Sapphire Recruitment Inc. | Greenshades Case Study

At a Glance

Sapphire Recruitment is the largest independently owned, full-service staffing and recruiting firm in Upstate New York — and a certified Women-Owned Business. Built on the belief that hiring should be precise, strategic, and impactful, Sapphire connects top talent with businesses across industries from engineering to contact centers. For a firm built on trust and long-term relationships, getting payroll right is business-critical.

When Microsoft announced the end of life for Dynamics GP, Sapphire made the proactive decision to move to Business Central — and needed a payroll solution that could keep pace without creating new compliance risk. Working with Implementation Specialists and Greenshades, they completed the move with no disruption to payroll.

Quarter close dropped from more than a week to just 2 days, and access to employee self-service freed up an estimated 6–8 hours of admin time per week. A year later, the efficiency gains are still compounding.

THE CHALLENGE

Running payroll across six states on aging infrastructure

When it became clear that Dynamics GP was approaching end of life, Sapphire Recruitment chose to get ahead of it. But moving to Business Central introduced an immediate problem: unlike Dynamics GP, Business Central doesn't include a built-in payroll module. For a staffing company processing weekly payroll across multiple states, there was real compliance complexity to consider.

Three challenges defined what Sapphire needed to solve:

Quarter-end close was taking a week or more and had become a recurring source of stress for the team.
Multi-state tax complexity across six states required ongoing attention and created meaningful compliance risk.
Integration gaps between systems were generating manual work that slowed the team down.

The right path forward was about making sure payroll, compliance, and financial operations all moved together.

The Greenshades Advantage

Sapphire evaluated alternatives, and Greenshades came out ahead on scalability, compliance depth, and cost-effectiveness. Purpose-built for staffing, Greenshades brings:

Multi-state compliance coverage

Handles the ongoing complexity of payroll across multiple states, with no room for error

Proven integration with Business Central

Ensures continuity from day one, with no gap in payroll accuracy through the transition

A partner they already trusted

An existing relationship means less ramp time and more confidence in long-term support

THE PARTNERSHIP

Two specialists ensured one smooth transition.

Sapphire worked with two partners who each handled their lane — and coordinated closely where those lanes overlapped.

Implementation Specialists led the Business Central setup. Their deep knowledge of the platform guided system configuration, data migration, and process alignment from day one. On the payroll side, Greenshades ensured continuity from the Dynamics GP environment — managing integrations, validating data flows, and making sure payroll remained accurate and compliant through the cutover.

The result was a transition with no payroll disruption and a foundation built to scale.

The Results

Sapphire's operations team felt the difference immediately. Freed up time now goes back into payroll review and compliance — work that actually moves the business forward.

Faster quarter close

7+ days down to 2 days

Admin time saved

~6–8 hours per week via employee self-service

Full compliance coverage

Multi-state payroll across 6 states, handled

Scalable foundation

Built to grow with the business

LOOKING AHEAD

Structural improvements drive the business forward, faster

For Sapphire Recruitment, the value of the transition didn't stop at go-live. Business Central now serves as a single source of truth for financial data, giving leadership clearer visibility into payroll costs and overall financial performance. Faster monthly close means leadership can make more informed, timely decisions — not just at quarter end, but consistently.

And the platform keeps improving. Ongoing enhancements across Greenshades and Business Central mean Sapphire continues to find new efficiencies, even more than a year after implementation.