Pound for pound, PaySauce adds up to best payroll value at Kilo

When online whole foods retailer Kilo took a closer look at PaySauce, it realised there was a better, faster way of handling timesheets, payroll and the associated administration. On the recommendation and endorsement of the company accountant – already familiar with PaySauce – Kilo made the switch and although still early days, is looking forward to improved visibility, instant payments and the big one, hassle-free timesheets for everyone.

Trained chef Tim Jones first opened his Cigana Roasting Co. café in St Heliers way back in 1999, providing great tasting coffee and delicious, nutritious foods. When his son was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, Tim leaned into the whole foods movement.

This small shift in the already nutritious food offerings at Cigana resulted in a big response as cafe customers, friends and family caught on. Burgeoning demand for whole foods supplies soon outgrew the café, and online retailer Kilo was born. Today, Kilo proves access to a range of highly nutritional products, with a focus on delivering good food that does good. Kilo backs local suppliers where possible, is active with community non-profits and has partnerships with GPs and nutritionists in its quest to help people achieve better health.

Situation

Jones first encountered PaySauce in a typically idiosyncratic Kiwi way: as a hobbyist investor, he bought shares in the company. "I did the usual research into what they do and learned about Software as a Service and that sort of thing," he relates.

One of the biggest drains on people's time at Kilo is writing down time and attendance. As a socially conscious individual, one of Jones' biggest ongoing worries is making sure everyone is fairly compensated and always on time. "This meant I spent a fair bit of time hassling people and chasing them with text messages to get their time sorted. Meanwhile, I know all our people are digital natives, adept on their smartphones. So, when it turned out PaySauce runs entirely on their mobiles, it started to make good sense.

Soon enough, he asked his company accountant if she had heard of PaySauce; she had and spoke glowingly of its ease of use. "At this point, the business was under some pressure owing to the Covid measures, so we were looking for opportunities for improvement, doing more with less and optimising our time. That made for a simple question for Di, our accountant: is PaySauce better than our current payroll system?

Solution

While the answer came as an enthusiastic 'yes', it wasn't as simple as that. Jones says regardless of his activities as an investor on the New Zealand stock exchange, he wanted certainty that a transfer would be best for the business. "A closer look not only demonstrated the kind of feature and functionality which makes essential business processes easier, but alignment in terms of purpose. There are features in PaySauce that directly contribute to societal good. And we liked that.

These features include PayNow (in partnership with BNZ), allowing employees to draw on funds they've already earned, effectively letting them choose their own payday. Then there's Payroll Giving, which makes donating to a wide selection of charities instant and easy, even calculating an Instant Tax Credit.

This combines with more prosaic, but nevertheless essential, functions such as a free iOS and Android app for team members to submit hours on the go, automated payroll taking minutes and handling all aspects of tax, KiwiSaver and compliance filings.

Getting up and running proved straightforward, too, with a migration from the previous supplier to PaySauce taking less than a week. "That was largely handled by Di, our accountant, and didn't present any major issues," says Jones. "We're still running the paper timesheets in parallel with PaySauce, but that's just a failsafe while we get fully up to speed.

Results

Within weeks, Kilo is seeing a big improvement in payroll performance. "The big thing is entering hours is so much easier for our people. There's a big efficiency gain and that goes from the individual all the way through to the company accountant, who now spends far less time on payroll and therefore has more time to focus on improving other areas of the business," says Jones.

As a business owner, he appreciates the visibility and ease of use, able to see everything going on from an hours worked and cost perspective. "PaySauce has proven excellent for the digital natives, which is most of our people. It's also awesome for the digital dinosaurs – that's me – as it is really accessible.

He's particularly enthusiastic about those special features. "Allowing people to access the money for their hours worked immediately is genius. It means there's no need for payday loans and the ridiculous interest fees charged, not just for our staff, but for every Kiwi using PaySauce. And being able to give and contribute to causes with no hassle and an immediate tax rebate is amazing.

Jones is confident that as time goes on, Kilo will keep getting smarter in its use of PaySauce. "Everything is in real time, it's user friendly for our crew, and we're spending less time on wages and more on productive work. As a company focused on being the best we can be, technology like this underpins our mission.

For more information: www.paysauce.com or say hello@paysauce.com.