Message from the President
Tom Malone recaps what’s in this issue and discusses the upcoming CUA conference. Read more…
New Awards to Celebrate Accero Customer Excellence
We’re pleased to announce a new awards program: ACE (Accero Customer Excellence) to honor outstanding and innovative customers. Learn more and apply…
Market Trends: TRV?
HCM industry expert Steven Goldberg introduced the Total Realized Value metric of an investment in HCM technology and solutions. Find out how Accero delivers “excellent” TRV and why it’s important to your organization’s long-term health. Read more...
Special Offer: Referral Awards Program
Do you know someone who could benefit from the Accero Cyborg solution? Receive up to $3000 credit for any referrals that become Accero clients. Read more…
Chris Els Joins Accero as UK Managing Director
We’re pleased to announce the recent appointment of Chris Els, a successful sales executive with more than 20 years of national sales and senior management experience, as Managing Director of our UK operation. Read more about Chris…
Conversations: Philippe Hurtubise Discusses a New PSO Service Suite
Philippe covers the benefits of Accero’s four Quick-Turn consulting engagements: 24/7 Access, Enhanced Payroll & Reporting, New Garnishments, and Employee Re-Numbering. Learn more…
Product Roundup: Benefits Self Service Lite
With the introduction of our “lite” offering, you can now buy our Benefits Self Service (BSS) application as a stand-alone product. That means you can save 50%! Find out more…
Compliance/Legislative Update by Cindy Greenberg
Accero’s resident Regulatory Compliance expert, Cindy Greenberg, summarizes current legal changes and what it means to you. Read more…
Spotlight on Success: London Fire Brigade
With more than 7,000 employees the London Fire Brigade (LFB) is the third largest fire and rescue service in the world. Learn how LFB utilized their Accero platform to reduce data processing errors and effort, and to streamlined their complex reporting needs. Read more…
Accero Cyborg Solutions now live!
Search our latest addition to the Resource Center, the Accero Cyborg Solutions for answers to your Accero Cyborg product questions.Find out more…
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This issue of our newsletter is about four distinct Rs in business: recognition, referral, realization, and reality. We’re starting a new ACE (Accero Cyborg Excellence) customer awards program that will recognize select customers for Accero-related accomplishments and innovations. As we grow, we invite you all to join in our growth. With that in mind, we’re also introducing a new customer referral program that can net you a substantial credit. Both of these programs are described below and I encourage you to read about them.
Recognition is the underlying theme to our upcoming North American CUA’s Users Group Conference, scheduled for San Antonio, Texas from Sunday, October 18 -21. Our CUA theme this year is “A Great Legacy Reborn,” recognizing our 35 years of success and our ambitious plans for the future. If you have not already made your plans to attend the conference, I strongly encourage you to do so. It’s a great opportunity to network with other Accero users, improve your product knowledge, learn more about future product plans -- even earn CPP credits—all in a friendly, learning environment. For the latest conference information, go to http://www.cyborgusers.org or contact your CUA office by phone at or by email at cuahq@cyborgusers.org.
Our market trends story in this issue is about a new ROI metric for HCM systems. This new metric is known as TRV, which stands for Total Realized Value, and it offers a real-world formula that can help you determine the true value of your software investment. So, the next time someone asks about your HCM system, you’ll be able to talk to them about the different ways in which your company is realizing value.
For the first time, we’re offering a “lite” version of our Benefits Self Service application. Previously, you had to also purchase our Employee Self Service application at the same time. The reality is … some of you only wanted the BSS component. Now you can get it as a stand-alone module.
And in a nod to how consulting engagements could or should work in the real world, we’re introducing what we’re calling “Quick-Turn” engagements. These are projects where we can help you achieve a processing goal in only a matter of days, freeing up your own IT resources for other commitments while helping you to improve productivity. See our Conversations column for details.
There’s a fifth “R” that I would like to now mention: Renewal. Over the past year, we’ve made substantial investments in our company, from major product releases to expanded resources to enhanced support services. As the evidence shows, we’re strongly committed to help you, our valued customers, renew your success and grow as the economy gets stronger. As ever, we thank you for your continued business and look forward to seeing many of you in San Antonio next month.
