Datasite UK: transforming global payroll and payments with CloudPay and Workday integration
“Across all the teams involved in end-to-end employee contact – across payroll, finance and HR – the time-savings from all the manual work could easily add up to a whole month’s worth of an FTE’s time saved, every month!”
– Sharon Knott
EMEA and APAC Payroll Manager
Datasite is software solutions provider for the management of financial transactions around the world –including M&A, restructuring and administration, and capital raising – with a secure platform that enables file sharing and collaboration, supporting advisors and clients across entire deal lifecycles. Currently with around 2,000 employees worldwide, Datasite continues to expand its operations with the acquisition of new companies that keeps them ahead of the every-advancing AI curve.
Sharon Knott is Datasite’s EMEA and APAC Payroll Manager, managing 14 payrolls across these regions as well taking on those for newly acquired companies – we caught up with Sharon to discuss how CloudPay has worked with Datasite to transform their international payroll and payments.
An overview of Datasite’s global pay journey with CloudPay
Challenges
- Disconnected and fragmented systems causing highly manual, time-consuming workload
- Poor employee experience caused by disparate local vendor model
- Non-integrated payments causing huge amounts of manual work
CloudPay Solution
- Integration of payroll and payments
- Workday PECI integration with CloudPay platform for a seamless end-to-end pay experience, driven by automation and global standardization
Results
- Up to 10 days’ time saved per month for Datasite’s EMEA and APAC Payroll Manager
- Up to an FTE’s month of time saved, per month, across all teams involved in end-to-end employee pay process
- Exceptional collaborative relationship between Datasite and CloudPay teams
- Increased employee autonomy and enhanced employee experience, with document access and self-service through Workday
Since 2021…
627
payroll runs delivered
10,333
payslips delivered
Sharon Knott
EMEA and APAC Payroll Manager
We had a demonstration and saw the high level of what CloudPay can do, and the reports that were available, and
we thought, ‘oh wow’…within three months of being on CloudPay we were saying, ‘why didn’t we do this sooner?”
Growing fast, paying smarter: Datasite’s drive for unified payroll and payments
Datasite previously worked with a very large global payroll provider, but due to disconnected systems and a highly manual workload, were facing a poor experience in several crucial areas.
Inconsistent reporting functionality and an inability to systematically record absences caused Sharon and her teams a constant headache and additional workload, working with a mess of different templates. Employee experience was also far from optimal – in some countries, employees had to log on to separate service provider systems to obtain their payslips or, in some cases, even had them sent out by post.
By far the biggest and most important issue however was the lack of payments integration. Datasite were making all their payments, with one person and one transaction in several countries. As Sharon explained “Everything was manual – the GL came out of the provider’s system, and had to be manually manipulated into our financials.”
This previous system was essentially just a means for Datasite to interact directly with the service providers: “[They] put an umbrella over everything, but it was all very different for each country. Their system was really just a holding place for exchanging emails. We kept telling them, ‘You need to catch up!’”
Selecting a global payroll partner: why Datasite chose CloudPay
When Sharon joined Datasite in 2020, the down-selection process for a new payroll provider had already begun. The main priorities were strong Workday integration capability, and integration of payments for end-to-end pay cohesion, and a better pay experience for Datasite’s employees: “We were looking for a provider who could take us all the way through, from employee all the way through to cost in and out again.”
With a shortlist of three options, one company was felt to be too US-centric for Datasite’s international presence, and another was ruled out after giving a 48-hour turnaround for a Category One issue.
With CloudPay ticking the required boxes for Datasite in terms of technical and service capabilities, it was seeing the CloudPay Platform in action that particularly resonated: “We had a demonstration and saw the high level of what CloudPay can do, and the reports that were available, and we thought, ‘oh wow’.”
After assembling their internal implementation project team and deciding which countries to onboard first, Datasite’s first payrolls with CloudPay went live in 2021 – the initial implementation process for which left a lasting impression for Sharon and her team:
“Trying to keep up with the CloudPay Team was intense…CloudPay implementation is a train…once you get on it from the kick-off call, it does not stop! It stops at every station and it will help you along the way…but it will keep you moving. But within three months of being on CloudPay we were saying, ‘why didn’t we do this sooner?’”
And as Sharon explained, once her project team had been through the initial implementation process, they knew exactly what was needed for the next onboarding projects. “You have to bring the right people to the table at implementation. We learned from our first two implemented countries – we learnt, and we went away, and then we came back and did it better.”
Now, 16 payrolls in, the Datasite team pro-actively request information and materials needed from CloudPay rather than waiting for kick-off calls.
Transforming Datasite’s pay experience: working with CloudPay
CloudPay currently provides Datasite with managed payroll and integrated payment services in 14 EMEA and APAC countries, as well as two payrolls in Canada, with more due for implementation soon in multiple countries for newly acquired Datasite companies.
