How Sapphire Recruitment cut quarter close to two days

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.

With Dynamics GP nearing end of life, Sapphire moved to Business Central — which has no built-in payroll module. For a staffing firm running weekly payroll across six states, that raised real compliance complexity.

No built-in payroll. Moving off Dynamics GP to Business Central meant losing the built-in payroll module.

Slow quarter close. Quarter-end close was taking a week or more and had become a recurring source of stress.

Multi-state tax complexity. Weekly payroll across six states required ongoing attention and created compliance risk.

Integration gaps. Disconnected systems generated manual work that slowed the team down.

Working with Implementation Specialists and Greenshades, Sapphire completed the move to Business Central with no disruption to payroll. Implementation Specialists led the Business Central setup, while Greenshades managed the payroll integration, validated data flows, and kept payroll accurate through the cutover.

Multi-state payroll runs correctly. Payroll and tax run correctly across all six states, without manual workarounds.

Integrated with Business Central. Greenshades Payroll, HR, and Tax connect directly to Dynamics 365 Business Central, keeping finance and payroll in sync.

Less administrative work every week. Employee self-service reduces the manual admin work the team handles each week.

A partner they already trusted. An existing relationship meant less ramp time and more confidence in long-term support through the transition.

Quarter close dropped from more than a week to just two days, and employee self-service returned an estimated 6–8 hours of admin time every week.

A year later, the gains are still compounding. Business Central gives leadership clearer visibility into financial data, and ongoing enhancements across Greenshades and Business Central keep surfacing new efficiencies.

Jennifer's advice to other staffing agencies facing the GP transition: “Don't wait. Even a year after implementation, we're still identifying new efficiencies and time-saving opportunities — and it continues to pay off well beyond go-live.”