How Criterion HCM Makes Payroll and Accounting Easy for Unanet Users
Unanet GovCon ERP users know the power of a central hub. They’re accustomed to a system that keeps all their data in one place, as well as a seamless ERP that utilizes that data in creating detailed plans and reports. Unanet takes pride in frequently updating the features to suit user needs, so it will stay “built with purpose” as your business grows.
Criterion is the HCM (human capital management software) created to serve the true needs of HR professionals, and has come together with Unanet GovCon ERP to provide comprehensive service for government contractors. We bring together the features you need to develop a seamlessly integrated experience that you can configure according to your company’s needs.
This integration combines the specialization of Criterion and Unanet GovCon ERP, not only retaining your workflows and projects but adding a complete HR suite of features with the same look and feel of the systems you know. Timesheet integration is easy and seamless. But if you also need a time tracking system, onboarding, or any other HR-based needs, you’ll have them all in one easy interface. Payroll-specific features bring even more functionality under the same umbrella. Everything you need is in one place.
Let’s look at how Criterion works in tandem with Unanet to create a comprehensive platform that fulfills user needs in one place.
What Is Criterion?
Criterion HCM is a cloud-based HCM platform that pairs robust enterprise-level functionality with mid-market pricing, beautiful design, and extreme configurability. Integration is no problem at all, because Criterion is purposefully built to be able to adapt and work in tandem with other systems. It was designed by HR professionals with their exact needs in mind.
By integrating Criterion’s Payroll and HR modules with Unanet’s ERP platform, you’ll be able to add on necessary programs and expand your internal capabilities without fear of crashes or incompatibility. We’ve come together with Unanet to offer a single, streamlined experience for government contractors that want to complete projects without disruption.
The Dangers of Siloed Data
Anyone who’s worked as a government contractor is aware of how much information circulates throughout the day. People in all departments need access to certain information, be it project plans or budget outlines, and they don’t have time to ask someone for permission and wait for a reply. The trouble comes when data is scattered across different folders, systems, and programs. Things get lost. Permissions have to be granted, then removed, then granted again.
This already means managing a lot of technology. But as your company expands and requires new tech to help manage your workforce, making sure everything works in harmony becomes even more important. You may be able to access files, but what about expense sheets from two years ago? What about historical project data or timesheets for terminated employees?
Just as important as accessing your data is making sure the connections between datasets are clear. Employee data, salaries, timesheets, expenses, location data, and project data, are all related somehow. But unless it’s logged and matched up correctly in your system, you may not be able to manage your records effectively. You might also have difficulty allocating funds to payroll or specific projects if you don’t have the right figures to manage varying expenses.
It’s a lot easier to get work done when all your tools work together to effectively manage your data and your workforce. The integration between Criterion and Unanet is built to facilitate exactly that.
What Can You Do With the Criterion/Unanet Integration?
You’re used to a responsive, built-for-you experience with Unanet. Criterion adds in dedicated features that streamline the HR experience, with no interference and complete compatibility. You won’t lose anything you’ve set up within Unanet — just enjoy even more.
Let's look at some of the most important features of the integration.
Connect All APIs Together
Integrations can be long and messy, with frequent crashes and reboots throwing off productivity. But this shouldn’t be the case. Criterion is built to merge perfectly with other APIs, and uses an internal pod-style structure so that a crash or other technical difficulty doesn’t halt everything. We have protocols and procedures to make this integration run smoothly — from beginning to end, things are built so as not to break during the merge.
Bi-Directional Time Tracking (And Syncing)
Criterion is the only integration with Unanet that allows you track time with either tool and instantly sync that information to both platforms. This allows you complete flexibility, so you don’t have to disrupt your existing process to benefit from a powerful HCM and ERP combination.
If you already love the time tracking abilities of Unanet, you can keep using it and sync that information to Criterion to automate payroll and more. If you want to offer your employees a customizable self-service time tracking interface, Criterion offers just that. You can then sync that data to Unanet and connect it to specific projects to allocate labor costs and calculate payroll easily.
Either way, the integration ensures the information you track will be accessible across both platforms. Even if you track time on one but not the other, everything can still be logged appropriately.
Employee Information Syncing
Criterion offers several options within its HR module for building out employee profiles, including details like salary, location, union affiliation, position, and other forms of company data. Syncing this back and forth with Unanet is simple — say goodbye to the days of tracking down information on the same topic across different networks. Payroll syncing is also easier than ever when employee information is streamlined across both Unanet and Criterion.
General Ledger Matching Capabilities
Robust financial recording is key to managing all your company’s transactions, especially with government contracting — this includes paychecks, closed deal payments, commissions paid to sales reps, overtime, differential pay, and much more. Your general ledger system (GL) needs to be able to handle all this information and should be able to process it from multiple sources while aligning with other knowledge banks (such as payroll). Criterion is designed specifically for seamless recording across different sources, so key information is never difficult to find.
