tedious, manual process,” he said.
“It’s 2011, so there has to be software that does it automatically. I did research and research and research, and there wasn’t. I was shocked.”
Teaming up with Vernon’s Al Jensen, Drury developed a software solution called Payroll Connected. There are similar payroll systems available, but none quite as specific as this one.
Like other software programs, Payroll Connected incorporates both payroll and employee scheduler functions into one bundle. But what makes it stand out is that it incorporates B.C.’s labour laws into the programming. The generic competing products simply don’t account for this.
The challenge, said Jensen, is that labour laws vary from province to province. For instance, he said the standard work week in B.C. is 40 hours, whereas in Alberta it is 44. That makes a difference when it comes to calculating overtime.
“If you’re a B.C. company, this works with B.C. labour laws,” said Jensen, the account manager. “We’re the only software that can boast that.”
Incorporating those labour law intricacies, along with all the other software features, is part of the reason it took Drury two years to develop the program. He and Jensen plan to expand Payroll Connected east, going province by province. They are currently in beta testing in Alberta.
In using Payroll Connected, the first thing employers need to do is enter their employee information, including rate of pay and position, and then input their work schedules.
In order to process a payroll, the employer enters in a pay period end date, and the program does the rest.
Using the scheduler (which already has the employee pay rates set in), it is able to calculate regular time, overtime, vacation pay, statutory holiday pay, bonuses, plus federal and provincial tax deductions. It also handles ROEs and T4s.
Once complete, the program creates a time sheet and detailed pay slip.
Jensen said many businesses today either handle payroll internally, hire a bookkeeper, or outsource to a processing company. He said it can be a hassle, especially for small business owners.
“You’re dealing with enough stuff as a small business owner, and that’s what this is for,” he said. “This is for the business owner that’s got 50 hats to wear.”
Drury said Payroll Connected could work for companies with as many as 1,000 employees, but noted that because they charge on a per-employee basis, it also works for small business.
He also demonstrated that Payroll Connected is fast compared to conventional methods. The software is capable of processing data for 100 employees in about three minutes.
“That process usually takes a day and a half (if done manually),” he said. “With everybody else, there’s somebody sitting there doing it, and making human error mistakes.”
While it might take business owners a while to learn the software, Drury believes his program will save companies time and money in the long run.
“Paying your employees should be one of the simplest things you have to worry about as a business owner,” he said.
Payroll Connected is also flexible in terms of scheduling. Employers are able to view and edit the schedule at any time, and can use built-in filters (such as employee, department or location) to refine a search. Schedules can also be adjusted for instances such as sick days and shift swaps.
Payroll Connected allows employers to review the payroll for any errors before it is finalized and wages are dispersed. Once it is processed, the program locks the payroll for that pay period and doesn’t allow for further editing.
“As far as Revenue Canada goes, you have a solid record of everything your business did,” said Drury, noting Payroll Connected will always be updated to reflect current federal and provincial regulations.