New Awards to Celebrate Accero Customer Excellence 
Long-time customers might recall the successful Cyborg User Excellence Awards program that ran for many years. We thought it was time to recognize the best and the brightest again, so we’re introducing a new awards program: ACE (Accero Customer Excellence) to honor outstanding and innovative customers.
Each year we plan to honor customers for their innovative use of Accero products.
Do you have an ACE up your sleeve? Visit www.accero.com/ace.htm to apply online for the award. Awards will be announced at the annual Cyborg Users Association (CUA) conference, which will be held this year in San Antonio, Texas, on Oct 18-21.
Market Trends: Understanding Your TRV (Total Realized Value)
There’s a new ROI metric gaining favor in the HCM market. It’s called TRV, which stands for Total Realized Value. Put simply, TRV is the degree to which the broad potential value of a robust HCM solution translates into a more narrow range of tangible value. The goal of applying the TRV methodology to HCM is to quantify the true value – or potential value –of the solution. In other words, TRV applies the test of reality to an HCM investment.
Just what is that test? TRV measures real-world situations, such as underutilized systems, lower system adoption, data model compatibility or on-going system integration issues, and so on. Other data points measured include the need for clients to accommodate HCM system idiosyncrasies or the need to develop elaborate models.
Steven Goldberg, Global HR Technology expert and noted HCM thought leader, recently spoke with Accero about TRV after participating in a recent Human Capital Institute Executive Roundtable. According to Goldberg, “TRV is clearly a more meaningful and realistic way of projecting ROI on these solutions. Therefore, organizations should give serious consideration to using it as the cornerstone of their HCM systems evaluations.” The TRV model has been endorsed by several other HR technology leaders.
We were intrigued enough to apply the TRV methodology to our own suite of solutions. We surveyed nearly 20 percent of clients who have been using our solution for two or more years, measuring operational dependencies, system functionality utilized, key stakeholder satisfaction rates, and on-going integration issues or costs. We’re pleased—but not surprised—to report that Accero received the highest overall rating of “Excellent.”
To learn more about TRV or to schedule your own evaluation, contact your Accero Account Executive today.
Introducing Our Referral Rewards Program
Do you know someone who could benefit from the Accero Cyborg solution? If so, send us their name and if they commit to a formal evaluation process, you will receive a $1,500 credit to use toward any of the following:
- Annual maintenance fees
- PSO services, such as an audit or training
- Attendance at CUA 2010
Of course, we want you to be as comfortable as possible with our new referral process, so we kept it simple. Once we get your referral, an Accero account executive will contact you and take over from there.
But that’s not all. If your referral turns into a net new customer for us, you will receive an additional $1500. That’s a three-thousand dollar total value reward just for helping us expand our customer base.
Help us grow and help your own company at the same time. Now that’s a win-win formula for mutual success. Call your Accero Account Executive today for details.
Chris Els Joins Accero as UK Managing Director
Accero is pleased to announce the recent appointment of Chris Els, a successful sales executive with more than 20 years of national sales and senior management experience, as Managing Director of our UK operation.
Chris, is a seasoned decision-maker with a successful track record in Channel Sales Management and Partner Sales Management. He is a sales process expert who has designed, implemented and practiced SaaS and CRM solutions in small and large corporation organizations.
“I look forward to working closely with other members of Accero as we introduce our HCM products and services to even more companies in the UK,” said Chris.
Previously Chris served as the Interim Sales Director at Blueprint People Solutions and XCM Global, where he expanded the consultancy’s incremental revenue base and helped grow the company through a franchise channel model. Prior to that role, Chris was the Customer Engagement Manager at ROC CONSULTING, a SAP HCM partner, and served as Sales Manager for New Business at CERIDIAN, a global business services organization.
Please join us in welcoming Chris to the Accero family. We believe the combination of his exceptional people skills, business management, process understanding and technology expertise will help us go a long way in delivering positive results for our UK customers. Cheers!
CONVERSATIONS: Philippe Hurtubise Talks about a New PSO Service Suite
This is your first appearance in our Conversations column. Could you tell us about your background?
