Posts Tagged: Online Payroll

Herd Philosophy / IBEX Payroll — 1 Comment
3
May 12

IBEX Classic or IBEX Direct – You Decide

By IBEX Staff

For the last 2 years IBEX customers have been switching over to our new payroll platform that we call Everest.

We noticed that after the switch to the new system, some of our customers started relying on us less and less and became more and more independent.  They were basically doing their payroll in self-serve mode.  After their initial orientation and a few calls to verify procedures, they hardly called us at all.

We were curious – why were they not calling us?  Don’t they love us anymore?  Do they still need us?  We decided to call them and ask what was going on. They said things like:

  1. We’ve gotten used to this new system and like the fact that we can do our own payroll whenever it’s convenient for us – without having to rely on anyone else.
  2. After the orientation, the new system was easy use.
  3. We like that IBEX is still behind this making sure all the calculations are correct and up to date and making our remittance payments on time for us.
  4. We appreciate that IBEX is always there to help us with the system and to answer payroll questions.
  5. We like that if we have staff turnover, or when our payroll person goes on holidays or is sick, IBEX can step in and do everything for us without us having to learn the system.
  6. We like that IBEX always answers the phone without making us wait.

Some also said they would like to pay a little less since they do most of the work themselves!

Well now we had gone and opened a can of worms!

In the IBEX tradition we started working on a win-win solution to this.  How could we reduce the price for self-service clients and not shoot ourselves in the foot?  We went back to the drawing board, took out our calculators and designed a new self- serve option that recognizes that you’re doing much of the payroll processing work yourself, recognizes you for doing so, and solves a problem for IBEX.

Introducing IBEX Direct

The result is what we call IBEX Direct.  Our new self-serve payroll processing system that will save you approximately 40% compared to IBEX Classic.

Keeping the Familiar – IBEX Classic

What if you don’t want self-serve and you hate those self-check in/checkout thingies?  Well, we thought of that too.  In fact, we came up with a brilliant solution… Change nothing.

Keep everything just the way you like it.  As in, stop reading now and forgive the interruption!

You just keep on doing what you’re doing, the way you’re doing it and nothing changes.  IBEX Classic continues to be the best option out there for flexible, full service payroll.

Since IBEX Direct is new, let us tell you more about how it works.

What part of the payroll processing do you do?

  • Take Everest training (at half the cost of new customers)
  • Login to Everest to be part of each payroll
  • Create your own input sheet for every payroll
  • Enter your own hours and adjustments for every payroll
  • Preview and approve each payroll
  • Print off your own T4’s and ROE’s
  • Add your own new employees to Everest
  • Pay for your payroll by online bill payment, rather than traditional pre-authorized debt.

What does IBEX do?

  • Automatic remittances
  • Offer ongoing support for things like setting up a new deduction, setting up a tricky ROE, interpreting payroll laws
  • Jumping right in for you when your payroll staff is ill, on holidays or retiring – at no extra charge

How can IBEX afford to offer IBEX Direct at 40% of the cost of IBEX Classic?

When you do most of the payroll processing work yourself, we save staff time.  It only makes sense to pass on those savings to you.  But staff savings is only part 1 of the answer, because, after all, our staff will still be there to support you when needed.

The other reason we’re able to pass on such phenomenal savings to you has to do with reducing our credit risk and administration costs.  With IBEX Direct, customers will pre-pay us by online bill payment.  For you, this means you’ll be paying the full amount of your payroll 3 days prior to payroll day by online bill payment.  We have no more bad debts and no more overhead dealing with collection issues for IBEX Direct customers and in return we charge you less for our services.

IBEX Direct will be available to existing IBEX clients starting in October of this year, so you have plenty of time.  If you are interested, please click the link below and fill in the form to let us know, or call Alpine Crew to talk it over. If you decide to go ahead, we will schedule training for you prior to your switch to IBEX Direct, and if you are not in Everest yet, we will make sure you are converted in time to get going.

