This IDEXX case study was presented at our recent Global Payroll Insights event in Amsterdam, by Cinzia Dalé (Payroll Manager EMEA) and Anna Kwiatkowska (Payroll Analyst EMEA).
IDEXX is a multinational powerhouse in the pet healthcare sector, employing over 10,000 people worldwide and providing veterinarian software & services to a global customer base across 175 countries. IDEXX’s EMEA payroll (the initial focus of its transformation with Payzaar) encompasses approximately 3,000 employees across 28 entities in 18 countries, with a fully outsourced model managed by multiple independent vendors. The company uses Workday HCM and SAP Finance & Accounting as its main corporate systems, and like many other companies has a multitude of other sources that flow into payroll for Time & Attendance, Commissions, Equity, and Benefits.
Prior to this transformation journey, IDEXX outlined the key focus areas of its EMEA payroll as:
- Reliable partnerships with (local) payroll providers
- Strict compliance with local & international requirements
- Accurate and efficient systems integration
- Strong data accessibility, management, and reportability
In April 2024, IDEXX started its journey with Payzaar to re-align its EMEA payrolls based on these guiding principles by standardizing its outsourced processes, strengthening compliance across disconnected providers, and enhancing its data collection and reporting capabilities. Let’s see how IDEXX’s transformation has progressed over the past year!
The Challenge: Outsourced Payroll Landscape with Manual Inefficiencies, Limited Systems Integration, and Insufficient Reporting
When Payzaar met IDEXX, the organization’s EMEA payroll was excited about new opportunity that Payzaar could bring to the landscape of IDEXX payroll.
“In one country we might have two, three or four entities with different CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) processes, which can be pretty complex. Even if it’s one country, it feels like four different countries that must be finalized within the cycle,” - Anna Kwiatkowska
As IDEXX’s EMEA payroll continued to grow, so did its list of opportunities to improve its current payroll operating model.
Key areas of improvement:
- Manual Inefficiencies: Payroll was overly dependent on manual processes and Excel, requiring data inputs to be repeated and validated across multiple systems and entities.
- Limited Standardization Capacity: Providers with entirely distinct payroll systems made it challenging to integrate software and standardize workflows, let alone improve and automate processes.
- Compliance Shortfalls: No central governance or unified data dashboard made ensuring compliance across the region a major challenge that could lead to audit trail challenges in some countries.
- Decentralized Reporting: Inconsistent reporting standards and inaccessible payroll data meant generating insights, KPIs, and accounting information required weeks of manual work.
“If I wanted to get an annual [payroll] report of all countries for January to December, I would need to pull one report per month for each entity. 12 reports for 28 different entities. That’s 336 files in different formats to be combined together to make one report. It’s about a month of work.” - Anna Kwiatkowska
Decision Drivers: Flexibility, Reporting, and Compliance Across The Region
In order to address these challenges, IDEXX needed a solution that could unify their diverse EMEA payroll landscape, while also putting in place long-term processes that could be rolled out on a targeted country-by-country, provider-by-provider basis.
“Flexibility was the key word for us because we really wanted to have the power to choose the provider we want to work with. Sometimes we might have different needs in different regions, but also within each country. What Payzaar allowed us to do was choose which provider we work with and which modules we wanted to start with.” - Cinzia Dalé
What made Payzaar the right choice?
- Configuration & Control: Direct access to all vendors and ability for Payzaar to onboard IDEXX existing payroll providers of which some are within the existing Payzaar network. Plug-and-play implementation allowed for the onboarding of countries and modules as needed.
- Central Governance: Payzaar enabled process standardization and data integration to and from their internal source systems and various payroll providers across all entities.
- Reporting & Accounting Connect: Self-service, multi-currency reporting, and seamless integration of GL files in the data model and format required by IDEXX’s Finance & Accounting software (SAP).
- Compliance & Security: Secure communication systems and GDPR-compliant data security, removing the need for email or other platforms.
- Accuracy & Efficiency: Automated input vs. output data validation replaced time-consuming and error-prone manual, spreadsheet-based reconciliations.
The Solution: Plug-And-Play, The Payzaar Way
IDEXX kicked off its phased rollout in April 2024 by taking crucial first steps to address its primary workflow concerns: data collection, standardization, and the ability for true self-service reporting.
“Reporting for us was priority #1 in 2024. The function of payroll is really changing because our data is highly requested in the company for FP&A, equity pay, gender pay gaps. We wanted to be more agile and more prepared for that.” - Cinzia Dalé
Starting with Payzaar’s Reporting & Analytics module in all EMEA entities, IDEXX was quickly able to harmonize its payroll data in an accessible, self-service dashboard to enable real-time analytics and informed decision-making. To further capitalize on this reporting and data consolidation efforts, IDEXX also implemented Payzaar’s Accounting Connect module across the entire region to automate the GL file and journal with the future option from accounting team to access GL directly in Payzaar.
“Accounting also has very strict deadlines. We really wanted to have more flexibility once again to provide the data they need by the time that they need it,” - Cinzia Dalé
Based on the success of this initial rollout, IDEXX expanded its Payzaar services at the beginning of 2025 with the addition of the HR Connect and Operations Control modules in its major EMEA entities, including Germany which is one of the company’s largest payrolls in the region. With the implementation of these modules, IDEXX made important strides towards its transformational goals of process standardization, universal compliance, and increased data protection.
“Having one place with secure communication, GDPR compliance, and data security was a must for us,” - Cinzia Dalé
The Results: Accessibility, Accountability, and Opportunity For Growth
One year into its transformative journey with Payzaar, IDEXX has already witnessed monumental improvements across their EMEA payroll landscape with widespread systems optimization and a new level of empowerment for payroll professionals.
While the journey is still ongoing, the key outcomes so far have included:
- Reporting & Accounting Integration: Central reporting hub, standardized gross-to-net data, and automated GL
“Once Gross-to-Net is mapped in Payzaar, the maintenance is actually much easier.” - Anna Kwiatkowska
- Increased Accuracy & Security: With full control and clear visibility, the IDEXX team has gained confidence in the data accuracy and compliance procedures of its EMEA payroll providers.
- Standardization & Innovation: Reduced manual interventions, enhanced workflow automation, and integration of innovative tools have led to notable process improvements and efficiency gains across the region’s payroll operations.
“It’s an opportunity in terms of saving more time. More technology, less manual work.” - Cinzia Dalé
- Enhanced Technical Knowledge: Payzaar’s intuitive and code-free solution allows team members to gain in-depth knowledge and expertise to boost the professional development and overall data savviness of key team members.
Looking to the future
Now that the initial implementation phase is complete and IDEXX has begun to reap the rewards of its newly digitized EMEA payroll, 2025 is set to be a year of refinement and expansion.
- Self-service maintenance of Reporting & Analytics and Accounting Connect modules and deeper exploration of Payzaar’s strong analytical capabilities with key stakeholders.
- Collaboration with other departments and partners to further improve internal GL reporting processes.
- Roll out HR Connect and Operations Control modules in remaining EMEA countries to establish further standardization across the region.
As IDEXX continues to leverage Payzaar’s innovative technology, there is an opportunity to introduce Payzaar in other IDEXX Regions
“From input to output to reports, Payzaar has been beneficial in terms of innovation and opportunity. This is the reason why we followed with the rest of the entities, and with the possibility to open the door for other regions at IDEXX,” - Cinzia Dalé
To watch Anna and Cinzia speak about IDEXX's transformation from our recent Payzaar event in Amsterdam, check out the full video case study or the video highlights below:
If you want to learn more about how Payzaar can transform your payroll operations, contact us here.
