ISV Talks
ISV Talks
ISV Talks: Greenshades’ Approach to Payroll, HR, and Tax for ERP Clients
In this episode, host Carol Livingston chats with Jodi Thibedeau , Account Executive from www.Greenshades.com about their full-suite Payroll, HR, and Tax solutions tailored for Dynamics 365 BC, MS Dynamics GP, Acumatica, Sage Intacct, and Bullhorn. With deep HR and tax compliance roots and tech-savvy insights, Jodi outlines how Greenshades delivers transparency, flexibility, and financial control through its in-house payroll model.
Hear how the PowerBI integration brings data clarity for strategic decisions, why their upcoming Integration Hub will simplify ecosystem connectivity, and what the new CEO's arrival signals for Greenshades’ roadmap. Jodi also shares trends among channel partners—including the “payroll-first” migration approach—to help clients navigate GP sunset timelines and streamline legacy workarounds like manual spreadsheets and siloed processes.
COMPANY WEBSITE: www.Greenshades.com
Well, welcome to this episode of ISV Talks. I'm Carol Livingston from Dynamics Connections and your host of ISV Talks, and on this episode I have Jody from Green Shades. Welcome, Jody.
Speaker 2:Thank you, carol, appreciate the invite.
Speaker 1:So, Jody, could you introduce yourself and tell us how long you've been with Green Shades?
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely, my name is Jody Thibodeau. I'm an account been with Green Shades. Yeah, absolutely, my name is Jodi Thibodeau. I'm an account executive with Green Shades. Just a little bit about my background. I actually started out in HR. I did staffing and recruiting for over 15 years and ultimately ended up transitioning into technology and then married the two. So I've been consulting on HR technology for some time, but I've been with Green Shades for a couple of years now.
Speaker 1:Do you want to tell us a little bit about Green Shades, how long they've been around, a little bit about the company history?
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely so. Green Shades started in 2002. And, as most people that are familiar with us know, we started out as a tax solution complementing the Dynamics products, and then, understanding other gaps within the ERP system, started building out additional functionality HR so people could have pay stubs online and things like that and then, just kind of knowing the trajectory of where Dynamics was going, microsoft was going with the products, built out the payroll as well, so it's a full human capital management solution now.
Speaker 1:Nice, you can do a little deeper dive. What are your unique features and kind of give us a basic description of each of the products?
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely so. The solution at this point, because it's a full solution, is going to be your HR, your payroll and your tax. I think really differentiators, like what makes us different than what you find in the market often with payroll solutions, is that most payroll solutions that we're exposed to, are aware of, are outsourced payroll solutions and we are an in-house solution. And what's really cool about that? In my estimation because I've worked in both at this point, because I've been in this space for some time what's really cool about that? In my estimation, because I've worked in both at this point, because I've been in this space for some time what's really cool about that is that not only do we provide like flexibility, we allow our clients to see kind of what's behind the curtain, whereas most payroll solutions don't do that but we also allow them to maintain those financial controls. And so, for instance, with an outsource solution, when they hit submit on a payroll, that company is reaching into their accounts and impounding funds. We don't do that. So we allow them to keep those financial control. For instance, they're not having to maintain a tax float, they can pay their taxes when they're ready. And then also, I think, too, one of the things that I've noticed working with this product versus other products is just the visibility.
Speaker 2:In my past life, when it came to GL, I would ask a client when I onboarded them hey, can you shoot me your chart of accounts relative to payroll? They'd send it over and we would send it off to an IT guy. That was part of the implementation process. They would map all of it. Usually in fact every organization I ever worked with it was six to eight weeks and then we'd let them know that that mapping had been done.
Speaker 2:But the issue always became and the pain point was is that when they had to make changes in the GL, they would have to go through that process again because they had no visibility, no access to be able to do it on their own.
Speaker 2:And with us they have complete access to that. So they have the ability to go in and they can make those changes on their own because they can be behind the curtain and they can go in and do it themselves. They can be behind the curtain and they can go in and do themselves and with our 360 degree integrations because most payroll solutions only do 180, just push data out with those integrations that we have, if they make a change in the ERP, it's sinking back as well. So it kind of hits the easy button for them, and I think that support is actually another thing that's a differentiator. You think about those large payroll companies. They're calling into a 1-800 number and a massive call center and so any person that picks up the phone has never heard of them before that day. With us we're a smaller, more intimate environment, and so it's just a very different feel to the support for sure.
