Starting the conversation: your payroll and HR landscape

• Tell me about your current payroll and HR system, including the main pain that keeps you up at night.
• On a typical pay period, how many manual overrides, adjustments, or off-cycle checks does your payroll team perform? Options: 0-5, 6-20, 21-50, 51-100, More than 100
• Walk me through the steps from a new hire entering your HR records to that person appearing on the first payroll run.
• How many distinct pay schedules do you run across certificated, classified, and other staff in a given year? Options: 1-2, 3-4, 5-7, 8 or more
• Who on your team owns salary schedule changes and where are those schedules stored today? Options: Payroll manager, HR director, Business office, School administrator, External consultant, Other
• Describe a recent payroll mistake that caused the most disruption and what it cost in time, staff hours, or remediation steps.

Where the current system really trips you up

• If accurate payroll were non-negotiable, which recurring failure in your current process would make you walk away immediately?
• Which types of state retirement reporting errors occur most often for you, and select all that apply. Options: Missing service dates, Wage or salary mismatch, Incorrect retirement code or tier, Duplicate records, Other
• When a mid-year step or lane change happens, where in the chain does it usually break and who finds out first?
• How often do substitute and absence records require duplicate entry between systems, and how much staff time does that consume weekly? Options: Never, Occasionally, <5 hrs, Often, 5-15 hrs, Regularly, 15-40 hrs, Daily, 40+ hrs
• What downstream consequences have you measured from payroll errors, for example HR tickets, employee morale impact, or financial penalties?

Hidden costs and compliance risks we should surface now

• What financial or compliance penalties have you faced in the last three years related to retirement reporting, taxes, or late filings? Options: None, Minor (<$5k), Moderate ($5k-$25k), Significant (>$25k), Prefer not to say
• Who currently signs and certifies your state retirement submissions and do they have access to test exports today? Options: Payroll manager, HR director, Business office, External auditor, Other
• Tell me about your reconciliation cadence for parallel payroll runs and how many discrepancies typically remain after the second pass.
• How many external auditors or reviewers need direct payroll access during an audit window? Options: 0, 1-2, 3-5, 6-10, More than 10
• If a retirement report failed state validation in a go-live test, what maximum number of reporting errors would be acceptable to still proceed? Options: 0, 1-5, 6-20, More than 20

How exceptions actually get handled in your day-to-day

• Walk me through the most common payroll exception you process each month and why it has resisted automation.
• Which roles create extra-duty, stipend, or adjunct pay entries and where are the supporting agreements or contracts stored? Options: Payroll, HR, Principals, Business office, External storage, Other
• When an employee changes FTE or job assignment mid-year, who updates position control and how is payroll notified?
• How do you currently enforce position budget checks before a hire or payment is approved? Options: Automated system checks, Manual spreadsheet reconciliation, Budget owner sign-off, Not enforced consistently, Other
• Describe the approval path and typical turnaround time when exceptions need principal, HR, or board approval.

Position control and budget alignment, the real visibility question

• On any given day, how visible are open positions versus budgeted FTE at the school level? Options: Real-time visibility at school level, Daily reconciliation, Weekly manual reports, Monthly or on-demand only, No reliable visibility
• Identify the role responsible for reconciling position control to payroll deductions and how often that reconciliation runs. Options: Payroll manager, HR director, Budget analyst, Business office, School admin, Other
• During your annual back-to-school hiring surge, what is the typical number of manual hires or payroll adjustments caused by late hires or missing contracts? Options: Fewer than 10, 10-50, 51-150, 151-500, More than 500
• Name the specific position control mismatch that would block a go-live decision if it could not be reconciled.
• Where do you store position descriptions and do those records link to budget codes today? Options: HRIS, Shared drive, Spreadsheet, Finance system, Not stored centrally, Other

Integrations, data flows, and the technical gates

• List the third-party systems that must exchange data with your payroll platform before go-live. Options: Student information system (SIS), Time and attendance, Substitute management, Benefits carrier, State retirement system, General ledger, Other
• Please identify the team or person who provides API access to your SIS and whether there is a dedicated technical contact.
• Are integration endpoints available for your substitute management system and does it export payroll-level wage codes? Options: Yes, full API, Partial API or webhooks, File exports only, No integration available, Unknown
• How clean is your employee and position data, for example duplicate records, missing identifiers, or inconsistent job codes? Options: Mostly clean, Some clean-up required, Significant clean-up required, Not ready for migration
• Assuming APIs are unavailable, what tolerance do you have for file-based integrations and how often can those extracts be produced? Options: Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Ad-hoc on request
• Identify the system that controls tax jurisdictions and retirement enrollment flags and whether those values can be exported. Options: SIS, Payroll system, HRIS, Benefits vendor, Other

