Kent County upgraded its payroll system in stages with CGI—first moving from a paper-based process to the cloud and then leveraging the latest version of CGI Advantage to utilize new functionality, including building reminders and automating complex pay calculations.  

Replacing a labor-intensive manual process

As one of only 3% of counties with AAA bond ratings in the U.S., Kent County has a high level of creditworthiness. Aligning internal payroll functions with this level of credibility was an important driver of the county’s modernization project. 

Transitioning to the cloud with CGI was the first step. This enabled the county to move from a manual, paper-based process to one that allowed centralized timesheet entry and approval.  

However, challenges remained. If, for example, an employee went on medical leave unexpectedly and didn’t submit a timesheet, their manager had to create a paper form for the payroll team to enter by hand. This resulted in several additional hours each payroll processing week conducting follow-up, sending reminders and managing this process. 
If an employee submitted an inaccurate timesheet and received a partial payment, the County couldn’t simply cancel the original check and submit with the corrected amount. This situation required an amendment, which could involve recalculating taxes.

Automating with CGI Advantage    

To streamline operations, Kent County leveraged new alert technology in CGI Advantage to address three issues that previously delayed payroll: missing timesheets, late timesheets and late approvals. Historically, managers typically reviewed and approved timesheets at a set date and time but might not check back later for missing, late or amended submittals. By creating automatic reminders, managers and employees are proactively notified if a timesheet isn’t received by Monday of payroll week. Further simplifying the process, county managers have been set up as proxies to submit timesheets on an employee’s behalf, avoiding disruptions due to unexpected employee leave. 

With improved audit tracking and alerts, the County receives most timesheets on Monday, measurably reducing the need for outreach to managers who have missed the deadline.

Amended timesheets are more manageable now, as well. Employees can own their edits, and managers can approve them digitally. CGI Advantage tracks all relevant data and does the math for the County, resulting in significant time savings.

Seeing meaningful results

Through automation, Kent County has adopted a proactive approach to time and pay while decreasing overtime spend. If auto-responses to manager alerts are received, the payroll team can connect to the appropriate department to see if there’s another manager available and authorized to approve the identified timesheets. 

The County has added widgets for missing timesheets and outstanding approvals to managers’ home pages, so they immediately see what needs to be completed. Employees get auto-alerts about upcoming deadlines for PTO days as well.

Adjustment forms have been reduced by 40-50% year over year, and the payroll team has saved an hour per week on follow-up. Mailing and paper costs have also decreased.

Jeff Dood, Fiscal Services Director, advises other government entities considering this type of project to secure executive support and have a strong project plan. “We had a dedicated project floor so people could sit together and plan, commiserate and hash things out,” he said. “That was effective.”

Involving representatives from other departments in system setup, configuration and testing was crucial to ensure the new solution worked for all stakeholders. 

The County states that the product managers for CGI Advantage are approachable and want their clients to succeed. Furthermore, CGI listens to their clients and works to make client operations more efficient - that’s a big part of the partnership.