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🚀 Objective
Implement an HR Information System (HRIS), payroll, and benefits for GaeaStar in the US. If feasible, integrate with what’s required for the German entity.
🤔 Problem
When the funding round closes, Sanjeev and Clifton want to transition into GaeaStar as employees. GaeaStar also plans to open an Atelier in the Bay Area and grow to 10+ employees by the end of the year.
So far, the company has not run payroll here or has set up any benefits that are required in CA. However, we are working with a payroll office in Germany to stay compliant there, so that is less of a priority.
🥾 Milestones & Time Estimate
💭 Proposal
1️⃣ Gather documents [1 hours]
Company formation, F-EIN, CA registration, Bank Account,… Existing employee contracts, NDAs, previous pay stubs, liability waivers… Get (admin) access to Carta, Google Workspace, … for integration later on Get introduction to current payroll provider in Germany 2️⃣ Collect requirements for the new HRIS in an informal RFP [2 hours]
Collect required benefits & trainings in California Collect required benefits & trainings in Germany Discuss expectations toward a system with Sanjeev and Clifton Write down an informal Request for Proposal (RFP) 3️⃣ Decide on an HRIS software [2 hours]
Reach out to Rippling, Gusto, and 1-2 others to walk through their sales process Gather notes in the RFP to compare & send to Sanjeev and Clifton for Feedback Negotiate pricing with preferred vendor 4️⃣ Set up the system [8 hours]
Set up company details, templates, integrations with other tools, etc. Give the HRIS permission to report payroll to the IRS on our behalf Register GaeaStar with any other government bodies, f.ex. as an employer in California Set up any existing employees and upload existing documents 5️⃣ Implement Medical, Dental, Vision, and other benefits [5 hours]
Get input from Sanjeev and Clifton on what they expect from these plans Collect requirements and expectations in an informal RFP Reach out to Allpointe plan administrator to get details on pricing etc. Decide on whether to use an administrator or handle in-house Decide on plans and enroll employees 6️⃣ Set up pay cycles [1 hour]
Review hiring plan for what pay cycles are useful Set pay cycles and any other payroll settings 7️⃣ Ensure proper integration with other tools [2 hours]
User management for any other tools like Slack, Calendly, DocuSign, … 8️⃣ Quick walkthrough with the founding team & run first payroll [0.5 hours]
Give a 30-min walkthrough of the tool to Sanjeev and Clifton 🔖 Deliverables
At the end of the project, GaeaStar will …
have two new employees, Sanjeev and Clifton 😉 be able to easily run payroll in-house for CA for them and any new employees be compliant and competitive with respect to benefits in CA have a fully set up HR tool that provides an overview of all employees, associated costs, time-off, their access to other tools, …
We will have to decide later on, if it’s also possible to …
Integrate payroll data from the existing provider in Germany (or) Replace the existing provider with a more automated system for running payroll there