People, process, and who owns this once it is live

• Imagine you could assign one full-time resource to the implementation, where would that person deliver the most value?
• List the internal groups that must be involved in testing parallel payroll runs and who will authorize final sign-off. Options: Payroll, HR, Finance/Budget, IT, School administration, Procurement, Other
• Estimate the IT or vendor hours per week your team can commit during the configuration and testing window. Options: <10 hrs/week, 10-25 hrs/week, 26-50 hrs/week, 51-100 hrs/week, 100+ hrs/week
• Point to the person or role within HR who controls access provisioning and whether existing role templates are available to reuse. Options: Yes, templates exist, No, templates needed, Partial templates available, Not sure
• Talk about how change management was handled for earlier system rollouts and what made adoption easier or harder.

Competitive landscape and the other paths on your table

• Name the alternatives you are actively evaluating today, including the incumbent, other vendors, and any internal build options.
• Explain what would have to be true about the current approach for you to stay with it instead of switching.
• Has anyone inside your district proposed solving this with in-house development, and if so what resources or timeline did they estimate? Options: Yes, small team, Yes, large team, No internal proposal, Discussion only
• Among your procurement or board criteria, rank the top three priorities, for example cost, local support, retirement reporting accuracy, or contract terms. Options: Cost, Local support, Retirement reporting accuracy, Integration with SIS, Total implementation time, References in-state
• Point to the internal obstacle that would still stop procurement from approving the contract even if a pilot proves payroll accuracy and retirement reporting.

Readiness, constraints, and the gating items that set timelines

• For a configuration window to start, what are the absolute gating items in terms of integrations, approvals, or data cleanses?
• Provide the name and role of the person who will own data migration and say whether they have final decision authority on data mapping.
• Are there vendor security or background check requirements that must be completed before onsite access is granted? Options: Yes, background checks, Yes, security questionnaire, Both, None
• How ready is your payroll historical data for migration, for example are job codes standardized and pay rates tied to step schedules? Options: Mostly ready, Some mapping and cleanup needed, Extensive cleanup required, Not ready
• Explain your fallback plan for payroll continuity if a required integration cannot be completed within the cutover window.

Decision drivers and next steps that accelerate timelines

• Assuming a pilot proves payroll exceptions drop materially and retirement reports match state files, what internal barrier would still prevent a quick signature?
• Select up to three measurable success signals that would make your CFO greenlight purchase. Options: Payroll error rate reduction, State report match rate, Time saved on payroll processing, Fewer manual adjustments, Reduced employee payroll inquiries, Faster new-hire onboarding
• State your target go-live quarter and indicate whether those dates are fixed or flexible. Options: This quarter, fixed, This quarter, flexible, Next quarter, fixed, Next quarter, flexible, Within 6 months, No target yet
• Provide the roles that need to be present for a pilot or proof-of-concept and name who will evaluate its success. Options: Payroll lead, HR director, Finance/Budget lead, IT lead, School principal, Procurement
• How quickly can procurement review a signed statement of work and return comments? Options: Immediately, 1-3 business days, Within 1 week, 2-3 weeks, A month or longer, Unknown
• Finally, are there recent implementation references at comparable districts you want to see and which filters matter most, for example state, size, or payroll complexity? Options: State, District size (FTE), Number of pay schedules, Similar retirement system, No references needed