 

I’m interested in going Direct

 

 

 

 

Spot On — No Comments
14
Nov 11

Customer Spotlight: Salon POP

by Lisa Tachan, Head of Spreading the Herd Word

At only 2.5 years old, Salon Pop possesses a vibrant atmosphere that not only comes from its sleek and elegant salon interior, but also from a happy, talented team of stylists and their very-happy-to-be-there clientele.

At this specific salon located in Winnipeg by Grant Park Shopping Centre, there is plenty to be happy about. Aside from awesome staff and loyal customers, Salon Pop has bragging rights to using only Eco-friendly and organic products by Aveda; a company with a mission statement claiming they “strive to set an example for environmental leadership and responsibility, not just in the world of beauty, but around the world”.

Providing the best possible experience while offering high quality hair styling services and products to customers is just the beginning of what owner Mark Braun and his team of stylists strive for at Salon Pop.

“Aveda looks at beauty and wellness from a holistic standpoint, and that transpires into what we do. We’re not about beauty trends or fads, we’re about taking care of each person that comes through our door as a whole. We’re not just about the hair cut. We want to help with the daily beauty regime of every individual. “

Salon Pop started as a team of 3 stylists and has quickly grown into a fully staffed salon with a flourishing list of clients. On top of running the salon, Mark is also behind the chair and in high demand, checking up on his staff and interacting with customers to ensure every individual leaves the salon completely satisfied. That being said, there isn’t a lot of time in the day to commit to much else.

“When I opened Salon Pop, I knew that I wanted to get away from everything to do with payroll. I wanted to find someone else to do it.  IBEX made my life so much easier. It’s been a huge time saver for me.”

Mark Braun keeps Salon Pop running using Mac computers, which makes him and his business somewhat unique to the IBEX customer experience.  Before changes were made to our payroll system, IBEX wasn’t compatible with the Apple products. To get his payroll done, Mark would have to call in his numbers and speak to our support staff, who would then key all of his information in for him. When the software became available to use on a Mac system, Mark had the opportunity to have the hands-on experience with the IBEX Payroll system himself.

“The transition has been fantastic. I love the fact I am able to do direct deposits and the reporting system is easy to go on. I’m able to calculate holiday pay or make deductions. If I’m ever not sure – I do 90% of my payroll and then call Kevin to double check my numbers, and he’ll either talk me through it or run it himself. My relationship with IBEX has been awesome.”

The ability to access IBEX Payroll both online and through the hardware of his choice has been a huge plus for Mark and his business. He has been able to get his payroll done at a time that is convenient to him, and hasn’t had to put his life on hold to rush back to the office to make sure his employee’s get paid.

With a ‘blooming’ business focused on the ultimate customer experience, IBEX is happy to give Mark and his team a Mac-friendly service that makes payroll the last thing on their minds!

Looking for a wicked new stylist with Eco-friendly values? Visit Salon Pop’s website for more information on their products and services.

Interested in learning more about IBEX and our customers? Find us on Twitter @IBEXPayroll

Spot On — No Comments
9
Nov 11

Customer Spotlight: Noble Locksmith

by Lisa Tachan, Head of Spreading the Herd Word

Noble Locksmith began as a one man business started by George Noble over 100 years ago. Since then, this company located in the heart of downtown Winnipeg  has grown to house 20 employees, a fleet of about 10 service vehicles, and a small retail operation that provides a variety of locksmith products and services.

Over the past century, Noble Locksmith has changed hands and stood the test of time with different owners and management. At present, Noble Locksmith is a family business, co-owned by brothers Brian and Frank Senden. They are the first to be 2nd generation owners in all of Noble Locksmith history, as they purchased the company from their parents over 18 years ago.

As the company established itself and became a permanent fixture in Winnipeg’s history, Noble Locksmith grew and evolved while staying true to their business purpose. With values focused on  quality locks, safety, and peace of mind (and not to mention the 100 years of experience under their belts), Noble Locksmith promises efficient, courteous service and top-of-the-line hardware products to provide their customers, both residential and commercial, with whatever they require to meet their security needs. They also make it a point to go above and beyond for their customers.

