Onboarding
The term onboarding refers to when new users are introduced to Buddy and need to familiarise themselves with the software. This can include migrating and integrating previous data onto Buddy and personalised training sessions for the user to get accustomed to Buddy.
Two types of new users benefit from an onboarding process:
- Users who are registering their company on Buddy for the first time
- New employees/users whose company has assigned them to manage or contribute to their company's existing Buddy account
The Onboarding Package
Buddy is designed to be user-friendly and easy to access. Our team has tailored a Getting Started aimed for those customers who are eager to self-onboarding and get started!
For those who prefer a tailored experience, Buddy's Success Team offers an optional onboarding package for £1000 (+ VAT) and a commitment to 12 months of subscription.
- A 30-minute onboarding consultation to discuss your Company’s needs from Buddy.
- Assistance with the configuration of settings
- Assistance with the migration of data for one company (employee data, FPS/EPS data, leave balances)*
- A 1.5-hour tailored training session on how to use Buddy
- Increased support priority in the first few months of subscription
The package is tailored for each user based on their company's needs to ensure they obtain the best value from their subscription with Buddy.
*Clients are expected to provide accurate data. Additional charges may be incurred in cases where our agents are asked to import revised datasets multiple times.
Onboarding Package for Payroll Providers
If you are a payroll provider who requires data migration for multiple companies, please get in touch with our Onboarding Team at uk@buddy.hr for a quote.
What The Customer is Responsible For
The onboarding process for new companies is a joint effort by the customer and Buddy's team. This means that both parties have essential roles in ensuring the success of the onboarding.
Here is what is expected of the customer:
1. Time Commitment
We understand that we are all busy individuals. However, onboardings do not happen on their own. Make sure to dedicate enough time to:
- export and prepare migration data
- schedule and attend training sessions
- reconcile imported data
- perform parallel runs
- make use of Buddy after the onboarding
From our experience, the onboarding timeframe ranges from weeks to months, varying largely based on the time commitment and organisation of the client. Although Buddy can make payroll look easy, it is still no playing field. Make sure that you and your time give sufficient focus on the onboarding to ensure a successful transition!
2. Be Knowledgeable About the Company Structure and Local Regulations
Although Buddy's Success team will be happy to assist with configuring software settings, the team cannot give any legal or financial advice.
For instance, Public Holidays and Overtime can be processed in many ways for AccuPay™ users who use Time & Attendance. This varies between industry (wage regulation order) and company policies. Therefore, you are expected to bring this knowledge forward to be implemented on Buddy.
Buddy's Success Team will assist with implementing these settings into Buddy. Having said that, Buddy can refuse to accommodate requirements not compliant with local regulations, so it is good to have sufficient legal knowledge.
3. Provide Accurate Data in Spreadsheet Format
Like many processes, the outcome of the data migration is heavily dependent on the input. It's important to provide as much accurate data as possible to ensure that the data is consistent from your previous system to Buddy.
The data required will be discussed during the onboarding consultation but generally includes:
- Employee Data
- personal details
- salary details
- role & department details
- tax details
- pension plan details
- Payroll Data (if migrating previous payroll reports onto Buddy)
- Leave Data
- leave applications (optional)
- leave balances as at a specified date
What if you cannot provide data in spreadsheet format?
If you cannot provide data in a spreadsheet format, our team may offer to process whatever information you can provide for an additional fee, as this would require a heavy time investment. This will depend based on what data you can provide.
Similarly, for those that repeatedly send incorrect data, additional fees may apply for each revision and re-importation.
What if I have errors in my previous payrolls?
Buddy's payslip import is designed to process some elements through its calculation. Therefore, weekly wages and Social Security inconsistencies are noted during the import stage. In such cases, you will be informed to correct the data (with suggestions) before the import to ensure a legally compliant payroll that can be submitted at the end of the year.
4. Responsibility to Reconcile Data and Plan Parallel Runs
Our team will do their best to import as accurately as possible based on the data provided. However, it is possible that some requirements or data are not communicated effectively.
At the end of the day, you know your company best. After our team confirms importation, a secondary reconciliation is recommended to ensure the data is presented and imported to your expectations.
Moreover, it is normal, especially for larger companies, to plan parallel runs to identify difficulties while giving oneself additional time to familiarise with all features on the Buddy platform.
Want to Take the Onboarding Package?
If you are interested in the onboarding package, please contact uk@buddy.hr or get in touch with a live agent on chat to get started!
Data migration and training sessions are primarily delivered during the second and third week of the month, with limited availability during payroll weeks.