Streamlined billing reduces manual tasks for payroll team
In any organization, efficiency is key to maximizing resources. School districts, who already have tight budgets and staff wearing multiple hats, expect their providers to reduce overall program costs. With repetitive monthly tasks costing time and money, this Oregon district needed improved technology and timely communication to streamline their billing processes.
Challenge
Before switching to American Fidelity, Roseburg School District faced two distinct challenges with their benefits program.
For the business office, billing was overwhelming. Making necessary adjustments when employees terminated or changed their benefits was time consuming. The payroll staff spent hours each payroll period manually documenting and making repeated edits to paperwork to ensure billing changes were made. They also spent a great deal of time communicating back and forth with their vendor, with poor response time.
The district also saw challenges with employees not participating in the district’s benefits offerings.
“Getting employees comfortable talking with people about situations in their personal lives was difficult,” said Venice.
Only 29% of employees were participating in annual open enrollment.
Without trust and awareness, the participation in the benefits program wasn’t there.
Solution
Using American Fidelity’s bill reconciliation process, Roseburg is able to save valuable time each month. The payroll staff no longer has to wait and hope correct changes are made to future invoices. Today, they can pull the invoice directly from the portal and reconcile with payroll immediately.
And because of improvements in communication, manual changes have been drastically decreased. Where they do exist, they’re promptly addressed.
“With the newer technology and online enrollment platform, the time the payroll staff spends on payroll invoices has been reduced by several hours per month.”
Alongside the improvements for business office processes, employee benefits education also improved due to the one-on-one interaction and ease of explaining complicated information.
“Directing employees to their American Fidelity representatives from the get-go gives us peace of mind knowing our employees are taken care of. It’s a real relief for us. We want to make sure employees get the right answer and best answer for their situation,” Venice said.
Results
Employee engagement and benefits participation is high in the district because employees feel cared for.
“Because of the Section 125 participation, the district is saving money when employees enroll. The more the American Fidelity representatives reach out and touch base with employees, the more money the district is actually saving,” said Anderson.
In 2021, Roseburg saved $89,557 in annual employer payroll tax savings.
Employees are finding valuable savings too.
In 2021, American Fidelity met with over 69% of Roseburg employees, giving 480 district employees the opportunity to select the right benefits for their needs. This number is up from an average of 29% in previous years.
“For other districts looking, I would highly recommend meeting with American Fidelity and getting to know the representatives and staff. They won’t be disappointed in the benefits they’ll receive from the company both personally and as a district,” Anderson said.
This blog is up to date as of February 2022 and has not been updated for changes in the law, administration or current events.