Speaker 1:Right, and do you have different levels of support available?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so funny that you should say that we have different ways to get support. There's the chat, the phone call. They can email in and if they email in, then somebody from support picks up the phone and calls them or gets back with them via email. But we actually just invested in a new support level calling in our strategic account management and so it's kind of a more high tier support system and those SAM managers are kind of responsible for quarterbacking, if you will, so they'll watch, kind of. Are there trends in the support that they need? Maybe it's because there's a lack of education because the product has changed and they're not familiar with the changes. That gives us the ability to be more proactive. I love it. Fabulous yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what a great idea, because then you can kind of get to know the people assigned, that you know those customers and kind of know what sort of a normal thing for them or if they have turnover at that customer, they can help them Absolutely.
Speaker 2:We also have a managed service program for those clients that are needing kind of more support. Maybe they've got a small team, or let's just say that the payroll person goes out on maternity leave and they have a gap there. They don't have anybody else that's educated. We have an internal team that will actually pick up and take on all of that and do their payroll for them, so we can kind of fill the gaps on that as well.
Speaker 1:That's awesome, yeah, so it kind of outsourced it temporarily in terms of the processing and some people use it always, so it's not necessarily just for gaps.
Speaker 2:Some people just don't want to. It's less expensive than having a person that's running those kinds of things, so sometimes they'll go ahead and take advantage of that as well.
Speaker 1:Nice. So what ERP products are you compatible with?
Speaker 2:Yeah, of course we're compatible with the Dynamics, with GP, with BC we're also we've expanded our footprint and we are integrated with Acumatica and Sage Intact now, as well, as Bullhorn is one of our big partners.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we do a lot in the staffing area.
Speaker 1:Right. So those partners that maybe are familiar with you on the Dynamics GP side, or now Business Central, it's good to know if they're also working in those other ERP channels too, right?
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely, and we're finding that more and more these days. Yeah, me too.
Speaker 1:So do you have any industries that you specialize or work in?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean we operate in a variety of industries but we do quite a bit in staffing, as I mentioned, a lot in healthcare, nonprofits, transportation, construction, kind of retail restaurants, anything like that. So probably the typical suspects, so to speak.
Speaker 1:So maybe just changing gears a little bit to kind of talk about some trends. I know there's been some changes. There's consolidations happening with partners and ISVs and what changes is GreenShade seeing over the last several years and what challenges do you think that VARs and customers are facing?
Speaker 2:So I think for clients, we see that things are becoming much more complex. Technology is becoming more complex, things are becoming more more regulatory, and so I think for the clients, they are leaning more heavily into those relationships with their bars to really get guidance, because it can be overwhelming. There's a lot going on and so I think they're just needing more strategic information and we are seeing, with everything that's going on right now, they really are moving towards wanting to streamline processes. I talk with people all the time that are saying we are still doing things so manually, and now's the time that we're going to change that. And I think for the VARs I mean having to react to market changes, with BP sun setting and different things going on that they're really having to build new strategies around supporting their clients purely those that have been supporting GP all these times and, to your point, just the differences in mergers and acquisitions and things are blending together. So there's been a lot of change in the last few years, for sure.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I feel like, yeah, the complexity is not going away the state level, local jurisdictions. You're in multiple states which a lot of businesses are or organizations.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, it's hard to keep up with. Yeah, well, and you just think about, like the big beautiful bill. I mean, we're getting ready to have more regulation change and, interestingly enough for those GP folks, alabama was the first one to kind of do one of these types of regulations. It was, I think, a year and a half ago. They decided not to tax overtime in their state, decided not to tax overtime in their state, and Microsoft GP said we're not going to update our software to deal with this. Here's a workaround, or call green shades. Now we've got the big beautiful bill, so we're like, okay, like what's going to happen now? Right, yeah, and so I think, I think clients are recognizing that they need to be in a more modern system, right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that makes sense. So kind of talking about customers and their stories, do you have a customer success story, how green shades help them be successful and why? Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. There's actually a couple that come to mind. Agape is one they do housing for challenged folks and they had been in GP, learned about the changes that were going to be happening with GP and, like I was saying, also knew that they needed to get into a better system to really help with their organization. They had lots of manual workarounds and things like that that they were dealing with and so they were like we've really got to progress our technology and they had been working with us for years with tax, as a lot of our clients have been, and so just kind of moved into the full suite of things and really saw some huge success.
Speaker 2:One of the things that was the most dramatic for me is that or hearing it was that it used to take them almost two full days to run their payroll and they were getting it done in half a day, so that was a 75% decrease in the amount of admin time that they were investing in just running payroll.
Speaker 2:They also indicated that because we were able to give them all of these conveniences and streamline things for them, that it improved their overall efficiency and accuracy, because if you think about it, if you have all of these manual processes, there's a lot of room for human error, and so it really made them considerably more efficient. So that was a really nice story. The other one which we talked a little bit about outsource versus in-house and Verus is another organization, a staffing company, and I said we do a lot in staffing, but they had been with one of the large payroll companies and what they had said was that they viewed the interface as being very antiquated, it was not flexible and pricing had become a real issue, and so they decided to move over. The other thing, actually, that they said was that they were not able to really get good integrations, and so in moving over to Green Shades, they actually achieved a four times reduction in their payroll costs in their payroll costs and yeah, which is huge. It's huge.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's recurring costs, right?
