Inter Cars Ukraine is part of the Inter Cars Group network, founded by the Polish company Inter Cars S.A. – the largest distributor of auto parts and auto products in Central and Eastern Europe. Suppliers of spare parts are well-known and reliable manufacturers, including Bosch, ZF, Valeo, Schaeffler, Continental, SKF, KYB, febi, Meylе, DRiV, NGK. Key clients of Inter Cars Ukraine are auto repair shops, transport companies and auto shops, for which a full cycle of services is implemented – from sales to logistics and technical support.
In the modern distribution industry, HR and Payroll processes are not easy, especially if they are carried out manually by a small staff of specialists. The presence of numerous branches, warehouses and points of sale in the company adds specific challenges. Different cities may have different tariffs, payment terms, additional payments and compensations that require careful calculation and monitoring. Each branch may have its own requirements for financial management and reporting, requiring integration with the general accounting system. Without tools that ensure effective work in the conditions of such multitasking, it is quite difficult for one specialist or a small department to cope with these challenges. Therefore, Inter Cars Ukraine turned to SMART business for expertise to find a solution for these tasks.
As a powerful player in the market of distribution of auto parts and auto products, Inter Cars Ukraine understands like no one else that timely replacement of a worn-out part with a high-quality and new one can protect the mechanism from unwanted breakdowns. The company adheres to this principle in optimizing its business processes, implementing modern solutions for automation and growth. One of such upgrades was the migration of payroll and HR accounting processes to SMART Payroll, a solution based on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central from SMART business. Therefore, we’re sharing insights on the implementation.
Structure of operational processes before the implementation of the new solution and the prerequisites for migrating to the new system
Inter Cars Ukraine, having a large branch network, each of which maintains its own accounting and HR records according to separate regulations and schedules, needed to optimize business processes. Different dates for closing financial transactions, accrual of individual payments and tax deductions complicated centralized management and control, which created a huge burden on accounting and HR specialists.
Before implementing the solution from SMART business, the customer had two separate systems: one for HR processes, and another one – for payroll activities. Two separate, unconnected products required more time for separate data entry, which increased the risk of human errors. In addition, when data is taken from different sources, it is more difficult to analyze it comprehensively. Another inconvenience that they wanted to get rid of was the manual calculation of wages for each period, which was carried out in different tables. Therefore, the company was looking for a solution that would combine business processes into one convenient system, providing:
- centralized accounting of wages with automation of the accrual process for all branches, reducing the amount of manual work due to unified control and standardization of procedures. At the same time, the system had to consider the individual work regulations of various branches,
- HR accounting focused on the convenient maintenance of a single database of employees of all branches with the ability to record personal data and job responsibilities in detail. The solution also had to ensure automation of the processes of hiring, firing and moving employees between branches, etc.,
- automation of timekeeping for each branch, considering local work schedules,
- generation of the necessary reports for each branch and centralized compilation of consolidated reports for the company as a whole,
- compliance with changes in legislation and consideration of regulatory requirements and standards of accounting and maintaining personnel records of Ukraine.
The functionality of SMART Payroll fully allowed to implement all the above-mentioned requirements of Inter Cars Ukraine, since the system is localized and fully adapted to the needs of Ukrainian business, in particular the specifics of the distribution industry.
How the implementation partner was chosen and how the established business processes were migrated to SMART Payroll
The positive experience of working with SMART business played a key role in choosing a partner. Our entire team was very pleased with the previous implementation of SMART Accounting: planning, post-support, quick custom developments – everything was at the highest level. Therefore, we were confident that this time the cooperation would be just as easy and productive.
In addition to the successful previous case with SMART business, the choice of a new solution and implementation partner was influenced by several other key factors that should be noted. Inter Cars preferred a solution that would allow for flexible implementation of useful customizations for their business processes. Since SMART Payroll is an addition to the international Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central ERP system, this opened a wide range of opportunities for the development and strengthening of various areas of the company’s activities. Another attractive advantage was the versioning of the solution and regular updates in accordance with the current legislation of Ukraine, concerning any calculations. Thus, the customer received an international level system localized for local needs.
