Gaining Control, Cutting Complexity: A Payroll Case Study with Carer Solutions

For any organisation, paying people correctly and on time is fundamental. But at Carer Solutions, payroll is more than just a back-office task – it’s a core part of the promise they deliver.

Leading the charge is Beti Kouloumendas, Director of Operations, who, along with Payroll Operations Lead Sudeera, oversees a complex payroll environment across the disability sector.

As the organisation scaled, the payroll team found their manual workflows becoming increasingly complex and time-consuming.

They faced a challenge familiar to many payroll managers: how do you maintain control and consistency when your tools can no longer keep up?

The Breaking Point of Manual Payroll

Before adopting Paytools, the Carer Solutions team operated in a highly manual environment. “Because we lacked a centralised platform, our days were dictated by disconnected payroll checklists and worksheets, making it a constant struggle to keep processes consistent and documentation current,” Beti explains.

This created significant risks:

• • A Lack of Visibility: Without a central dashboard, tracking the progress of daily, fortnightly and ad-hoc payroll tasks was a constant challenge.
  • Inconsistent Processes: Team members followed slightly different processes, creating data silos and making handovers difficult, especially for a hybrid team.
  • Disparate Way of Working: Critical pay run tasks and updates were scattered across manual checklists, documents and folders, forcing the team to ask each other for information rather than having it readily available.
  • Lack of Governance: No tooling in place to ensure effective record keeping and controls.

Beti and her team knew they needed a better way – a solution that would empower their team with streamlined control.

Finding the Right Partner in Paytools

The search for a solution ended when Beti saw Paytools presented at a networking event. She immediately saw the potential.

“Paytools just stood out,” Beti recalls. “It was unique in its ability to provide a centralised platform for payroll checklists, processes, audit controls and evidence. It was practical and easy to use.”

The implementation process was seamless. The platform’s simplicity meant the team picked it up quickly, immediately establishing a new level of accountability. “It was one of the best implementations that I’ve ever sat through in my career,” said Beti.

A New Era of Payroll Operations

Paytools shifted the team from a siloed environment into a centralised, well-governed system.

Centralised Pay Run Processing

On busy pay run days, instead of hunting through folders and emails, the team had everything they needed in one place.

“The structured payroll checklists are invaluable,” says Beti.

Under and Overpayment Tracking

Having a clear platform for tracking underpayments and overpayments is critical given the complexities of their award. “It has significantly improved internal communication and team relationships,” says Beti.

Organisational Knowledge Solved

By building structured, version controlled documentation in Paytools, the team gained a renewed sense of confidence, knowing they were working consistently and that no steps would be missed..

Benefits for the team:

• • With a Hybrid Work Environment: Ensures that everyone operates from the same playbook, regardless of location.
  • For New Team Members: Streamlined onboarding, bringing them up to speed quickly and consistently.
  • For the Entire Department: Made collaboration and task handovers for recurring and ad-hoc work effortless, especially when an employee had to take unexpected leave.

What’s Next for Carer Solutions?

The journey with Paytools is just beginning. Carer Solutions is now starting to leverage workflow approvals, with a strategy to expand licenses and move their entire approval process into the platform.