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, absolutely so. One of the things that's interesting about outsourced payroll companies is they are fairly transactionally focused and you've probably heard these stories. Every off cycle, payroll has an additional cost. Every form that goes out, all your W-2s at the beginning of the year is going to be an additional charge. We charge on a per-employee, per-month basis and it's flat, it's all-inclusive, so there are no hidden fees. So that helped them with the pricing, but then also being able to integrate because we have an open API integrate some of the programs that they were utilizing. They indicated that their error rate reduced from 3% to 0.5%. Wow, so big impact on how things were being done, for sure.
Speaker 1:So yeah, so it's kind of nice. It's funny how people like to be paid accurately too. Yeah, exactly, I knew, I know that it's funny.
Speaker 2:When I first came into this industry, one of the first bosses I ever had said to me she goes hey, this is an industry when you get in it, that when things go south it gets emotional fast, and it's true. So it really needs to be accurate and streamlined. Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there was a when I was working accounting we had in our payroll department a poster from the American Payroll Association that said payroll is the reason that people come to work.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there you go, absolutely.
Speaker 1:Motivated to make sure we did it right. To make sure we did it right, is there any just kind of changing gears, just sort of some trends that you're seeing, and what are some of the new things that you're looking to introduce to add value and help customers?
Speaker 2:Yeah, the SAM program that I mentioned is one up. That is a newer initiative for us and I'm super excited and we're already seeing impact from it, which has been fun because, like I think of one client, they actually were able to go onsite because it was local to one of the SAM managers and they let him know, kind of, what some of their frustrations were and he was quickly able to identify it was just a lack of education. He showed him how to do it and I mean immediately solved the issue for them and they had been just kind of creating workarounds, as we tend to do. But some of the other thing is is we are always investing significant amounts into R&D to always expand functionality, things like that, to address things that are going on. Some are vertical specific, some are purpose-built functionalities, things like that. For instance, we've done a lot of work.
Speaker 2:Staffing companies can be very complex on how they run payroll. I mean, you've got people all over the place multi-states, different companies, all of those things and so we've done quite a bit to address some of the complexities of that. We now have a integration with Power BI, so you start thinking about merging all of the data from your payroll and your HR so that you can make really good financial decisions in your organization and have that kind of visibility. One of the things that we're working on so this would be kind of a roadmap item is to really have an integration hub so that we can make it easier for clients to integrate all of those additional softwares that they might have into their HR software.
Speaker 1:So yeah, Great yeah, so a lot of different areas. It sounds like that you're looking to introduce value, so that's awesome.
Speaker 2:Anything else on the roadmap. I think it'll be interesting. I mean, as we talked briefly before we got started, we have a new CEO as of a couple of weeks ago, which is exciting, because when you bring new blood into an organization, you bring new ideas, new perspective, and so it'll be interesting to see, kind of right now I think that we're in a discovery kind of mode and then I'm sure that we will start to see my confidence that we'll start to see some different focuses and things that are on the roadmap for sure. So it's exciting time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, definitely yeah, and since you have the ability to integrate with so many different products, that makes it easier in the future to kind of continue to expand. Yeah, absolutely. What are some specific observations you've seen with the channel partners, either in Dynamics or any of the other channels, or even longtime partners? What are you seeing?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I think a couple of things that I'm seeing is, first of all and we kind of alluded to this before but just diversifying the business by working with additional ERP systems, and so I'm seeing more VARs that are kind of expanding their footprint and deciding to kind of have a bigger toolbox, so to speak. Obviously, there are those that are still very dynamics focused, but I am seeing more that are diversifying. Then I think, too, I am seeing definitely a greater push and urgency as far as migrating the GP clients. I think there's a pretty common thread in some of the conversations that I have that are if everybody decided to move from GP today, like we'd be in a panic because there would be more resources could deal with it.
Speaker 2:But on the flip side of that, if everybody waits until the last minute, it's going to be the same scenario and resources are going to be stretched, and so what I'm seeing pretty consistently is an effort to kind of almost bucket the client base and to say, okay, who are the I won't say early adopters, because obviously BC and some of these other products have been out there for a while, but who are the ones that are going to be more open to conversation, to move in the next year or two? And then who are those holdouts that are going to wait until the last minute?
