All based on mutual interest

The cooperation between Sage HR and Deloitte Latvia began more than a year ago, when Deloitte Latvia created a new business service line, specializing in providing outsourced accounting services with innovative solutions. It was also a time of seeking new solutions to automate accounting and customers’ internal processes. One of the solutions of this kind, in the context of a specific procurement, a partner in the field of personnel management was sought, capable of providing a self-service function for the employees of the company (the software interface had to be user-friendly, it should be understood by any user without specific training).

A number of personnel management applications (software) were initially examined, but in the course of negotiations, Sage HR was found the most suitable. In its favor was a flexible approach to the various improvements (excellent feedback from existing customers, International experience) as well as support team location in Latvia, which ensures easier communication.

No avoiding data integration

Many companies may also use similar applications, but the problem is that they don’t know how to integrate the system into the company's internal processes and ensure that data collected are automatically integrated into the accounting system. The data are still having to be entered manually into the accounting system. Thanks to its API solution, the Sage HR personnel management software is capable of conversing with virtually any other software system which also has an API solution. Deloitte Latvia, however, knows how to integrate systems with different tools, thus significantly improving processes.

Advantages of the cloud solution

The service offer by Sage HR is a cloud-based solution, not software installed on enterprise servers. One of the advantages is the free updates that are automatically available to all customers at once. The service price is calculated every month dynamically by how many of the company's employees are using Sage HR. A special added value is also Sage HR’s mobile iOS and Android smartphone applications that many competitors do not offer. So, you don't have to work on paper anymore, because all the data you enter, for example. employee absences are automatically entered into the accounting system.

Sage HR software also offers special features such as employee 360-degree assessment, expense administration, timesheets, and onboarding-offboarding, which means various processes related to hiring and dismissal. Many manual steps are eliminated, and the company can save time and focus on its business, so it can be more efficient and competitive on the market. Administration expenses, such as receipts for business lunches, are easy to photograph using a mobile phone and upload using Sage HR mobile app. The cost item will automatically be sent to the direct manager for approval. It is also easy to carry out an employee assessment on the go or outside of the country.

Specialists must know how to work with technological solutions

Digital solutions offered on the market today are designed more for medium-sized and large enterprises, as their implementation is quite time consuming, costly, and requires special knowledge and skills. I am confident that with time the role of the accountant will change from a simple data recorder to a person capable of handling the latest technological solutions, or at least able to track, control the flow of data, information and documents. Currently, there is still a very large number of accountants doing manual work, but in the coming years there is likely to be a demand for accountants able to work with the latest technological solutions, thus automating the company's processes.

Cooperation must always be carefully considered

Cooperation of both a large company and its new partners needs to be carefully considered. For the smaller company (especially if it is a newly established company) cooperation with large and well-known companies is appealing, yet the newer ones have to work pretty hard to meet all the demands of big companies. Meeting their demands can require large investments, which can sometimes discourage smaller businesses from collaborating with big market players. For their part, large companies may be at risk from the smaller partner’s stability and dependability, but the smaller company can compensate with flexibility, ability to meet the needs of the client, and readiness to make greater contractual concessions than players already recognized on the market. Pricing policy also tends to be more flexible.

One hand washes the other

Collaboration with a start-up is a viable model in the Latvian economy, as it grows into a stable partnership as the new company evolves. We need each other, help each other and move one another ahead. Sage HR, until recently called a start-up, has gained a business partner with good name and a team of professionals able to interpret the client's and legal requirements, thus improving its system. In turn, we find useful the flexibility of Sage HR and their skills that we don\’t have, and which help to sell accounting services, offering interesting and innovative solutions.

Each company has customers for whom the other company’s services are useful. Those who use personnel management solutions may find they need payroll services and vice-versa.

Cooperation with Sage HR was mutually advantageous, because Sage HR in addition to employee absence records, developed timesheets and, in collaboration and communication with the customer, also improved the customer’s system, adjusting it to legal and tax requirements, as well as to everyday needs. Working together, we gained experience and improved the product so that it could be used by other customers.