Payroll that supports growth, innovation and craftsmanship

From a Wellington jewellery workshop to a globally recognised manufacturer, The Village Goldsmith has spent more than 40 years combining craftsmanship with innovation.

Today, its patented Floeting® Diamond design is sold in more than 50 countries. But as the business has grown, so has the complexity of managing its people and payroll.

We caught up with Chris from The Village Goldsmith to learn how PayHero helps the team spend less time on payroll administration and more time focused on their craft, innovation and growth.

Payroll complexity behind a diverse, skilled workforce

The Village Goldsmith's team is as diverse as the jewellery they create, from jewellers who craft pieces by hand and never touch a computer, through to CAD (Computer-Aided Design) designers working with advanced 3D modelling software. Every role has different ways of working and different payroll requirements.

"We have a huge variety of creative people in our team," says Chris.

As the business grew, the administrative effort required to manage payroll grew with it.

With more than 30 employees, multiple payroll cycles and a six-day operation, accurately capturing time and paying people correctly became increasingly important. But the team's existing payroll solution struggled to keep pace.

"Prior to PayHero, we had a payroll solution, and we had a lot of challenges with it," Chris explains.

Without the right systems in place, simple processes became time-consuming and administrative overhead continued to grow.

And for a growing business, those hidden costs quickly add up.

"It's hard to calculate all those hidden costs from manual processes and time that just disappears. Ultimately, it was about freeing our jewellery experts to focus on what they do best."

Payroll built for New Zealand

When evaluating payroll software, The Village Goldsmith had a clear set of requirements. It needed to integrate with existing systems, be easy for employees and managers to use and, most importantly, be built for New Zealand.

"Payroll in New Zealand is highly complex," says Chris. PayHero offered confidence that the system understood the realities of New Zealand payroll and could scale alongside the business.

Chris says being local and New Zealand-based gave the team confidence that PayHero understood the local laws and the environment they were operating in.

Whether it's legislative updates, payroll calculations or KiwiSaver changes, the team no longer feels the need to constantly check what's happening behind the scenes.

"We know now, with confidence, that things are being taken care of by the PayHero team in the background, so we don’t have to cross-check everything ourselves."

Building confidence across the team

One of the biggest improvements The Village Goldsmith has seen since moving to PayHero is greater visibility across the business.

Employees can view leave balances, access payslips and manage requests themselves, while managers have better visibility of their teams and the information they need to support them.

That transparency extends beyond employee self-service. With PayHero handling compliance requirements behind the scenes, the team has confidence that payroll is being managed accurately without the need for constant checking.

"PayHero puts the power in the user’s hands. It gives us confidence, and that confidence flows through to our whole team."

Less time on payroll and more time on the business

For Chris, one of the most significant benefits of PayHero has been the time saved.

"The time it takes to manage our payroll now is probably only about 15% of the time it took prior to moving to PayHero."

The value extends beyond payroll administration. Improved reporting and visibility help the team understand their position more quickly, plan ahead and make better decisions for the future.

As Chris explains, having timely information available means less time spent reconciling data and more time focused on running and growing the business.

Chris highlights that it enables their team to make much more confident and deliberate decisions about the future of the business. “It frees up the directors and owners to focus on future work.”

Local support when you need it

Changing payroll providers can be daunting, but Chris says the transition to PayHero was smooth, supported by a local team that understood both the software and the New Zealand payroll landscape.

"The support that we've had has been fantastic."

And while having local support available is reassuring, Chris believes the real measure of great software is how rarely you need to contact support.

"You don't actually have to contact support very often because it works well and that's the mark of great software."

Supporting growth at every stage

As The Village Goldsmith continues to innovate and expand globally, Chris sees PayHero as a platform that will continue to support the next stage of growth.

The combination of automation, visibility and scalability means less time spent managing administration and more time spent building the future of the business.

“PayHero has enabled us to empower our managers to look after their teams in a way that’s not reliant on one singular person within the business,” Chris says.

More time for what matters

Today, payroll has become something The Village Goldsmith rarely has to think about.

With PayHero handling the complexity behind the scenes, the team can focus on creating exceptional jewellery, supporting their people and continuing to grow the business.

“It just works, and we don’t have to spend a lot of time thinking or worrying about it,” says Chris.

For Chris, that's exactly what great payroll software should do, quietly support the business while allowing the team to focus on what they do best.

"For me, the best payroll system is one that you truly forget exists."

Join The Village Goldsmith and start a free trial for PayHero today.