Speaker 1:Yeah, and then, definitely, how about the approach of that? Maybe they move their payroll now and stay on GP for a little while longer and then migrate that to something else, but that way they already have their payroll. And it's because that's a big project just on its own Right and it's risky. Most people feel like, ok, I got to make sure that payroll is done. Yeah, done well and can integrate to whatever our future ERP is.
Speaker 2:So yeah, yeah, well, and this is exactly what Agape did when they moved. They weren't ready to make the move away from GP yet, but they wanted to get this stabilized. Because the reality is is, as you're saying, like payroll is such a pivotal area of functionality in an organization's operations that it gives people nightmares. That's the area that they get pause in. And so honestly, carol, to your point, we've seen probably the highest success when we see clients kind of compartmentalize and say, okay, I'm just going to attack this part of my transition, I'll worry about the bigger part of it later, the whole ERP. But let's, just because this is so regulatory and it's so crucial to operations, let's do this first and then, once it gets stabilized, take a deep breath and then we're ready for the ERP transition.
Speaker 2:And it's not to say it's always, we see them try to, we see them do it at the same time as well. But that becomes a little bit of a balancing act, and so, and you've got your resources effectively doing two implementations at the same time. Yeah, yeah. So I think the payroll first approach we've seen a lot of success with, for sure.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah, no, that, no. I think that's a great way to kind of look at it and that sort of reduces your risk. You can do it in phases. And when do they need to think about transitioning? I know there's some dates that Microsoft has set as far as like. If they're on Dynamics GP payroll, what do they need to kind of think about in terms of a timeline?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think it's 2029, maybe April, and I'm hoping that I'm not incorrect about this, but I think April is when they do the last updates and then later that year they stopped doing security patches as well, but I could be wrong on that and I should have those dates in my brain. But we are seeing a trend of clients getting more active. I think that this year, 2026 and 2027, will be the year that most people move.
Speaker 1:Okay, 26. So that that means you really need to start having those conversations now with their Microsoft partner or whoever they work with on the ERP side, and start planning and putting that first, because that worries me, because you won't have support from Microsoft after a certain point, or payroll tax updates and, as we know, it's pretty dynamic right and keeping up with all the changes.
Speaker 2:So yeah, absolutely so. Yeah, we're already sending educational stuff out, things on those dates, anything that we can do to support. So we're in conversation with them and I know a lot of the partners that I are working with are in conversation, like I said, trying to kind of bucket or tier who's going to go first, who's going to go after that wave, and then who are people who are going to wait until the last minute so that they're managing their client base.
Speaker 1:Not only for the client's sake, but just because of the amount of effort and resources it's going to take throughout the channel for that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1:So maybe we can go ahead and just kind of do our kind of last question is what is the main reason that people come talk to you? What are what's driving partners and customers to come speak with you?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think really, as I said, particularly when we look at some of our folks that are in older systems like a GP, is that they have so many manual workarounds, so many things that they're doing.
Speaker 2:I mean, I hear people that are still working in spreadsheets. Yeah, I had someone tell me recently that they were still collecting time on paper and they were managing PTO in a spreadsheet, and so I think that, with GP announcing that they're sunsetting, I think it has people's wheels turning and they're like okay if I have to make a change because they've hung in there this long, but they're like now's the time for me to really examine all of my technology. When everything is changing and this compliance landscape is changing, all of those kinds of things like now's the time for me to really look at my tech stack and improve my processes, particularly when you think about the market that we're in. I mean we have financial instability, our employment market, it's tough to find good people, and so we're all kind of operating lean and so streamlining processes so that you don't burn out your population and so potentially lose them, I mean becomes crucial.
Speaker 2:And then I think the other aspect of that is that, in financial uncertainty and things like that having visibility and everything, and so when you're operating in spreadsheets and things like that, you don't really have a good view of what's going on financially in your organization and so when you have that kind of visibility to run the reports, you have the integration with Power BI so that you can really get deep with it or whatever the case may be, and you have that information for good financial planning and labor planning and everything that goes into running an organization. So I think they're really taking a hard look at that right now. Makes sense, yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, thank you, jodi, for joining us today on this episode of ISV Talks. It was great to catch up with you and find out what's happening at Green Shades, and it looks like you guys are doing a great job. So thank you.
Speaker 2:Well. Thank you so much, Carol. It's always fun to talk with you and appreciate the opportunity to kind of talk with your clients as well. So if anyone would like more information whether it is for you, a client of yours, whatever the case may be please don't hesitate to reach out to me. My email is jtibideau. I'll spell that J-T-H-I-B-E-D-E-A-U at greenshadescom. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1:Yeah, thank you, and you can reach them also on their website at gogreenshadescom. So thank you again, jodi, and I'll see you on the next episode of ISV Talks. Bye-bye, folks, we'll see you next time.