Sodexo can now accurately determine the correct tax jurisdictions and tax codes in Pennsylvania and other states with the help of Symmetry Software's Payroll Point.

The Challenge 

When the Pennsylvania Act 32 was passed it left payroll managers everywhere scrambling for a solution to quickly pinpoint how local taxes would be calculated. With 9,000+ employees in the state of Pennsylvania, they knew they needed a solution that would allow them to quickly and accurately determine which jurisdiction every employee lived and worked. The individual areas defined in Pennsylvania Act 32 were so specific that cross-streets were not accurate enough to determine the correct jurisdiction.

The Sodexo Payroll Tax team needed to also partner with the Human Resources team to ensure that employees who were newly hired, rehired, or transferred into or out of Pennsylvania, would have accurate tax codes for the appropriate local tax withholding. They knew there must be an automated solution out there for their problem.

The Search 

At the American Payroll Association's National Payroll Congress, Laura Winters and now retired Manager of Payroll Tax Carol Egloff searched the vendor hall to find an automated solution they knew had to exist. Enter Symmetry Software and Payroll Point. They were provided an initial demonstration in the vendor hall, and after the event Sodexo received a formal presentation that allowed them to better understand the unique capabilities of Payroll Point. Sodexo had found their solution to complicated Pennsylvania taxes and realized Payroll Point could also assist them with other states' local taxes as well. 

Winters and Egloff were also both longtime fans of PaycheckCity.com, and when they found out Payroll Point was produced by the same company, they knew it was going to be a product they could trust. As they learned more through live demonstrations and engaging with the Symmetry Software team, the more confident they were that Payroll Point was the solution they had been looking for.

The Solution 

With Payroll Point, the Sodexo Payroll Tax team was now able to determine the correct tax jurisdictions, the appropriate tax codes and rates for their Pennsylvania employees, using each employee's work address and home address.

Sodexo also decided to undertake a new project to fix more than just the localities of Pennsylvania. Using Payroll Point as the main implementation tool and guidance by the team at Symmetry, Winters produced state-specific reports. She then used Payroll Points "address tool" to generate a Local Tax Matrix by Unit, and related audit reports for the other states with local taxes.

The Results 

As a result, Sodexo's Payroll Tax Team is now able to create audit reports that show if an employee has changed their address or work location and combine it with a report of new hires, re-hires, and transfers to determine what tax codes need to be updated in order to withhold the proper taxes and stay compliant. The report also gets sent to the HR Department and modified that day. This same-day process enables employees to receive accurate paychecks and keeps Sodexo in tax compliance. 

Sodexo also uses Payroll Point when other tax code issues arise. For example, there were three separate service locations for a new unit at an airport. Using Payroll Point, Sodexo was able to determine that two were in one tax jurisdiction, and a third was in a different tax jurisdiction. In addition, some employees are unsure of what local tax jurisdiction they are in for tax purposes, or provide information that is not specific enough, for example a PO Box or cross-street location. As a result, their Pennsylvania Residency Certificates are not completely accurate. Without the geocoding capabilities of Payroll Point, they would have never known that there were two different jurisdictions within an airport. Payroll Point has successfully aided Sodexo in streamlining their process to ensure that employees are accurately coded for the proper withholding.

About Sodexo 

Sodexo serves clients across multiple industries, including education, healthcare, senior living, business, sports and leisure, and government and remote sites. The number one goal of the company is Quality of Life, and Sodexo strives to infuse their work with the commitment to helping their people realize their potential and support their local communities. Sodexo has over 100,000 people on payroll in the United States alone.