As for customization and additional configuration of the solution, the SMART business team faced several difficult tasks. Firstly, to generate reports, it was necessary to organize an automatic division of expenses into administrative expenses and sales, since the main activity of Inter Cars Ukraine is distribution. Secondly, it was necessary to implement the ability to consider the requirement of the legislation on paying taxes on the income of branch employees to local budgets. The company has 35 such branches and for each of them, correct calculation and automatic reporting must be organized.
The launch of the new solution was scheduled for early 2024. Considering that SMART Payroll already contains all the necessary tools for work and is flexible for customization, the process of transition to the new system and further adaptation to it was quite fast. The coordination of the SMART business team with the Inter Cars Ukraine team ensured a quick migration, and already in January it was possible to fully upload the customer’s data for the entire 2023 to SMART Payroll. We started with personnel: first, we transferred information about all employees, including categories, length of service, etc. And already in February, we completely migrated to the new environment.
Inter Cars Ukraine appreciated the advantages of the new system from the first days and shared positive changes and results:
Of course, employees needed time to get used to it, but, as you know, you get used to good things quickly. Speaking about specific work cases, it has become much easier to keep track of vacations. If earlier we did calculations manually in tables, then with SMART Payroll it is enough to simply enter the period and then the system will automatically do everything for the user. In general, the solution is perfectly oriented towards working with payroll periods, because wherever you go in the accounting sphere, they are everywhere: periods of sick leave, vacations, days off at your own expense. The solution takes all this into account, optimizing processes. Thus, SMART Payroll allows you to accurately track and process data on sick leave, automatically considering the time of an employee’s absence due to illness and reflecting it in the payroll period. In general, automation has increased the productivity of the entire team and allowed us to devote more time to strategic issues.
First results of implementation and noticeable changes in the processes of accounting of wages and personnel of Inter Cars Ukraine
In the language of numbers, SMART Payroll helps to perform tasks on accounting of wages and personnel for 500 employees of Inter Cars Ukraine in 35 branches. According to specialists of the relevant departments, now such a huge amount of work feels much manageable.
One of the main tasks of the implementation was to separate accounting of wages for branches, since it relates to payment of taxes. For example, calculation of payments in Inter Cars Ukraine is carried out by the head office, however, in accordance with tax legislation, if certain employees work in other branches, the company must pay taxes at their location. SMART Payroll automated settlement operations for each of the 35 branches, which significantly simplified the life of specialists responsible for this part of the work.
The customer also noted the improvement of the process of exporting payroll sheets with the layout by ITN, which had previously been performed manually.
A separate challenge was the calculation of wages for employees who work a certain number of days in one branch, and the rest – in another and should receive wages in one accrual. Accordingly, a statement is submitted to the bank with the total amount for the employee, and not in separate parts. But thanks to industry experience and custom modification of the system, the SMART business team managed to successfully implement this request, which pleased the customer.
In addition to the key functionality, which was a priority for Inter Cars Ukraine, the customer successfully uses the timekeeping module, which ensures flexible customization of work schedules and calendars and provides the ability to automatically generate timesheets. Inter Cars Ukraine specialists also positively respond to the convenience of monitoring and reviewing the balance of vacation days on any date.
Further plans for scaling and cooperation of Inter Cars Ukraine with SMART business
Total turbulence – this is how Inter Cars Ukraine characterizes the work of a modern business in a full-scale war. Dedication and working at full capacity are a simple but effective formula for success that the company adheres to, maintaining its position as one of the leaders in its industry. The company continues to grow, optimizing business processes to continue to provide high quality services to its clients.
Undoubtedly, the constant strengthening of its position in the market creates conditions for the implementation of innovative solutions that strengthen the strategic operational areas of Inter Cars Ukraine. Therefore, the company plans to continue cooperation with the SMART business team and implement many more useful projects. So, looking forward to new success stories!
It is worth noting that the SMART business team’s portfolio includes a wide range of solutions that can improve the productivity of all areas of any company, regardless of its field of activity. Therefore, for a business to always work like a well-oiled machine, do not wait for the system to fail. Take care of its upgrade and improvement ahead of time! Work ahead of the curve to gain a competitive advantage, and we are ready to strengthen your ideas with our own expertise.