I’m Accero’s Professional Services Manager and have been with Accero Cyborg for fifteen years. Prior to that, I used the product as a client starting in 1987. I’d like to discuss a new PSO engagement type called “Quick-Turn” engagements.
Could you give us some background?
Unlike some HCM vendors, we don’t think we should camp out at a client’s site for twelve to eighteen months to enhance their use of our system. We like to get in, stay focused, and get the job done. We studied the kinds of PSO requests we get and recognized that some of those engagements only required a few days to complete. We’ve since grouped those engagement types under our “quick-turn” umbrella. Because our consultants know Accero inside and out, it’s easier and faster for them to implement these changes. The beauty is, this frees up a client’s own IT resources for other uses. At the end of the day, client processing is more efficient.
And what are those Quick-Turn engagements?
At this point, we’ve identified four engagement types: 24/7 Access, Enhanced Payroll & Reporting, New Garnishments, and Employee Re-Numbering. We could introduce others later on, as long as there’s a genuine client need for them.
Could you walk us through the customer benefits of each Quick-Turn engagement?
Sure. Basically, the 24/7 pay run access enables you to perform payroll runs without any downtime. Previously, companies had to shut down their entire system to run payroll. That locked out others from using the system at the same time, which was inefficient and interfered with work flow. With our 24/7 Access option only the records of those being paid at a particular moment are locked, after which they are released. What this means is the company can remain up and running, with virtually no downtime, during a pay run.
Our Enhanced Payroll and Reporting (EPR) option neatly complements 24/7 Access. Once you deploy EPR, you no longer need to use command line prompts on older screens. You can perform the runs from your own workstation. Essentially, EPR relieves IT of the responsibility of running payroll and puts it back in the payroll department’s hands, where it belongs. Productivity in both departments is increased.
What about your Garnishments Quick-Turn option?
As anyone knows who has ever had to deal with one, garnishments are tricky. Do it wrong and you could be facing substantial government fines. What we’ve done is basically simplified the garnishment process and made it automated and methodical, to guarantee compliance. We offer two methodologies. The first we call our Legacy Way, which requires more manual monitoring. The other is our newer Automated Garnishment Administration process, which minimizes an HR manager or system administrator’s exposure through an auto update feature that keeps up-to-date with all State-specific garnishment rule changes across the USA and automatically sends an ACH.
And the Employee Re-Numbering Quick-Turn engagement?
Auto Employee Re-Numbering helps ensure and protect employee privacy. On the surface, it may not sound like much: after all, we’re just changing an SSN-dependent record ID to a random number. But, the catch is to make sure each new employee number works with all interfaces, which can get pretty complicated and messy. It requires analyzing and testing a multitude of uses.
How long are these Quick-Term engagements?
Depending on the particular engagement, it can take anywhere from one day, in the case of EPR, to five or more days for Garnishments. In most cases, work is performed at the client site, but some work is done remotely, at Accero.
How do customers request one of these engagements?
For more information about Quick Turn engagements either contact your Accero representative or download our Quick Turn Engagements Data Sheet
Product: Accero Self Service Lite
All right, what’s with the “lite” designation? Does this mean our applications now have fewer calories? Not really. But it does mean you can trim your IT budget and SAVE up to 50%. With the introduction of our “lite” offering, you can now buy our Benefits Self Service (BSS) application as a stand-alone product. Previously, you had to also purchase our Employee Self Service (ESS) application if you wanted to buy our Benefits component. That’s all changed—and for the better.
Benefits Self Service lets your employees enroll in a plan electronically or revise their benefits and flexible spending accounts online, based on company rules. The result? Your employees and HR administrators save valuable time and resources and always know their Benefits information is current and accurate. Browser-based access is both personalized and secure. Employer and employee premiums are automatically calculated whenever costs change. And your employees reach a new appreciation for the benefits they receive.