Brian and Frank Senden

“We offer a 24 hour emergency service, since we know from experience that emergencies or people locking themselves out happens at all hours. Our guys are dedicated and know that when they get hired on they need to make themselves available at all times in case something does happen.” – Brian Senden, President

When a small business like Noble Locksmith starts getting bigger, needing to staff more employees, expand their products and services, and continues to build and grow their clientele, the workload of everything involved with payroll really starts to weigh on the company.

“The biggest problem with payroll was the time it took me away from my business. I did it all myself, so it was one morning a week and unfortunately I’d make a lot of little mistakes, so a lot of the time was spent on the back and forth of fixing those mistakes.”

Brian and Frank turned to IBEX Payroll to help them out with their growing small business. So far, the partnership has been the perfect lock-and-key match.

“With IBEX, there are no mistakes. T4′s were once a full-day job, now it’s a matter of minutes to submit my information. It’s been a real time-saver. It takes me about an hour a week to punch my numbers in and get my payroll done. Any questions I have, the support staff always gets back to me quickly and it’s so easy to get someone on the phone.”“

IBEX is all about helping small business owners keep the government and their employees happy by providing a quick and painless online payroll service. We want companies like Noble Locksmith to focus on what has kept them around for over 100 years;  their business, and their customers.

Looking for a good locksmith? Check out Noble Locksmith’s website for more information about their products and services.

Herd Philosophy — No Comments
3
Oct 11

Inside IBEX Herdquarters – How to grow your herd part 3

In a previous post, how to grow your herd part 2, I talked about defining our Hedgehog Concept.   In our case that turned out to be:

  1. Providing payroll, employee scheduling and employee time tracking to developmental service agencies across Canada.
  2. Providing PREMIUM payroll services to small to medium Canadian organizations.

The idea of a hedgehog concept was popularized by Jim Collins in his book, Good to Great.   It needs to be what you honestly believe you can be the best in the world at.  We believe we can be the best in the world at these two complementary things.

When we started our good to great journey, we thought that it would only be #1 above, we could only be the best in the world at serving Canada’s developmental service agencies, but we also knew we were not going to be able to do that without confronting some brutal realities.

The reality of the situation at the time was that we had figured out what really mattered to developmental service (DS) agencies and built that onto our existing systems, much to the delight of our first group of DS customers.  The problem was that the system we built it onto was not up to the challenge of serving the entire Canadian world of developmental services.  These organizations range from 50 to 1000’s of employees and the first group of customers of that size was taxing our systems and some key IBEX herd members as well.  It would not be sustainable to grow heavily on that base; it would be a big heavy house on a weak foundation.

We made the stunning realization that the problem was our basic payroll system.  Our pride and joy, built from the ground up over 10 years, was not up to the task at hand and would need to be scrapped.  Cost estimates for building a fully web-based, highly scalable, highly secure, web payroll system ran into the millions.  Even if we had those millions, what a risk!  We would need to increase our contingent of herd geeks from 3 to 10 or more and we better choose the right team or we would not get what we wanted for those millions and we would be bankrupt.

The solution was to find a partner.    In a previous post How “IBEX” built Canada’s most advanced online payroll system I explained the partnership between Protegra and IBEX that led to the creation of our new payroll platform.  It also led to the formation of Blue Canvas, a company to formalize and explain our partnership to the world.

Through the analysis of what the new system had to do, we realized that the payroll needs of Canada’s developmental service agencies was about as complex as can be and what we really needed to build was the best online payroll system in Canada, very flexible and highly adaptable.  We love the payroll business and we love serving our client base of over 500 organizations of all types and industries and now we had the chance to give them not just the legendary IBEX customer service, but the best system in the country.

In the time since, much has come to pass.  The reality is that we now have one awesome system, capable of delivering a very deep and detailed solution to developmental service agencies and also a great online payroll experience for any kind of small to medium organization.  We honestly have the most advanced and best system in Canada in both areas and the work to keep it that way is not mutually exclusive.  Working on one always improves the other.

We will be the best in the world if we stick to our hedgehog – no distractions please world!

In part 4 of this series I will talk about getting the herd word out.