• Solution Experience — Payroll & HR Scenarios

• Confirm the current state and its cost
• You confirm the demonstrated payroll flow eliminates the manual overrides and reduce the rework you described.
• Provide three representative payroll scenarios as CSVs, including one with stipend/extra-duty and one with a mid-year step change, plus the salary schedule file and a recent state retirement extract showing the mismatch.
• You confirm the retirement report produced from the platform matches your state sample or identify any remaining data gaps to resolve.
• Proof, payroll accuracy with your scenario
• Provision access to a sandbox payroll environment or provide a sanitized data export so the seller can run the test payroll scenarios.
• Seller to configure and execute a test payroll run using the provided scenarios and deliver a reconciliation report showing first-pass results and any remaining exceptions.
• You confirm position control and substitute sync remove the need for duplicate data entry and surface vacancies against budget in real time.
• Proof, salary schedule and multi-schedule handling
• Seller to prepare a salary-schedule configuration worksheet mapping your step-and-lane rules to the platform and bring it to the follow-up session for sign-off.
• Agreement on the remaining evidence required before a decision, for example a seller-run parallel payroll and reference checks.
• Proof, retirement reporting reconciliation
• Proof, position control and substitute integration
• Identify the 3 stakeholders who will review the parallel payroll results and accept retirement reporting accuracy for go/no-go decisions.
• Validate alignment with your needs

• Solution Experience — Payroll & HR Scenarios
• Solution Experience Deck
• Solution Brief — Payroll & HR Scenarios

• meeting
• slides
• document

• Migrate employee and payroll records
• Configure position control with budget integration
• Configure salary schedules and step-and-lane rules
• Setup contract-driven compensation templates
• Deploy multi-schedule payroll processing
• Perform payroll parallel testing and reconciliation
• Configure state retirement reporting and submissions
• Integrate substitute management and dispatch
• Implement electronic onboarding and e-signature
• Enable employee self-service portal
• Deploy benefits enrollment and deduction management
• Import historical payroll tax and retirement history
• Configure HR analytics dashboards and reports
• Deliver payroll and HR staff training

Migrate employee and payroll records

• Do you need full employee demographic and historical payroll pay runs migrated or only a specific historical range? Options: Full history (all years), Current and prior 3 years, Current year only, Custom range - describe
• How many employee records (active and terminated) need migration from your current payroll system? Options: Less than 1,000, 1,000-5,000, 5,001-20,000, More than 20,000
• Which source systems hold your payroll and HR master data that will be extracted for migration (legacy payroll export, district HRIS, benefits vendor, spreadsheets)? Options: Legacy payroll export, District HRIS, Benefits vendor export, Spreadsheet exports, Other
• Who will own field-level validation (employee ID matching, pay code mapping, position ID reconciliation) on your side during migration?
• What format do your payroll history exports arrive in (CSV with headers, fixed-width, database dump, other)? Options: CSV with header columns, Fixed-width text, Database export (SQL dump), Other
• What acceptance criteria will confirm employee and payroll migration is complete (for example: record count parity, sample payroll register parity of 99.5%, and signed payroll supervisor approval)?

Configure position control with budget integration

• When do you plan to cut over position control to the platform relative to your fiscal year and budget approval milestone? Options: Before fiscal year start, During budget build, After budget approval, Other
• What is the required frequency of position-to-budget synchronization for budget monitoring (real-time, nightly batch, weekly, monthly)? Options: Real-time, Nightly batch, Weekly, Monthly
• Are there existing position numbering conventions, object code mappings, or FTE rules that must be preserved in the integration? Options: Yes, No
• How will you handle vacant positions and FTE adjustments during the annual back-to-school staffing surge (automatic roll-forward, manual approval, hybrid)? Options: Automatic roll-forward, Manual approval required, Hybrid
• Please list the top 3 finance ledgers or budget systems your position control must post to or reconcile with.
• Which payroll charge distribution rules (object codes, percentage splits, position cost pools) should be enforced by position control?

Configure salary schedules and step-and-lane rules

• Do you require multiple certificated and classified salary schedule templates configured per collective bargaining agreements? Options: Yes, No
• Which salary schedule attributes must be supported (annual salary, hourly rate, stipend lines, longevity/anniversary steps)? Options: Annual salary, Hourly rate, Stipends/extra-duty, Longevity/anniversary steps
• How will you provide salary schedule source files (spreadsheet by lane, legacy system export, or contract excerpts)? Options: Spreadsheet by lane (recommended), Legacy export, PDF/contract excerpts, Other
• Who signs off on salary schedule mapping and step rules in your HR or payroll leadership?
• Which rounding or minimum salary rules (for example round to cents, minimum step increments) must the platform apply during retroactive adjustments? Options: Round to cents, Round to nearest dollar, Minimum step increment (specify), Other
• How will you measure correctness of step-and-lane calculations during testing (sample employee list, variance threshold, signed review)?