Employees can use BSS to:
- Initially enroll in a benefits plan
- Learn about changes in the next plan
- Learn more about the enrollment process
- Review benefit plan options online with their family
- Make their benefit plan elections from home
- Review their current benefit plan status
- Revise their plan for Life Changes
- List or change beneficiaries
- List or change dependents
- Manage their flexible spending accounts
There’s nothing lite or lightweight about this application except the cost. It’s the same friendly, powerful self-service application as before. The difference is it’s a whole lot easier on your budget. To find out more about Accero’s Self Service products, contact your Accero representative or visit www.accero.com/selfservice. And remember, our PSO team can help you prepare for your self-service implementation with the Self Service Assessment service
By Cindy Greenberg
Recent regulatory updates are described below. Where appropriate, bulletins and updates may be available for downloading at the Accero Resource Center.
IRS – National Research Program (NRP)
Recently, the Internal Revenue Services (IRS) announced it will begin conducting its latest National Research Program (NRP) in November. This NRP will be focused on conducting detailed employment tax examinations, targeting information in various categories:
- Workers classification (employee vs. independent contractor);
- Fringe benefits;
- Nonfilers;
- Executive compensation; and
- Reimbursed expenses.
These audits will provide the IRS with the statistical sample of overall employment taxes compliance and reporting trends - in addition to potential “assessments”. The audit program will be conducted over a three year period with at least 2,000 employment tax audits conducted per year.
Employers may want to revisit their employment tax policies, especially concerning the areas described above, in part because the relevant law and regulations may have changed since the last time policies were reviewed.
FORM I-9 (New Version)
A new version of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification is available dated Aug. 7, 2009. The new form was issued by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) after the Office of Management and Budget extended its approval of Form I-9 until Aug. 31, 2012. There are no changes to the new version of the form. Employers will be able to use either the Form I-9 with the new revision date or the Form I-9 with the 02/02/09 revision date at the bottom of the form.
Form I-9 must be kept by the employer either for three years after the date of hire or for one year after employment is terminated, whichever is later. Form I-9 must be available for inspection by authorized U.S. Government officials (e.g., Department of Homeland Security, Department of Labor, Office of Special Counsel).
http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis
CALIFORNIA – Withholding
In July, California Legislation approved accelerating the collection of income tax (A.B. 17). The bill increases the withholding tax withheld from employees by 10% and supplemental wage withholding rate to 6.6 percent from 6 percent plus increases the stock option and bonus payment withholding rate to 10.23 percent from 9.3 percent.
The Employment Development Department (EDD) expects to issue revised withholding tables that reflect this increase in early October effective for wages paid on or after Nov. 1, 2009.
COLORADO – Minimum wage
Effective January 1, 2010, Colorado’s minimum wage could be rediced to $7.25 an hour (3 cent reduction), for those covered by the federal minimum wage. The state’s decision has not been reached whether to reduce the rate, which is linked to the BSL's Consumer Price Index
Colorado is among 10 states that annually adjust the minimum wage based on inflation and the CPI. The 9 other states are Washington, Vermont, Oregon (which recently announced no hrly rate changes for 2010), Ohio, Nevada, Montana, Missouri, Florida, and Arizona. Missouri is the only other state whose minimum wage law would allow a decline.
MASSACHUSETTS — Unemployment/Withholding Reporting
During the fourth quarter of 2009, responsibility for collecting wage reporting data will be transferred from the Department of Revenue to the Division of Unemployment Assistance (DUA). All employers, including those who do not have unemployment tax obligations, will be required to register their companies and file their Quarterly Wage Reports via DUA’s online QUEST system. Additionally, all employers currently paying their unemployment tax obligations via WebFile for Business (WFB) will be required to pay those obligations via QUEST.
For 2009 and subsequent tax years, employers filing 50 or more Forms W-2 or particular 1099 form must file the documents in a “machine-readable form.” The term “machine-readable form” includes file uploads through WebFile for Business and electronic data transfer. W-2 or 1099 information filed on diskette, magnetic tape, or cartridge 18-track magnetic media is no longer accepted.
NEW JERSEY — Unemployment/Disability
For calendar year 2010, the maximum unemployment insurance, temporary disability insurance and workers' compensation benefit rates, the alternative earnings and base week amounts, and the taxable wage base are listed below.
