Regio iT

“Thanks to the Stonebranch job control, we can now bill a large number of our SAP customers in a timesaving automated manner, create all the necessary follow-up activities on a company code basis, and make them available to each customer in the Business Workplace.”

-Diethard Matheis, Application Manager SAP HCM, regio iT

Key Outcomes

• Automated SAP payroll and recurring follow-up activities through centralized job control
• Reduced manual effort and errors by minimizing manual data entry
• Reliable downstream processing enabled by automatically identifying transfer data in SAP spool files
• Accelerated rollout across company codes using reusable, Excel-based process templates
• Improved monitoring and control of complex payroll accounting processes
• Time savings of approximately five days per month through more efficient process orchestration

Background

Payroll accounting is a time- and budgetcritical process that must meet strict legal requirements. For public-sector organizations, delays can add costs, increase manual workload, and introduce compliance risks. 

regio iT GmbH, the largest municipal IT service provider in North Rhine-Westphalia, supports municipalities, schools, energy suppliers, waste disposal companies, and non-profit organizations with strategic IT consulting, integration, infrastructure, and full-service IT operations. Headquartered in Aachen, with branches in Gütersloh and Siegburg, regio iT serves more than 44,790 clients with a team of around 630 employees. 

When regio iT moved to SAP HCM, the company needed a way to make payroll processing more efficient for its municipalities. To support this transition, regio iT selected the Stonebranch SAP job scheduling solution to automate and streamline payroll-related processes in SAP.

Challenges

As part of the SAP HCM migration, regio iT needed to replace its existing LOGA personnel management process for around 75 municipalities. The goal was to complete the transition for as many municipalities as possible within a short timeframe, using Kommunalmaster, a proven template from Komm.ONE, to support the SAP rollout. 

regio iT’s requirements were to:

• Support payroll processing reliably across multiple municipal environments
• Comply with strict legal requirements for payroll accounting
• Avoid delays that could result in additional costs or increased manual effort
• Manage complex SAP payroll processes consistently and efficiently
• Handle SAP job scheduling and related process steps, including spool file searches and downstream processing 

The Search

When evaluating a suitable job control tool, regio iT required a solution that could support complex SAP payroll processes, reduce manual effort, and improve process reliability. 

The Stonebranch SAP job scheduling solution met the key requirements. In particular, regio iT was impressed by the solution’s flexibility in searching SAP spool files for specific terms or identification numbers and making the results available for downstream processing.

The Solution

After a successful proof of concept for an initial, smaller process, the regio iT solution moved forward with implementing the workflows in Stonebranch. 

The solution’s flexibility quickly became clear, enabling additional SAP payroll processes to be mapped and automated. Despite an implementation window of less than three months, regio iT and Stonebranch worked closely together to adapt the solution to regio iT’s specific SAP payroll requirements and support the rollout across its municipal customers.

The Results

With the introduction of the Stonebranch solution, regio iT automated payroll and follow-up activities for over 100 company codes on time and without errors. The results are made available to customers in the SAP Business Workplace. 

Regio iT saves an average of four to five workdays per month and benefits from clear and visibility. Moreover, all relevant departments are integrated into the SAP HCM process. 

Today, the automated workflows support payroll for regio iT’s new SAP customers according to schedule, including payroll runs, payment file creation, reporting, and the transfer of reporting files to tax offices and social insurance agencies via B2A Manager. After each payroll run, logs can be reviewed and checked directly.