{"id":47291,"date":"2025-07-18T12:21:24","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T11:21:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/?p=47291"},"modified":"2026-07-06T15:10:21","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T14:10:21","slug":"how-australian-pacific-college-streamlined-payroll-and-workforce-management-with-dayforce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/2025\/07\/18\/how-australian-pacific-college-streamlined-payroll-and-workforce-management-with-dayforce\/","title":{"rendered":"How Australian Pacific College streamlined payroll and workforce management with Dayforce"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Australian Pacific College modernizes its workforce systems with Dayforce, simplifying payroll and time tracking while improving employee experience.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Australian Pacific College (APC) is one of Australia\u2019s leading independent education providers, with multiple campuses across the country and a diverse, mobile workforce. When legacy platforms Preceda (payroll) and Riteq (time and attendance) approached end-of-life, APC saw a chance to modernize and simplify.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe were managing critical information across disconnected systems,\u201d said Bruce Hearfield, Payroll Manager at APC. \u201cWe were facing challenges around accurate time capture, resource allocation and employee self-service. It was a good opportunity to move to a better, modern and integrated system.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The timing, however, came with added complexity, as APC was also navigating internal restructuring and resourcing pressures. Rather than delay, APC chose to move forward with the help of Dayforce and implementation partner The Payroll Collective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Choosing one platform for people, payroll and workforce planning<\/strong>
To streamline and unify its workforce systems, APC chose to continue its relationship with Dayforce to implement an integrated system across payroll, HR and workforce management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe needed a solution that could bring everything together,\u201d said Hearfield. \u201cWe could get that with the Dayforce platform while keeping continuity with a team we already trusted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

APC also engaged The Payroll Collective as its implementation partner, bringing specialist payroll knowledge and on-the-ground project experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDayforce ran the implementation directly while we acted as an extension of the APC team,\u201d explained Natalie Leech, Director and CEO of The Payroll Collective. \u201cWe helped translate business needs into system requirements, prioritize the build and support them through testing and training.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the original project team at APC transitioned out, the remaining team, along with Dayforce and The Payroll Collective, kept the project moving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe had to pivot quickly,\u201d Leech said. \u201cBut thanks to strong collaboration and shared goals, we delivered on time and on budget.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where APC saw the biggest impact<\/strong>
The transition to Dayforce delivered wide-ranging benefits across APC\u2019s payroll, HR and employee experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strong testing led to a smoother go-live<\/strong>
The rigorous user acceptance testing (UAT) saw almost 1,000 test cases executed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe had a 98% success rate across our test cases,\u201d said Leech. \u201cIt meant we could go live without lingering issues or delays.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hearfield saw the effort as worth it. \u201cTesting might feel like overkill when you\u2019re doing it,\u201d he noted, \u201cbut it really helped the business immerse itself in the Dayforce world and that paid off during go-live.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Faster payroll processing<\/strong>
Before Dayforce, finalizing payroll was a multi-day task. Now it\u2019s faster, less dependent on individual team members and easier to manage, even during staff absences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBefore Dayforce, payroll would take about two and a half days,\u201d said Sammi Liu, Financial Controller at APC. \u201cNow it\u2019s down to two days or less. That\u2019s easily a full half-day saved each fortnight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because the process is more transparent and user-friendly, APC is no longer dependent on any one person to keep things running.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was able to take a couple of weeks off, and after a quick walkthrough, other team members were able to run payroll in my absence,\u201d added Hearfield. \u201cThat simply wouldn\u2019t have been possible with our old system.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Widespread adoption driven by mobile<\/strong>
The mobile-friendly interface has become a hit with staff, who now use Dayforce regularly to manage everything from rosters to pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe feedback has been overwhelmingly positive,\u201d said Hearfield. \u201cStaff love the app. People can clock in and out, view schedules and access payslips – all from their phones.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dayforce\u2019s single sign-on also reduced the administrative load.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe used to get a lot of requests for payslips or password resets,\u201d he added. \u201cThat\u2019s dropped significantly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Less complexity and admin<\/strong>
The implementation removed many of the inefficiencies and manual workarounds that had crept in over the years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe had so many disjointed systems before, and each came with its own set of problems,\u201d said Hearfield. \u201cWith Dayforce, we\u2019ve eliminated a lot of that complexity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Improved data accuracy and reporting<\/strong>
With employees now actively using the system, APC has seen an uplift in data quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople are more confident using Dayforce, so they\u2019re more likely to update their own details,\u201d said Hearfield. \u201cThat\u2019s giving us cleaner data, fewer manual updates and more reliable records for planning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the finance side, processes are also more efficient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur general ledger import used to take extra formatting,\u201d Liu explained. \u201cNow it\u2019s straightforward, and we\u2019re saving at least half an hour each month.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Words of advice: Get involved and do the work upfront<\/strong>
For organizations facing system end-of-life and transition, Hearfield has clear advice:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGet involved early and immerse yourself in the system,\u201d he recommended. \u201cLearn the system as you go because it\u2019s your platform, and the more you understand it, the more value you\u2019ll get.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, APC is in a stronger position thanks to modern systems, smoother workflows and improved employee experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re in 2025 now, not stuck back in 2012,\u201d Hearfield said. \u201cThis project has set us up for the future and the feedback from the business has been really positive.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Australian Pacific College modernizes its workforce systems with Dayforce, simplifying payroll and time tracking while improving employee experience. Australian Pacific College (APC) is one of Australia\u2019s leading independent education providers, with multiple campuses across the country and a diverse, mobile workforce. When legacy platforms Preceda (payroll) and Riteq (time and attendance) approached end-of-life, APC saw […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":47292,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1463,7236,16,51,55,44],"tags":[8754,8759,8749,8753,8756,8751,8758,8760,8761,8762,8750,8755,8757,8752,7134],"class_list":["post-47291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-apac","category-digital-solutions","category-industry-verticals-education","category-intelligent-technology-newsletter","category-oceania","category-top-stories","tag-australian-pacific-college","tag-cloud-hr-solutions","tag-dayforce","tag-digital-transformation-in-education","tag-education-technology","tag-employee-self-service","tag-hr-technology","tag-integrated-hr-systems","tag-mobile-workforce-tools","tag-modern-payroll-platforms","tag-payroll-automation","tag-payroll-software","tag-the-payroll-collective","tag-time-and-attendance-systems","tag-workforce-management"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/58"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47291"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47291\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48952,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47291\/revisions\/48952"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}