Like many companies, with their technology infrastructure expanding through the mid-90s, Community Enterprises hired an in-house Information Technology coordinator.  However, they found that turnover in the position was quite high, and the lack of consistency lead to a myriad of problems with their technology infrastructure.

At the time of the request, most of these offices did not have Internet access, limiting the options for electronically submitting the payroll information.   With that consideration, IBS custom-developed a remote data entry system to be installed in each of the branch offices so that the timesheet data for that branch could be entered locally.  Each branch office would then transmit the timesheet information via direct modem connection, or via the internet where available, to a central computer at the payroll office.  After verifying the branches transmission, the application creates an export file that can be imported directly into the ADP software for payroll processing.

As part of the data transfer process, the branch location application automatically downloads data from the payroll office each week so that it always has a current list of its employees.  When entering timesheets, the list of employees is already on the screen and only the hours need to be entered.  The program can handle flat hourly rates or special rates based on job codes as well as piecework when conducted.

Several of the branches operate as temporary employment contractors. A second module was added to help those branches do their billing based on the number of hours worked.  This module enables the branches to generate invoices from the timesheet entries.  A third module enables detailed record keeping on the clients and contractors, hours worked and billed, and skills that the contractors have.  A query engine enables the users to pull up a list of available contractors based on skills, availability and other factors.