The business ReiverNet – based in Auckland’s Mt Wellington, established itself in the New Zealand hotel industry in 2000, as a preferred hotel supplier of wired and wireless internet connection and roaming services to guests. Being a very technologically-savvy business, it was important that the systems they used to deliver their service were robust and trustworthy.

Margaret Armstrong – Office Manager for ReiverNet, remembers when the business was younger and the requirements of these systems (which included payroll) were much simpler. Now, ReiverNet employ a helpdesk team who manage the enquiries from users of the service around the clock.  “It was fine when staff worked more standard hours – but now we are working with 24-7 rosters, and weekly salaries that are mixed with employee bonus schemes. It’s too much for a manual system to handle.”

But, handle it she did – until April 2008 when Margaret was referred to Crystal Payroll from a colleague. “Things got really complicated when working out employee bonuses, days in lieu, and days off. Errors started happening and it soon became evident we’d need to find a reliable, long term solution to our payroll issues”.

ReiverNet prides itself on delivering a fair and transparent service to the hotel industry, and were in turn looking for a fair and transparent payroll solution. A prerequisite of the software was that all staff (Margaret included) would need to easily understand the complex salary/bonus calculations.

After speaking with Crystal Payroll, Margaret chose the Bureau service as it took the hassle of processing payroll away – “Now all I need to do is send the data through – they tell me when we need to action something such as paying PAYE, and it’s job done. And, when I need to view reports or access the information I can – it’s all online and easy to understand. The Crystal Payroll team are always available to step me through things if I need it”.

Margaret admits that now her biggest problem is getting leave applications through from staff – “They are always late!” she laughs.

Margaret has been processing her payroll with Crystal Payroll since 2008.