Setup contract-driven compensation templates

• Please provide sample certificated and classified contract templates that define salary placement, extra-duty clauses, and effective dates.
• Which systems need to receive outputs from contract-driven compensation (payroll, position control, absence/substitute)? Options: Payroll, Position control, Absence/substitute, Other
• What fields from the contract must flow into payroll (contract ID, FTE, paid days, stipend codes)?
• Do you have preferred naming conventions or version control for contract templates? Options: Yes, No
• How should out-of-cycle contract changes (mid-year lane changes, stipend additions) be routed for approval and recorded? Options: Manager approval workflow, HR approval only, Payroll approval required, Other
• Which user roles should be able to create, edit, or approve contract templates? Options: HR director, Payroll supervisor, School administrator, Other

Deploy multi-schedule payroll processing

• How frequently do you run payroll schedules of different cadences (monthly certificated, biweekly classified, semi-monthly admin)? Options: Monthly, Biweekly, Semi-monthly, Combination
• Do you need the platform to support off-cycle or supplemental payroll runs for stipends and extra-duty? Options: Yes, No
• Which pay components require proration across multiple schedules (backpay, stipends, retroactive adjustments)?
• Who will own scheduling and pay cycle configuration in your payroll team?
• What payroll processing window do you require (how many business days from close to pay file generation) for each schedule? Options: 1 business day, 2-3 business days, More than 3 business days
• Are any custom local tax calculations or district-specific deductions required for particular employee groups? Options: Yes, No

Perform payroll parallel testing and reconciliation

• Please list the key payroll registers and reports you will use for parallel testing (gross-to-net register, general ledger export, tax summaries).
• How will parallel-run data be provided — live parallel in the payroll engine, masked production extracts, or staged imports? Options: Live parallel, Masked production extracts, Staged imports
• Which variance thresholds will mark a payroll reconciliation exception (for example $5 per employee, $10 per employee, 0.5% of net pay)? Options: $5 per employee, $10 per employee, 0.5% of net pay, Custom - specify
• What sample size do you require for reconciliation sign-off (all employees for one pay period, 10% sample, targeted high-risk groups)? Options: All employees for 1 pay period, 10% sample, High-risk positions only, Custom
• What acceptance criteria will confirm successful parallel payroll testing (for example: reconciliation within chosen thresholds and signed approvals from payroll supervisor and business official)?
• Who will own reconciliation task assignments and remediation tracking during parallel testing?

Configure state retirement reporting and submissions

• Which state retirement plans and reporting formats must be supported for your staff (defined benefit reporting, contribution files, service month records)?
• Please provide a sample state retirement extract or previously submitted report (anonymized) to confirm field mapping needs.
• Do you require automated pre-submission validation to detect mismatched contribution totals or missing service months? Options: Yes, No
• How frequently do you submit retirement reports to the state (monthly, quarterly, annual reconciliation)? Options: Monthly, Quarterly, Annual, Other
• What evidence will validate successful state retirement reporting during acceptance (state file format pass, sample upload accepted by state portal, and agreed reconciliation process)?
• Which integration endpoints must receive retirement exports (state portal SFTP, web API, vendor portal)? Options: SFTP, Web API, Vendor portal, Other

Integrate substitute management and dispatch

• Are there existing substitute management vendors or local dispatch feeds you currently use that require an integration endpoint? Options: Yes, No
• Which absence and substitute scheduling artifacts must sync (absence requests, assignment rosters, certified days, substitute pay codes)?
• Who will own testing and acceptance of the substitute dispatch interfaces on your side (absence coordinator, payroll supervisor)?
• Do substitutes currently receive payslips from your payroll system or a separate vendor and should that change at cutover? Options: Payroll system, Separate vendor, Both, Do not know
• How should substitute pay rules be handled for same-day fills, long-term assignments, or overtime in the integration mapping? Options: Map to same pay codes, Use override workflow, Custom rules - describe
• What key fields must flow to the substitute dispatch endpoint (employee ID, assignment date, hours, pay code, work location)?

Implement electronic onboarding and e-signature

• Do you need electronic capture of I-9, W-4, and credential documents as part of onboarding? Options: Yes, No
• How many new hires do you onboard annually during peak season that will use e-onboarding? Options: Less than 500, 500-2,000, 2,001-10,000, More than 10,000
• Which downstream systems must receive onboarding outputs (payroll employee file, benefits vendor, HRIS)? Options: Payroll, Benefits vendor, HRIS, Other
• Are there existing background check or credential verification providers that should be called from the onboarding workflow? Options: Yes, No
• Who will own collection and verification of electronic signatures and credential documents in your organization?
• What retention policy must e-signature and onboarding documents meet for state education compliance (retention years, access controls)?

