On September 17th, 2009, Systematica participated in the Southern California Payroll Focus Day. The following local chapters of the American Payroll Association, mobilized to organize this event:

• Inland Empire Chapter http://www.ieapa.org
• Los Angeles Chapter http://www.laapa.org
• Orange County Chapter http://www.occapa.com
• North San Diego County Chapter http://www.nsdccapa.org/
• San Diego Chapter http://www.sandiegochapterapa.org
• San Gabriel Valley Chapter http://www.sgvcapa.org
• Ventura County Chapter http://venturacoapa.webexone.com
• Santa Barbara Chapter http://apasba.org

 
The theme of Payroll Focus Day 2009 was “Working Together for a Winning Combination”. The day allowed various members (businesses located in SoCal) to come together and learn about new payroll trends. Topics included:

 
“Soar like an Eagle as a Payroll Professional” – Dave Wakeling
Employment Labor Law – Helene Wasserman
Unemployment & State Taxes – Michelle McElrea
Identity Theft – John Pacheco
Time & Attendance – Randy Wussick

At lunch, we had the opportunity to speak with some of the payroll attendees. We asked how the focus day was going. Their response was interesting. It is good to learn about the new trends and labour laws but it is also very frightening. According to one attendee, a lot has changed. You have to tread very carefully with regards to how you pay people in terms of fairness and consistency. She has worked in a payroll capacity for more than 30 years. She even reminisced about cutting checks by hand!

Systematica participated in the Focus Day as a Bronze Sponsor. As a team, we distributed exhibitor responsibilities. Sara and Dwight shared the morning session, while Elizabeth and I shared the afternoon session. It was very pleasant spending the day with fellow vendors and meeting the payroll attendees. We were asked quite frequently what we did. After hearing about Microsoft Dynamics GP and its capabilities with HR and Payroll, most echoed the running theme of fairness and consistency. They really didn’t know that Microsoft had such capabilities. It is always good to be out there spreading the Microsoft word!