Navigating the Transition Between Payroll and Workforce Management Systems: Best Practices, Pitfalls, and Red Flags

Assess Your Needs Beyond Sales Promises

• Identify must-have features and compliance requirements.

• Don’t rely solely on vendor ratings—request a trial period to evaluate both software functionality and support response times. 

• Focus on key business policies that have been difficult to automate in the past, and request tailored demonstrations to verify automation capabilities.

• Ensure the system handles taxes, benefits, and payroll complexities correctly.

• Vendors must show you, rather than simply make claims that may or may not be true after you have signed a contract—details matter. Consider creating examples of the most complex scenarios and asking them to demonstrate exactly how their system handles those situations.

Ensure Data Accuracy and Completeness

• Migrate clean and validated payroll data.

• Verify tax codes, employee classifications, and payroll deductions.

• Double-check compliance settings, including unemployment and state tax rates.

Conduct Rigorous Parallel Payroll Runs

• Run at least two parallel payrolls before going live. The first should identify errors, and the second should be error-free.

• Continue parallel runs until no discrepancies remain and both parties are fully confident in the system’s accuracy.

• As the employer, you bear ultimate responsibility—regardless of vendor assurances.

• Payroll errors will lead to frustrated employees, and you will be responsible for resolving them.

• Maintain control over the timeline—don’t let the vendor dictate when you’re ready to go live.

Engage Stakeholders Early and Set Clear Expectations

• Involve payroll administrators, HR, finance, and IT from the beginning.

• Provide comprehensive training to all users.

• Establish clear timelines to prevent confusion and ensure a structured rollout.

Demand Proof of Reliable Vendor Support

• Answers to sales questions are one thing, but you also need to test how the vendor handles support issues.

• Measure response times, hold times, and how quickly resolutions are made.

• A trial period helps with this—use it to gauge both the software and the vendor’s responsiveness before signing a contract.

• Ensure a clear escalation path exists for urgent payroll issues.

• Track how quickly actual resolutions are provided, not just how fast responses are received.