That said, we also know how difficult and tedious it might be to set up GL matching in the first place. To save you time and energy, the Criterion team will work alongside your team to ensure this is set up for you — even for the most unique use cases or complex codes. We can help configure and customize all of it so you don’t have to.
Expense Tracking and Syncing
Expense tracking and reporting is a naturally multifaceted process, with many moving parts. But it’s essential to labor allocation and having a clear understanding of your organization's budget. With this integration, you can easily track expenses and sync that information across both platforms.
Unanet users know the ease of tracking project expenses on their platform. If this works for your team, you can continue using it, along with the added features of a powerful HCM. If transparency is your goal, syncing information across platforms can allow employees to view expenses and related information all in one place. For instance, Criterion has employee self-service features for time off requests, time tracking, hr policies, and more. With these features, employees can easily submit and view related expenses and have that information fed directly into Unanet for a fully-connected system.
What’s more, you can connect expense data to a project in Unanet and easily calculate payroll according to different employee types, which are set up in your Criterion employee database. Use Unanet historical project data to allocate labor for future projects, and much more.
Criterion can also help you easily track expenses related to government contracting projects, including payroll, taxes, and much more. You can then sync that data to Unanet and connect it to a specific project for a clearer picture of your financial activity.
Ultimately, this creates cleaner, more accurate records and smoother labor allocation across all projects.
What Else Can Criterion Do For You?
With government contracting, the ability to plan ahead is essential. You need to be able to predict and avoid potential problems, as well as maintain a steady pipeline of clients and reasonably predict future performance.
Unanet provides a solution for storing your data in an easy-to-access format and creates modules and processes to suit your pipeline’s needs. Everyday tasks can be automated so you can focus on the work at hand.
But having a dedicated HCM is also an essential component to any successful HR department in any industry. Criterion helps you keep track of all your human-centered data and ties it to everything else, so there is a single source of truth within your system. In addition to streamlining payroll and aligning HR processes with company goals, our HCM platform also allows you to engage your employees more effectively.
Streamline Paperwork Processes With The HR Module
Worried about uncontrolled document access? Not a problem. With the HR module, Criterion allows for extreme customization of employee views, so no one will get “lost in the weeds” or risk encountering confidential information while searching. With self-service features for paystub access, open enrollment, company policies, and much more, Criterion can become the single source of key information for employees. It will also make your HR department more efficient by not using so much time solving employee requests.
Beyond that, Unanet’s reporting is enhanced by Criterion’s data storage and report-generating features. You can create reports on any field in Criterion or export that information for other uses, allowing you to make even better data-driven decisions for your organization.
With this module, you can also manage benefits and deductions automatically. Simply create your benefits package and each employee’s overall deductions are automatically calculated.
Execute Payroll Without Stress
Criterion’s Payroll module contains some of the most significant features and contributions to the HCM landscape. With this module, you’ll be able to process payroll for multiple locations, even in different countries. We’ve also made tax compliance much easier, calculating your tax rates automatically based on the information you provide. You can even file your taxes in the same interface!
But it doesn’t end at pure execution — unlimited labor distribution levels mean that everyone in your organization is covered. Multi-location support means you’ll be able to access what you need at any given time, all saved with enhanced data encryption.
There’s no need to worry about doing payroll with one program and time tracking for another, especially if neither are built specifically for your industry. Unanet is designed with special features for government contractors, and Criterion provides additional services without the hassle. You won’t have to learn multiple systems to just do your job.
Manage Your Team’s Performance with The Talent Engagement Module
Your workforce needs to be engaged with each other and the company to do their best work. Criterion’s talent engagement module is built perfectly for intuitive navigation, allowing HR professionals to create different views for different positions and stages of employment so no one will be confused about what to do.
This module also allows you to create custom hiring, onboarding, and continued training modules to streamline ramp-up and provide opportunities for development at every stage. You can also manage your reward systems, and create custom benefits packages for each position to keep your team engaged and doing their best work at all times.
See The Criterion/Unanet Integration Live
Government contractors need robust, customizable software to handle new challenges and remain competitive in the market. But with so many processes operating on different platforms, it can be tough to make everything work in harmony. By integrating Unanet with Criterion, you don’t have time to worry about making your ERP and HCM work together — we’ve done that for you.
Criterion is dedicated to helping government contractors manage their workforce more effectively through integrations like this. With experience serving several industries over the years, we know what technology human resource professionals need to do their jobs well. Criterion brings you all the functionality you need while still keeping your Unanet processes and workflows intact.
Expand your company’s capabilities with an HCM that merges perfectly with your systems, allowing you to keep the focus on the work that matters most. Looking to combine your ERP with powerful, intuitive HCM features? Integrate Criterion with Unanet for seamless operation between departments. Book a Demo today to see how it works.