Gearon Civil
"I’ve been told by my colleagues ‘You’re smiling again!’"
Growing businesses inevitably face a time when their entry level accounting solution is too simple for their needs. When Gearon Civil were convinced to upgrade from their accounting solution to another advanced ERP solution, they thought they were in good hands. Instead, they were plagued by overly complex processes and software headaches: invoices going to the wrong clients, slow processing times and a payroll process that took hours every week.
When enough was enough, Sybiz Business Partner Visionaries was able to step in and present a new ERP and payroll solution. Gearon Civil was introduced to Sybiz Vision and Sybiz Visipay, and a better way to experience mid-sized ERP solutions.
One person, many roles
Working at a small to medium sized business means that one person can often fulfil multiple, critical roles. As Office Manager, Lea Paton is responsible for invoicing jobs, paying bills, processing payroll; a range of tasks that require accessibility and flexibility in her business management solution. And while Gearon Civil had previously upgraded to a solution they were told was designed for SMEs, it couldn’t deliver the agility Lea needed for her role.
“We were told it’s not designed for one person to use, even though we had purchased a one user license.”
“I’ve picked up Sybiz Vision and Sybiz Visipay in a couple of weeks. It’s more intuitive, it’s a lot easier to find what you’re looking for.”
Depth 'out of the box'
Lea noted the difficulty building and construction businesses can face when job progress and requirements change over time.
“Typically, we have 10-15 jobs on at one time. We base our invoices off the claims, but by the time the claims have gone to be paid they can change.”
Sybiz Vision was built with these industry challenges in mind. Invoices and pre-invoices can be generated, saved and presented for approval before they are processed in the system.
Gearon Civil is only just starting to unlock the deeper reporting ability of Sybiz Vision, but they were surprised by the depth of ‘out of the box’ offerings.
“With our old system, the vendor expected us to tell them what we wanted. There was no… balance sheet, no profit and loss. They said, ‘We would need to set those up.’ It was all hidden. If you wanted to see something, you’d need to ring them up. We’ve even worked out how to customise Sybiz Vision reports.”
Payroll simplified
But one of the biggest headaches in Gearon Civil’s previous solution was their problems with payroll management.
“I ended up with a 40-page instruction manual that we had to follow for every week with the pay. It was 6 solid hours to do the payroll every week. When Monica [from Visionaries] came down and set up Sybiz Visipay, she wrote down 5 steps on an A5 page. Now I do it in an hour and a half. “
The ability to interact with Microsoft Excel is also big advantage for Lea’s workflow.
“I love Excel. I’ve got a spreadsheet [for timesheets], and when I do a weekly pay there’s over two hundred lines. Our guys have so many allowances. To be able to import something like that and get the figures into the accounting system is really good.”
What’s more, Lea was impressed at the ease of training other staff to use Sybiz Vision and Sybiz Visipay.
“That was my dread – trying to teach the other system. How can I expect someone else to spend 6 hours on the pay? My colleague started using Sybiz solutions last week. I sat with her for maybe 10-15 minutes and she can do the data entry herself now.”
Lea was also quick to praise Visionaries for their support and help transitioning to Sybiz solutions.
“They’ve been brilliant. They knew what we’ve been going through.”
With the help of Sybiz and Authorised Business Partner Visionaries, Lea and the team at Gearon Civil have been able to take back control of their invoicing, payroll and data reporting. Even with a growing number of payroll requirements, Lea is saving up to 20 hours a month when processing pays. And thanks to the intuitiveness of Sybiz solutions, she’s easily been able to share duties with other staff.