The Challenge
When Payroll Manager Kelly Littles joined Bay Alarm in early 2020, one of her top priorities was implementing Davis-Bacon Act compliance for prevailing wage regulations. This compliance was essential for Bay Alarm to expand their business opportunities with government and public entities, but the existing manual process was creating significant operational challenges.
The Manual Process Problems: The existing certified payroll reporting process was extremely cumbersome and error-prone. Littles and her team had to pull data from three separate sources for each report:
- Run reports or print pay stubs from the payroll system
- Manually pull hours from individual time cards
- Extract client data from their ERP system
- Manually key all information into certified payroll reports
High Stakes Compliance Requirements: The Davis-Bacon Act of 1931 requires businesses to pay prevailing wages on public works projects. These include specific hourly wages, benefits, and overtime paid to workers within designated geographical areas. The consequences of noncompliance are severe:
- Substantial back wage payments to affected employees
- Department of Labor fines and penalties
- Potential three-year ban from all future government contracts
- Risk of payment holds on current projects
Operational Strain: The time-intensive manual process was consuming excessive resources, with the payroll specialist spending significant time each week on compliance reporting. This left the senior payroll specialist overloaded with other duties and created stress throughout the department, particularly challenging during the COVID-19 pandemic when Bay Alarm was designated as "essential" and maintaining full operations.
The Solution
After thorough research, Littles and Bay Alarm selected Points North Certified Payroll Reporting, leveraging their existing relationship as an ADP Vantage HCM® client. The implementation strategy focused on maximum efficiency and minimal disruption.
- Strategic Decision Process: "We looked at a few other third-party platforms, but since ADP® already had an existing relationship with Points North, we decided it would be best to go with them," Littles explains. The decision was particularly strategic given that most of Bay Alarm's prevailing wage projects are in California, with expanding opportunities in Washington state.
- ADP Marketplace Integration: Bay Alarm purchased Points North through ADP® Marketplace, a digital HR storefront that allows ADP® clients to customize their HCM ecosystem while maintaining seamless data sharing with their existing ADP® platform. This approach ensured immediate integration and eliminated potential compatibility issues.
- Automated Data Flow: The Points North solution created a fully automated workflow where payroll information transfers directly into the Points North system every pay period. Employee data and paycheck values flow automatically onto prevailing wage reports, eliminating the need for manual data gathering and entry.
- Streamlined Process: Instead of pulling from three different sources and manually compiling reports, Littles' team now simply uploads necessary information into the integrated system. The automation handles compliance formatting, calculations, and report generation while ensuring accuracy and timeliness.
"The Points North solution definitely boosted engagement and morale among the staff. We were able to streamline the certified payroll process, and our payroll people are very happy with the change." Kelly Littles, Payroll Manager
The Results
The implementation of Points North Certified Payroll Reporting delivered immediate operational improvements and strategic business advantages that exceeded Bay Alarm's expectations.
Dramatic Time Savings: The solution is saving their payroll specialist 20 hours per week, a massive reduction that allowed Bay Alarm to redistribute workload more effectively. The senior payroll specialist, who was previously overloaded, could now focus on higher-value activities.
Enhanced Team Morale: "The Points North solution definitely boosted engagement and morale among the staff," Littles reports. "We were able to streamline the certified payroll process, and our payroll people are very happy with the change." This improvement was especially valuable during the pandemic when work-related stress was already elevated.
Business Growth Enablement: The automated compliance process transformed public sector expansion from a "management wishlist item" to an achievable reality. Bay Alarm's sales staff can now confidently pursue additional prevailing wage accounts, knowing the payroll team can handle the compliance requirements efficiently.
Exceptional Implementation Experience: "We had about three hours total of training," Littles says. "And it has been smooth sailing ever since." She calls the customer service and transition process "one of the most efficient implementations" in her entire payroll career.
Risk Elimination: Bay Alarm now has complete certainty of staying in Davis-Bacon compliance without risk of payment holds or penalties. The direct ADP® integration ensures accurate, timely reporting for all prevailing wage projects.
Ready to Save 20 Hours Per Week?
See how Bay Alarm streamlined prevailing wage compliance and expanded into government contracts. Eliminate manual reporting, boost team morale, and grow your public sector business with Points North's seamless ADP® integration.
"It was quick, painless and integration was instant." Kelly Littles, Payroll Manager
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