Dresser & Associates Provides Royal Sonesta Hotel With Five-Star HRMS Solution

Sage Abra HRMS Delivers Integrated Payroll and HR Solution

On the Cambridge side of the Charles River lies the Royal Sonesta Boston Hotel - a luxury hotel offering spectacular city views, upscale accommodations, and fine dining just minutes from the heart of Boston. Each of the hotel's 400 well-appointed guest rooms and suites offer first-class amenities and stunning views of the Charles River, Cambridge, or Boston. With a reputation as one of the best Cambridge luxury hotels, the Royal Sonesta knows how to treat its guests and its 275+ employees. For nearly a decade, the hotel has relied on Sage Abra HRMS and the team from Dresser & Associates to ensure its payroll and human resources departments run at optimal efficiency.

A Wake Up Call

Years ago, the hotel utilized People-Trak as its HR software and outsourced its payroll processing to ADP. With two separate software systems, the hotel's payroll and HR departments operated largely separately, each maintaining their own databases of employee data. "It involved a tremendous amount of duplicate data entry," recalls Paul Nichols, payroll administrator for Royal Sonesta Boston. "That combined with the high cost of outsourcing payroll prompted us to look for an integrated human resources management system."

No Reservations About Sage Abra HRMS

Sage Abra HRMS quickly rose to the top of the hotel's selection list thanks to its strong reputation and its integrated payroll, human resources, and attendance applications. "We found two local suppliers of Sage Abra and contacted both of them," Nichols recalls. "Unlike the other vendor, Dresser & Associates was immediately responsive. They are knowledgeable, personable, and have the resources available to service our organization."

Nichols recalls a smooth transition from ADP to Abra Payroll, thanks to the advance preparation, support, and advice from Dresser & Associates. "They walked me through the first couple of payrolls until I was confident," he says.

Although initially concerned about taking on the responsibility of performing payroll internally, Nichols quickly gained confidence. Dresser & Associates serves as a valuable support resource, addressing any questions or concerns that Nichols or his staff may have. And with quarterly updates provided by Sage, the hotel is assured that tax rates and withholding limits are always accurate.

"We have a great relationship with Dresser," notes Nichols. "I appreciate that I can call and speak to a representative who knows me, understands our business, and has a complete knowledge of the software and the industry. With ADP, I was known as a company code. With Dresser, I'm Paul."

Ideal Accommodations

The Dresser & Associates consultants customized several of the standard reports, giving Royal Sonesta the precise data needed, in the format it was accustomed to using. Direct deposit and check stubs were tailored by Dresser & Associates to provide employees with detail of their available vacation and sick time. "That alone eliminates a fair number of phone calls to our HR department," Nichols notes.

The hotel utilizes electronic time clocks to capture employees' time. Dresser & Associates implemented a link program that imports data from the time clocks into the Sage Abra Attendance module, eliminating time-consuming data entry tasks.

Huge Return On Investment

By integrating its payroll and HR functions, Royal Sonesta is saving time, money, and encouraging collaboration between its departments. "We've bridged the divide between HR and Payroll. Data only needs to be entered once and both departments have access to the same data," Nichols says. "We've reduced the number of questions asked between the departments and are saving a significant amount of time as a result of the integration."

Nichols estimates that Royal Sonesta's inhouse payroll solution is saving thousands of dollars each year. "We save money, have more control, and much better service," he says. "Outsourced payroll providers call me frequently offering their services. I just say 'no, thanks'. Sage Abra is great, and when combined with Dresser & Associates we have a solution that we wouldn't consider changing."

He concludes, "The partnership we share with Dresser & Associates is important to us. It's a positive, collaborative relationship - we can brainstorm ideas with them and know that they will give us honest, thoughtful responses."

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