Product and Services Update – Q2 2017

Q2 2017 was one of the busiest ever here at PrismHR, with a very successful PrismHR LIVE conference welcoming more than 545 guests, new product announcements and a wide range of product updates and improvements. Read below for this quarter’s Products & Services Update.

This update covers the following:

• New Products – Learn about the latest products announced at PrismHR LIVE – Employee Self Services 2 and Cloud Data Courier.
• Product Updates – Quickly review this quarter’s releases, see release notes and more.
• Compliance – Get the latest on SBEA, EE0-1 and other key compliance updates.
• Partnerships – Learn about new Marketplace Partners for Applicant Tracking and Employee Financial Wellness.
• Company and Organizational Updates – Learn about the new Vice President of Customer Success Joe Zeff, the promotion of Lonnie Colman and more.
• Customer Success Resources – Learn about the new Customer Resource Center coming this summer.
• Events and Associations – See where we’ve been, learn about PrismHR LIVE and where we are headed.
• Sales and Marketing Resources – Make sure your team has the latest resources to accelerate your sales and marketing.
• Roadmap and Sneak Peeks – Get insight into the PrismHR Roadmap and a glimpse into some of the coolest features we are working on for tomorrow. If you missed this at PrismHR LIVE, trust us, you will definitely want to check out the recording.

PrismHR announced two new products this quarter – Employee Self Service 2 and Cloud Data Courier.

Employee Self Service (ESS) 2

The new ESS 2 is very easy to use, mobile-friendly and includes a better login process, a more modern user experience, and improved Spanish support. It’s also built on a common infrastructure that will allow you to develop your own customized experience for your clients if you want. It is currently in beta and planned for release later this year. You can still apply to join the beta, and we’ll let you know if space becomes available.

Cloud Data Courier

Cloud Data Courier is an add-on feature that lets you access data in your PrismHR cloud database so you can write your own reports or integrate the data into a data warehouse for use in other systems. Cloud Data Courier delivers a complete copy of your cloud database to an SFTP server on a nightly basis, and the data transfers one-way from the PrismHR cloud to the SFTP server. Learn more about Cloud Data Courier.

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PrismHR Payroll, Benefits and HR

Many enhancements and fixes were made to PrismHR in Q2. Key updates include Manual Check in Pay Check Calculator, Manual Check Field in Client Details, check reconciliation, and various usability enhancements with focus on timesheets. Here are the release notes for PrismHR 1.6.1, 1.6.2, and 1.6.3.

PrismHR 1.7.0 has several new features, including

• Check reconciliation features that were previously available only in HRPyramid.
• Compute Commissions feature that calculates all salesperson commission assignments, based on the client invoices, and includes them in the Commission Report.
• Create and recreate positive pay files for automated fraud detection.
• More than 40 additional fixes.

See the PrismHR 1.7.0 release notes for more information or watch the release overview video below:

Benefits Enrollment

Several improvements were made to Benefits Enrollment including improvements to Effective Date Calculation for FSA Benefits Plans and New State Checks to Determine Benefit Plan Eligibility, as well as several fixes. Here are the release notes for Benefits Enrollment 2.4.2 and 2.4.3.

Benefits Enrollment 2.5 includes updates to the document repository, the ability to provide unlimited details for each plan, and to display an evidence of insurability (EOI) form with disability plans. Release notes can be found here.

API

Updates in Q2 to API include a PrismHR Web Services User Account enhancement and a fix to API Validates Checksum When Writing Form W-4. Release notes for API 1.8 can be found here.

API 1.9 includes new methods to change employee benefit status to ineligible, waive, terminate and eligible, as well as methods to create clients and retrieve timesheet and payroll voucher information. In addition, developer testing and validation tools will now support the Swagger 2.0 specification. Release notes can be found here.

HRPyramid

Several HRPyramid 14.2 service packs were issued in Q2, including the following updates:

• Batch Processing for Cutback Check Voids
• Reset ACA Data
• State Questions for SC in HRPyramid Web Edition
• Pay Code Columns in Slavic Retirement Download File
• Option to Include Deduction Description on Pay Stubs and New Fields in Employee Field and Benefit Rules Imports
• Many other fixes

Here are the release notes and service packs for HRPyramid 14.2 SP 11, 14.2 SP 11.1, 14.2 SP 11.2, and 14.2 SP 11.3.

HRPyramid Cloud 14.2 Service Pack 12 includes a wide range of fixes. Release notes can be found here.

