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Aspen Systems is an ERP and custom software provider known for meeting the unique needs of the food industry. Founded in 1988, Aspen has helped food companies manage critical functions like traceability, inventory, and compliance for more than 30 years.
As Aspen’s business grew, managing payroll for more than 80 employees across 10 states became impractical in their original system. So, when they migrated to Windows in 2000, Aspen knew they had to invest in a new payroll solution — one that could help them stay compliant and improve efficiency.
That’s why they chose Criterion.
As of 2025, Aspen has trusted Criterion’s payroll module to handle their workflows for the past 25 years. To understand the impact, we spoke with Lisa Lawrence, Owner, President, and CEO of Aspen Systems about her experience with the platform.
Challenges
Before Criterion, payroll at Aspen Systems was mostly manual. As the company grew, their legacy Unix-based platform simply couldn’t keep up with changing laws and compliance requirements for each state.
Payroll was slow, complex, and created a lot of work for everyone involved.
Aspen’s team also needed to send payroll data to their custom ERP, Canopy. Without automation, every general ledger entry had to be built by hand — a time-consuming task that carried a high risk of errors. There was no easy way to share this data or create reports for quarterly tax returns either.
To scale confidently, Aspen needed a system that could handle multi-state compliance, stand on its own, and still work seamlessly with their ERP.
That’s where Criterion came in.
“It’s reliable and easy to use — very intuitive too!”
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Solutions
Around 2000, Aspen Systems adopted Criterion (then called Perfect Software) as their dedicated payroll solution. For 25 years (and counting), they’ve relied on it to run payroll for the entire company.
When Perfect Software reached its end of life, Criterion migrated all of Aspen’s data into the modern payroll module within Criterion HCM.
Today, Aspen uses Criterion’s Payroll module exclusively. Even without the full HCM suite, it continues to meet every need. Onboarding new employees is easy, and payroll runs are more consistent than ever.
When asked why she has chosen to keep using Criterion for so long, Lisa said:
“I think just because of my familiarity… with the product… the ease of use, the reliability, the confidence that I have in the product — and the excellent service.”
Results
Since using Criterion, Aspen Systems has noted several positive results.
Streamlined Multi-State Payroll Compliance
With Aspen employees in 10 states, compliance is a constant challenge. Criterion now makes it manageable by staying current with state-specific payroll laws and automating process updates that would otherwise require hours of research.
“I think they do a very good job of staying on top of things (legislative-wise) that change… in various states.”
Criterion makes it easy to compare overtime, hourly totals, and commissions against batch totals. That flexibility has given Aspen confidence in every payroll run.
By her own choice, Lisa prepares her own payroll spreadsheet to double-check accuracy. Once imported into Criterion, Lisa can easily compare overtime, hourly totals, and commissions against batch totals in her spreadsheet. Criterion supports her custom workflow by matching her style — adapting to how she wants to work.
“I really like the fact that they do the exact same thing… I can check for everything to make sure that I populated everything correctly… That works well for me.”
Once data is uploaded, Criterion automates calculations across all pay types, from commissions to overtime to HR board pay.
With this process, Lisa says she can now complete payroll in about one hour.
Reliable General Ledger (GL) Reports
After payroll is complete, Criterion makes it simple for Aspen to generate a full general ledger entry with a single click. GL files, commissions, 401K, and tax reports are all easy to produce. This automation reduces errors and saves hours of manual work.
“If I had to manually put that entry in — and the amount of error that you could run into… trying to make sure you get all the right GL codes, having this automated greatly reduces this risk. It’s also a huge savings of time.”
The workflow has been so effective that Lisa recommended Criterion to one of Aspen’s own customers, Action Meat, who also runs Canopy ERP. They adopted the same process, generating GL entries and importing them to Canopy without a hiccup.
Powerful, Easy-To-Use Reporting
Criterion also delivers the reporting Aspen needs to stay compliant across 10 states.
Quarterly tax reports covering Medicare, Social Security, FUTA, federal withholding, and state withholdings can now be completed in a single day.
“The reports are very easy to follow and use for when I do quarterly payroll tax reports.”
Beyond compliance, Aspen uses Criterion to run 401K reports (managed by their accounting manager Michelle), commission reports, and year-end summaries. Having these tools built in saves time and provides confidence that every number is correct.
“It’s exactly what I need!”
Fantastic Customer Service
“Fantastic service!”
One of the biggest reasons Aspen Systems has stayed with Criterion for 25 years is the intelligent support they can rely on. At Criterion, we don’t just send your call to a call center. Every account gets a dedicated support rep.
While Lisa reports issues are rare, she says Criterion’s support team always takes immediate action to find thoughtful solutions.
If she needs to send a support email, she receives responses with screenshots and step-by-step instructions. No matter what happens, Lisa knows Criterion will always provide the help she needs.
“I really love people like Patrick — they always have someone that gets back to you immediately.”
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Discover an HCM That Works the Way You Do
Aspen Systems is just one example of how Criterion has streamlined complex, multi-state payroll for a company operating on legacy software. Today, their team saves valuable time each pay period with full confidence in payroll compliance.
We configure every solution to fit our client’s unique workflows, so payroll runs exactly the way you want it to. That’s part of our philosophy. In order for your business to truly succeed, we believe you need more than great software — you need a true partner.
For a reliable payroll solution that can handle the way you work, look no further. Book a demo today and see how Criterion can improve payroll, compliance, and more.
