Credit Union SA was formed by a merger between former South Australian credit unions Satisfac and Powerstate. The merger meant that that the payroll and human resources systems needed to be combined.

Fortunately, both organisations used the same payroll system. Both organisations were happy with the payroll solution, and employees from Powerstate were already comfortable using ConnX eHR. It was an easy decision to use ConnX for the self-service and eHR requirements of the new business.

Chris Kotal, Payroll Officer at Credit Union SA, was involved in the process and said, “Both organisations had a different structure in payroll so the new ConnX implementation and merge wasn’t as straightforward as it might have seemed. Once the ConnX team got involved they ironed out all of the issues.”

Employees have access to their information and are able to check their leave balances, obtain their tax file numbers and view pay slips when they need to. “Payroll enquires have reduced significantly, which gives me more time to focus on more strategic payroll activities”, Ms Kotal said.

ConnX is tightly integrated with the payroll system. Ms Kotal added “I like to check everything in ConnX before it goes into payroll, as employees can sometimes make errors. ConnX provides powerful editing tools, which minimise problems and means that off-cycle pay runs aren’t required to fix errors”.

Credit Union SA is now using the electronic timesheets module. Employees simply input their hours directly into ConnX, and at the end of each pay period the timesheets are automatically sent to managers for approval. This is particularly helpful with staff working across multiple branches because electronic management means that timesheets are not lost when employees move between locations. “I don’t perform data entry anymore. Employees complete their timesheets in ConnX and data is then uploaded into our payroll system”, Ms Kotal said.

When managers forget to approve timesheets ConnX sends them a reminder. The automation has saved hours of wasted time during payroll processing. The combined payroll system is now managed by one person rather than two.

ConnX eHR provides management with a single source of truth for all employees. One access point provides details on employee payments, skills, leave history and leave balances. This also allows for centralised reporting and a comprehensive view of Credit Union SA’s talent pool. Staff can also apply for vacant positions through the recruitment module.

During the implementation phase, ConnX consultants focused on developing an intimate understanding of Credit Union SA and its needs. The ConnX consultants continue to work closely with the business today. This means that ConnX consultants are able to provide expert advice on how best to use the functionality of the system.

Credit Union SA has developed a close working relationship with the ConnX team and has become part of the early release program, which allows it to trial new features and plan for upgrades. “We are currently trialling the next major release. It’s been fantastic to familiarise myself with the new functionality before the general release”, Ms Kotal said

On a day-to-day basis, the ConnX help desk supports Credit Union SA if any issues arise. “We find the support from ConnX very impressive. For more technical and complex queries, the support team remotely access ConnX to provide an even greater level of support, Ms Kotal said.

“The Sandpit has been a great addition to ConnX and I love the control it provides”, Ms Kotal added. The Sandpit is an area within ConnX that allows Credit Union SA to trial changes they wish to make to the system or test new features without affecting the live environment. It has also proven to be a very useful training tool for Credit Union SA employees because they are able to confidently explore the system and its features without affecting the live system.