Enable employee self-service portal

• Which employee groups should have self-service access (classified staff, certificated teachers, administrators, substitutes)? Options: Classified staff, Certificated teachers, Administrators, Substitutes
• What employee record updates should staff be allowed to make (address, tax forms, direct deposit, emergency contacts)? Options: Address, Tax forms (W-4), Direct deposit, Emergency contacts, Other
• Do you need in-portal guidance or step-by-step help when staff change salary or tax elections to reduce HR support tickets? Options: Yes, No
• How will you verify identity for self-service changes (single sign-on, verification code, SSN last 4)? Options: Single sign-on (SSO), Verification code, SSN last 4, Other
• What approval SLA should be enforced for approvals triggered by self-service changes (for example payroll admin approves within 2 business days)? Options: 1 business day, 2 business days, 5 business days, Other
• How will you measure success of the employee self-service portal post go-live (reduced HR tickets, percent of staff using portal, time-to-complete forms)?

• Subscription Order Form
• Master Services Agreement (MSA)
• Statement of Work (SOW)
• Service Level Agreement (SLA)
• Data Processing Agreement (DPA)
• Public Sector Procurement & Security Addendum
• Payment & Invoice Schedule
• Change Order Agreement
• Acceptance & Go/No-Go Criteria

• Go-Live Health Check (Week 1-4)
• First Measurement Review (Week 4-10)
• 90-Day Realization Review (Day ~90)
• Quarterly Success Review (Ongoing, quarterly)

• Schedule role-based refresher training sessions for payroll administrators if adoption metrics indicate a need.
• Outcomes vs Solution Scope targets
• Document the current state of outcomes against the specific numeric targets recorded in Solution Scope without re-running the earlier go/no-go decision.
• Confirm legacy system decommissioning or read-only retention and verify data archive completeness.
• Agree the remediation plan and timeline to close remaining critical issues and reach agreed steady-state metrics.
• Produce a 90-day outcomes summary that maps each measured metric to its target in Solution Scope and circulate to stakeholders.
• Execute legacy system wind-down tasks: finalize archive, set read-only status or terminate production access, and document fallback closure.
• Create a remediation tracker with named owners and completion dates for all critical open issues.
• KPI dashboard review
• Confirm KPIs remain within agreed tolerance or document corrective steps if they deviate from targets recorded in Solution Scope.
• Prioritize the enhancement backlog and agree which items will be addressed operationally versus deferred to product roadmaps.
• Ensure a plan is in place to close any persistent adoption or training gaps within the coming quarter.
• Update the KPI dashboard and circulate a short quarter-over-quarter summary with trends and actions.
• Publish the prioritized enhancement list for the next quarter with acceptance criteria for each item.
• Re-confirm success criteria and owners
• Verify no unresolved payroll-blocking defects remain after the initial live payroll runs.
• Confirm owners for the success criteria recorded in Solution Scope and establish hypercare escalation contacts.
• Agree immediate remediation actions for the top 3 open issues with clear next steps.
• Publish the hypercare issue log with owners and next-step actions for each high-priority item.
• Execute the agreed fix for any payroll run blocker and confirm in the issue log when verified.
• Circulate a short status update to the agreed escalation list within 48 hours after the meeting.
• Present metric trends
• Determine whether payroll error rate is trending toward the target recorded in Solution Scope and identify blockers if not.
• Confirm whether state retirement report first-pass acceptance rate meets the expected trajectory toward the target recorded in Solution Scope.
• Agree specific corrective actions with owners and completion windows to restore metric trajectory.
• Document and assign remediation tasks for each identified root cause with clear success criteria.
• Schedule targeted configuration or payroll-process fixes and a validation payroll run to verify the fix.
• Prepare the dataset and visualizations that will be used in the 90-day realization review.
• Deployment and migration validation
• Open issues and SLA performance
• Diagnose root causes for gaps
• Incumbent system wind-down validation
• Review remediation progress
• Open issues and remediation closure
• Enhancement request backlog review
• Early operational signals
• Confirm timeline to steady state
• Open blockers and remediation plan
• Adoption and training gaps
• Training and adoption refresh
• Next 90-day plan
• Short-term communication and escalation cadence