Reporting

Reporting updates are now made multiple times each quarter. Recent updates to Reporting include Employee ACH Direct Deposit Report, Employee Override Rates Report, and the Employee Voucher and Employee Payroll Voucher Register Reports are now merged into one report. There have also been several additional enhancements and fixes. Please see the PrismHR Release Notes in the Customer Resource Center for additional reporting details.

Time & Labor

PrismHR Time and Labor updates include Comp Time, a WebClock Dashboard, system-wide search for employees, company setup wizard and more. There are also many enhancements and over 50 fixes. Release notes are here for v7.0.51.5 and v7.0.53.5.

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Compliance

Congratulations to all those recently certified by the IRS under the SBEA. At the end of December 2017, PrismHR released baseline SBEA functionality that allows for setup and tax accrual consistent with the 941 Schedule R. More recently, the compliance team has been working to address the remaining items important to accurate reporting and analysis, including a “retroactive tool,” which would be necessary for those recently certified with an effective date of January 1. If you are certified and have not yet spoken directly to Chris Babigian, Compliance Product Manager, regarding the SBEA roadmap, we strongly encourage you to do so. He can be reached via email at cpbabigian@prismhr.com.

Over the next few months, development will also continue on wage and hour, check stub, and garnishment functionality. One such wage and hour item is a pay code that, when used, will generate the weighted average pay rate for the week, pay period, or any specified look-back period. This is a tool being developed specifically for California PTO purposes but can be utilized in many other situations.

We have been receiving a lot of inquiries regarding the new EEO-1 reporting, which is due by March 31, 2018. Note we have received strong indicators that the file changes, though file specifications have already been released, may be withdrawn. As we continue to monitor the situation, note that our current timeline is year-end for file changes, as well as any other necessary functionality.

ACA enhancements follow a similar timeline as EEO-1. Over the next few weeks, we believe we will have greater clarity regarding the vitality of the ACA and what that means for 2017 year-end reporting. Additionally, planning and development around general year-end requirements, such as W2 updates and enhancements, will also commence shortly.

Look out for a survey in the near future where you can rank your need for other “compliance” based items. Those up for consideration include W2 C support, payroll based journal support, and enhanced minimum wage functionality. Your input and dialogue will help drive the prioritization. As always, also please feel free to reach out to Chris with any questions, concerns, input or suggestions on these or any other compliance based items.

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Partnerships

PrismHR has announced the addition of two new partners to the PrismHR Marketplace: JazzHR, a recruiting software provider, and FinFit, a financial wellness program provider.

Company and Organizational Updates

New Investment

In April, PrismHR announced new investment from Summit Partners, providing PrismHR additional resources to accelerate investment in technology and services to meet the growing demands of PrismHR customers and their clients.

Watch this video that explains why PrismHR’s financial backing helped Aureon HR choose PrismHR.

Organizational Updates

Joe Zeff joined PrismHR in May as the new Vice President of Customer Success and is initially focused on improving the customer support experience. Joe brings nearly 20 years of experience in SaaS, Operations, and Human Capital Management. Prior to joining PrismHR, he spent the last seven years at Bullhorn, most recently serving as the Vice President of Operations.

Lonnie Colman was promoted to Senior Vice President of Product Delivery. Lonnie joined PrismHR nearly two years ago to initially head up the Technical Operations, Quality Assurance and Documentation teams. Under his leadership, PrismHR has delivered significant and sustained quality improvements to our products, hosting infrastructure and software release model, resulting in 99.9%+ uptime for PrismHR for 2017. In his newly expanded role, Lonnie now also oversees all of engineering and will help accelerate innovation and product release content.

New Home Office Location for PrismHR

PrismHR moved to new corporate headquarters in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, at the start of July 2017. Our new home consolidates the team on one floor. We love when PrismHR customers come visit too, so we look forward to having you schedule a time to meet in our new office space. Our main offices are now located at 35 Parkwood Drive, Hopkinton, MA 01748

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Customer Success Resources

New PrismHR Customer Resource Center

We’ve listened to your feedback, and PrismHR is launching the new Customer Resource Center (CRC) customer portal this summer. The new CRC includes easier, more accurate search functionality and the ability to search across tickets and articles. You will also be able to track requested ideas for enhancements and new product suggestions alongside the Knowledge Base and your tickets – all in one unified website. If you currently have access to the CRC, check your email for additional details, timelines and what’s new.

