Challenge
Much of Ngala’s funding is project-based and comes from State and Federal government grants. Across all three entities, the largest portion of expenditure for each program is usually the payroll.
“Payroll is around 80 per cent of our funding. Because it is part of every program and because it accounts for such a large percentage of the budget, we need to know at any time how much it is costing us, and we need to make sure it is accurate,” Chief Financial Officer, Suzanne Higgins explains. For some years, Ngala’s payroll management has been made easier with the help of Sage MicrOpay Meridian, a comprehensive and advanced payroll system developed to meet the needs of Australian employers.
“Years ago we outsourced payroll to a company that used Meridian,” Suzanne says. “The software did the job required and we liked the range of reports on offer, so when our needs had grown and it was time to bring the payroll back in-house, the obvious choice was to stick with Meridian. The system had the benefit of familiarity and staying with the same solution was also going to make it much easier for us to transfer historical data back into the in-house system.”
In particular, Suzanne liked the easy access to information, the range of data and the greater control over all aspects of payroll that Meridian offered. What’s more, the price was affordable and thanks to a Lotterywest grant Ngala could afford to bring payroll back in-house.
Another important factor that helped to confirm her decision was the ready availability of Meridian skills, especially through Sage MicrOpay’s own nationwide payroll staff recruitment service. “This was helpful because it meant we could get the payroll up and running while we looked for a Payroll Officer. But it was also good to know we had a software system where we could always get well-versed staff if we needed them. This gave us confidence,” she notes.
Solution
Shortly after the decision to deploy Meridian, Suzanne recruited Lorena Garcia as the Payroll Officer. Over the course of the past 18 months, Lorena has been testing the boundaries of the payroll system.
“It’s very user friendly software, laid out in basic terms with easy to follow procedures. You can generate reports on any of the data that is entered into the system, from personnel to wages. We regularly review costing reports, leave liability reports, increment reports and pay rate changes, among other things,” Lorena says. She points out the ability to email payslips ensures staff receive the information quickly and is saving Ngala administrative time and money.
In another time-saving measure, earlier this year Lorena began working with the Meridian add-on, Meridian Express Super. This has automated payment of many of the organisation’s superannuation co-contributions and has reduced the time required for processing super payments by an estimated four working days per quarter.
“The support network from Meridian is also really good,” she adds. “The helpline is responsive, and there are regular seminars and workshops that are very informative and useful.” She gives the example of Meridian’s end of financial year workshops, which bring everyone up to date on system changes, legislative requirements and provide practical advice to prepare for end of year.
Room to Grow
Suzanne estimates that staff numbers have increased by at least 50 during the time Ngala has been using Meridian and it’s a trend that she expects will continue. “Our growth areas are in child care and community services. We hope to continue to expand our services and to employ more people. We are confident that the Meridian system will grow along with us.”
As a not-for-profit organisation, money is always hard to come by but Suzanne doesn’t let this limit her vision. She’s hopeful that one day Ngala will get the funding to explore some of Meridian’s other add-ons, such as HR. “I would love to eventually get this. There is so much opportunity for more efficiency if we can have employee timesheets and leave requests going through the system, rather than waiting for them to send paperwork in,” she concludes.
About Sage MicrOpay
Sage MicrOpay is a leading supplier of HR and payroll software and services. For over 25 years, Sage MicrOpay has provided solutions for thousands of Australian organisations of all sizes in various industries.
Our systems are fully featured, easy to learn and use, while facilitating flexible HR and payroll management. As well as being packed with productivity enabling functionality our software is designed to streamline the payroll process and ease the talent management burden.
Our offerings include e-HR, employee/manager self service, timesheet management, executive reporting and payroll.