- 2010 Maximum Workers' Compensation weekly benefit rate: $794
- 2010 Maximum Unemployment Insurance weekly benefits rate: $600
- 2010 Maximum Temporary Disability Insurance weekly benefit rate: $561
- 2010 Alternative earnings test amount for UI and TDI : $7,300
- 2010 Base week amount: $145
- 2010 Taxable Wage Base under UI, TDI and FLI: $29,700
The worker Family Leave Insurance (FLI) rate for the calendar year 2010, and subsequent years, will be 0.12 % (previously 0.09% in 2009). The worker FLI rate is multiplied against the taxable wages subject to the State FLI plan. The worker contributions for FLI are remitted together with the other UI contributions due on Form NJ927.
OREGON – Workers Compensation
The Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services (DCBS) has announced that the “pure premium rate” (i.e., the rate that employers pay their insurance companies for workers' compensation coverage) will decrease on average by 1.3% in 2010, saving employers $18.1 million. The workers’ compensation premium assessment, which pays for the administration of workers’ compensation and workplace safety programs, is proposed to remain at 4.6 percent in 2010 (4.8 percent for self-insured employers and employer groups). The Workers’ Benefit Fund assessment, which pays for special benefits for injured workers and their employers, will remain at 2.8 cents-per-hour worked in 2010. Employers and workers each pay half of the Workers’ Benefit Fund assessment.
Oregon DCBS News Release
http://egov.oregon.gov/DCBS/docs/news_releases/2009/nr_wc_rate_2010.pdf
COMING SOON: Cindy’s Compliance Blog – In the next few weeks Cindy will be launching a new Compliance Blog…………Stay tuned for more details coming soon!
Case Study: London Fire Brigade (LFB)
The Company: London Fire Brigade (LFB)
The Industry: Government
The Challenge: The London Fire Brigade (LFB) is the largest fire and rescue service in the United Kingdom, and the third largest in the world. It is spread over 120 sites, including 112 operational fire stations, with approximately 7000 employees. Like many other large organizations serving thousands of employees, LFB used a multitude of different standalone systems to meet its HR and Payroll processing needs. Yet because these applications or systems were acquired over a long period of time, many of them remained non-integrated—resulting in islands of data. As a result, staff at LFB was forced to duplicate much of their data entry efforts, with an increased likelihood of introducing errors. Processes were more cumbersome than they needed to be and reporting was both complex and unreliable.
The Solution: Fortunately for LFB, they didn’t have to look far for a centralized solution. One of the systems they were using in-house was Accero, a leading HR and Payroll solution known for its adaptability. With some customization, they were able to implement the main standard Accero screens, which introduced the commonality they needed while still meeting most of their data processing needs. LFB developed or modified other systems to work alongside the Accero primary solution, enabling them to met specific organizational needs.
The Results:Today, Accero can be deployed to any LFB site, as needed, using the Microsoft Windows 2003 Server via the thin client Windows Server Environment, a technology used by all of their users to access applications. LFB enjoys having all their data in one place, especially since it’s so easy to navigate and includes a strong reporting capability. Because Accero can interface to other systems and feed data back in, data entry time and data entry errors have been dramatically reduced, while reporting has been streamlined and made consistent. They’ve been able to realign processes, ensuring that updates and inputs are always in the most logical place. And they can now produce more effective reporting on vacancies, establishment control, etc.
Client Comments: “What we really like about the Accero solution is that it delivers on all the basics, as we say, ‘out of the tin,’ but can also be easily customized to do almost anything else we need done. It’s as powerful as we want to make it.” Karin Salaria, IT Project Manager, London Fire Brigade.
Are you a Success Story? If so, we’d like to feature you in an upcoming newsletter. Please email us at customersuccess@accero.com.
GET ANSWERS FAST WITH ACCERO CYBORG SOLUTIONS!
Introducing the new Accero Cyborg Solutions now available from the Accero Support Portal. Get faster access to the answers you need, when you need them. Accero Cyborg Solutions contains hundreds of solutions at the click of a mouse, saving you time, and reducing your need to call the help desk.
To access Accero Cyborg Solutions, just log in to the Accero Support Portal and click on “Find Solution”. Simply type in the issue or question, and browse through solutions that have helped other customers with the same problem.
If you don’t find what you are looking for, the Accero Help Desk staff is always happy to assist. Don’t forget to visit the Customer Resource Center to access documentation, training, regulatory bulletins and more!