Managed Service
Automation
Employee experience
Payments integration
Time-savings
CloudPay’s managed service approach has proven to be a real differentiator for Sharon: “The professionalism of the processes that you have and the people that we deal with 1-to-1 within CloudPay have exceeded expectations.”
By providing direct access to in-country service partners and location-specific expertise, CloudPay has helped Datasite with the communication and responsiveness they need, with the CloudPay team facilitating the necessary conversations and monitoring any support requirements.
“I really can’t fault the CloudPay Team. All our contacts are always on the ball and they go above and beyond. Our CSM is really good; she responds extremely quickly and if there’s something she can’t answer, she brings in the people or teams who can pick it up.”
CloudPay’s advanced automation and Workday integration capabilities have made a real difference to Datasite’s management of annual salaries. These occur twice yearly – in February and July for the sales and back-offices teams respectively – with the process seamlessly automated for Datasite’s large payrolls in the UK, France, Germany and Hong Kong.
This saves Sharon from having to make the different calculations for every country, and prevents the potential errors that can occur: “It’s very smooth now. Data goes into Workday, feeds into CloudPay, CloudPay do what they need to do, and send it back into Workday financials. We know that if something comes out of Workday, it’s going to go back in – it’s a big wheel.”
CloudPay’s continual drive to advance payroll technology and innovation – including developing the platform’s advanced integration capabilities with HCMs such as Workday – has meant big changes to Datasite’s approach.
“Trying to take away the templates and work more with PECI is a huge step for us. CloudPay is moving so fast – you’re trying to keep ahead of the game, working closely and getting as integrated with Workday as possible.”
CloudPay also supported with the establishment of a custom GL that Datasite wanted in Workday, working closely to ensure that Sharon and her team had everything they needed: “The integration team and the CloudPay team working on that were second to none. If there were any issues, CloudPay fixed them. If we change anything or want anything added, CloudPay is there working alongside us and getting it done for us. The team delivers every time.”
Previously, Datasite’s employees would typically only use Workday to book time off. Processes for accessing payslips and year-end documents were fragmented, varying from country to country.
Since working with CloudPay, employees have more autonomy; they can self-serve and update their own details in Workday, which are then updated automatically in CloudPay. Payslips and year-end documents are all stored in Workday, and are accessible for employees when needed. “It’s all so much cleaner and easier – CloudPay is a far better experience for our employees.”
CloudPay’s integrated payments have made a world of difference to the Datasite teams, with seamless GL importation as soon as payroll closes. “It’s allowing our finance team to close the month more quickly, more easily and with no questions – they’ve got it all mapped. They change the GL, CloudPay update it, and it’s done for the next month – it’s so easy.”
“The finance team are just clapping their hands and saying, ‘I haven’t got a 400 row GL to input!’ – it’s seamlessly imported in – that is huge for us. The data’s going into Workday and not being manipulated or changed, and it’s going seamlessly into CloudPay. We don’t need to be hands on – it stops the manipulation, it stops the errors.”
“Payments go out on time – we haven’t had anybody who’s been paid late or not been paid, and finance reports are always there.”
The combination of CloudPay’s advanced platform automations and Workday integration have resulted in incredible time savings for Datasite, with pressure being relieved across all departments involved in end-to-end employee contact.
As EMEA and APAC Payroll Manager, Sharon estimates that she has personally saved at least a week and a half per month through working with Cloisable: “I can do a pay code now and in 10 minutes it will be in CloudPay ready to use – it’s that quick.”
On the treasury front, Sharon was previously making over 100 payments a month to individuals across Germany, France and Italy – working between multiple bank accounts – all of which required checks and approvals and manual reporting, and taxes paying the following month. This was in addition to setting up payments, establishing new starters (resulting in hundreds of people on Datasite’s banking system), and worrying about who would be available to approve payments.
“…and now, all of that’s gone. The pressure has gone. CloudPay come in, take the money, and pay it. It’s so much easier. And now I think, ‘Why was I doing that? Why did I put up with that for so long?!’”
A global payroll success story: Datasite + CloudPay
Partnership with CloudPay has resulted in a dramatic transformation for pay at Datasite. Moving to a globally standardized model with integrated payroll and payments has generated huge time savings for Sharon and her team, constantly supported by CloudPay’s personalised and highly attentive managed service.
We finished our conversation by asking Sharon to summarize what it’s like to be a CloudPay customer:
“It’s huge. It’s huge for everybody, and I don’t use that term lightly. All I get is good feedback about CloudPay, from everybody…from the employees, and from managers upwards. It’s just easy – the bigger we get and the more countries we take on, our relationship is going from strength to strength.”