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Events and Associations

PrismHR LIVE 2017 – June 13-15

PrismHR once again held its annual conference intended to provide an educational and networking forum for our customers. If you were able to join us in Nashville this year, you know that PrismHR LIVE provided another exciting learning and collaborative opportunity along with insight into the road ahead for HR Outsourcing organizations. There were intermediate and advanced training sessions in Payroll, Benefits, Compliance, Accounting, and Reporting, and there was a brand new Sales and Marketing Business Growth session track that received very high ratings from attendees.

With 23 sponsors and exhibitors in attendance, a very special charity event supporting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, three fun and engaging networking events and the all-new “Sneak Peeks” product roadmap session, the 2017 PrismHR LIVE conference more than delivered on a rewarding and fulfilling experience full of collaboration, education and fun. Thanks to all who attended and helped make this the best PrismHR conference ever!

If you weren’t there (or even if you were!), check out the recap blog post to see some of the highlights from the event.

PS: Interested in speaking next year or have a topic you would like to see? Let us know at more@prismhr.com

Can’t wait for PrismHR LIVE 2018? Sign up and get the lowest possible price, so you can join us in San Antonio June 11-13.

This quarter we joined many of you at the PEO Capital Summit May 9-11, the CEO Forum May 8, and the Pace Conference May 21-23.

You can also find us at NAPEO’s CFO/COO Seminar, July 11-12, at the IPPA Business Excellence Conference September 13-15, and of course at NAPEO’s 2017 Annual Conference and Marketplace in Orlando in September 5-8.

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Sales and Marketing Resources

New Resources Available in SEEDS

Are you a member of the PrismHR SEEDS program? SEEDS gives you sales and marketing resources to help make it easier to market and sell PrismHR technology. Sign up here, or login here.

Here are some of the newest resources available in SEEDS:

Benefits Enrollment Datasheet

The Benefits Enrollment datasheet is now available for download in the SEEDS portal. Similar to the other datasheet templates in SEEDS, it’s a great tool that you can use to build your own Benefits Enrollment datasheet. Download the Benefits Enrollment datasheet here.

Roadmap and Sneak Peeks*

The PrismHR Roadmap going forward includes ongoing efforts for new products, including Employee Self Service 2, Benefits Enrollment and Onboarding. Compliance efforts will continue to focus on state and federal regulations including SBEA. The product team is also working on updates and new capabilities to support larger clients as well as continuing to move functionality from HRPyramid to PrismHR along with many of the most popular Summit Apex features. Reporting and Analytics continues to be a key area of focus, as does the ongoing efforts to enhance user experience.

Sneak Peeks*

Several products and features were previewed at PrismHR LIVE 2017 in the new “Sneak Peeks” session. If you missed it, you will definitely want to check out some of the highlights below.

Data Retriever

This forthcoming feature provides quick access to your data for use in Excel, offering you and your clients easy, instant access to baseline employee data. It allows you to provide faster response to client requests, reduce reporting support, and promote self service reporting for worksite managers. See the Data Retriever Sneak Peek.

Enhanced Location Services

PrismHR’s geo-location functionality is being improved and expanded to accommodate virtually any payroll deduction or tax calculation that is based on geographic location, saving you time and improving data accuracy. Additionally, this capability will enable employees to update their address information on their own. Check out the Sneak Peek.

Multi-factor Authentication

PrismHR is introducing multi-factor authentication (MFA) as a way to significantly enhance the security of the PrismHR platform. MFA provides secure system access control so a user is granted access only after successfully presenting multiple pieces of evidence of their identity, such as a password as well as an authentication code sent to their mobile phone. An initial version was even released as part of PrismHR 1.7. View the authentication Sneak Peek.

Alerts and Notifications

Wouldn’t it be great if you could send an alert to your team members or even your worksite employees based on data in PrismHR? You can actually do this today by connecting the PrismHR API to a range of technologies that provide alerts. During PrismHR LIVE, we showed how this can work with a collaboration tool such as Slack and even featured voice integration with Amazon Echo. See the alerts and notifications Sneak Peek.

*These roadmap statements represent PrismHR’s current intentions. PrismHR development plans are subject to change or withdrawal without notice. Any reliance on these statements is at the relying party’s sole risk and will not create any liability or obligation for PrismHR.

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Do you have something you’d like to see in future updates? Please let us know at more@prismhr.com, and stay tuned for next quarter’s update!

See other PrismHR Product and Services Updates:

Q1 2017
Q4 2016