A national media company brings market data, job levels, and pay ranges into one system.
Compensation ran in spreadsheets owned by different people. Now every U.S. location prices from one catalog — and the team has about 200 hours a year back.
Time returned200 hrs / yrestimated hours no longer spent consolidating and reporting
ReportingDays → minutestime to a company-wide pay report
Sources of truthMany → 1spreadsheets replaced by one governed job catalog
Coverage12+ locationson one structure with location differentials
The situation
Survey data, job levels, and pay ranges lived in separate workbooks, kept by different people for different locations. Every report meant reconciling them by hand — and leadership never had one current view of pay against the market.
A new survey release, landing as leadership asked for a consolidated pay view, made this the last cycle built in a spreadsheet.
What changed
One catalog for every job, level, and rangeJobs, survey matches, and pay structures loaded once and linked — a change shows everywhere it matters.Market Pricing · Job Architecture
One structure across U.S. locationsOne job architecture with location differentials prices every role in every U.S. market.Pay Structures · Geo differentials
Reports that build themselvesMarket position and range analytics run on the live catalog, with role-based access for HR partners and managers.Analytics · Reports
The outcome
About 200 hours a year returned — consolidation and reporting now run from one system.
One current view of market data, job levels, and pay ranges across every U.S. location.
Silos closed — location owners, HR partners, and the comp team work in the same catalog.
Reports in minutes — a company-wide market-position report that took days now takes minutes.
The unexpected part
A custom report was developed to meet the team’s specific audit requirements.
Before, three sets of files and a hand-built report each quarter. After, survey matches, levels, and ranges reference one catalog, and reports read from it directly.
Payfederate simplifies working with surveys from different providers, reducing reliance on scattered spreadsheets and confusion over which files are current. Reports tailored to our specific needs are a particularly useful feature.
Estimated return
200hours saved per year (customer estimate)
×
$85loaded hourly cost of a comp analyst
=
≈ $17,000per year in analyst time, before the value of faster decisions
Runs onMarket PricingJob ArchitectureAnalytics & ReportsStandard plan
Figures as reported by the customer and rounded. Industry, footprint, and size band are shared with the customer's permission; the company name is withheld at their request.
Consulting firm · 10,000+ clients
A large consulting firm reduces cost and increases efficiency — $150 saved on every job it prices.
With 10,000+ clients in 25 countries, margin on compensation projects comes down to consultant hours per job. Payfederate cut those hours — across an estimated 70,000 jobs a year.
Estimated savings$10.5Macross 70,000 jobs priced on the platform
Per job$150 savedconsultant cost removed from every job architected and priced
Delivered30+ clientsclient engagements executed end to end on Payfederate
The situation
Job architecture and pricing were manual, so projects ran long. Client collaboration — mapping, level review, approvals — lived in email and shared files, with the errors and version confusion that come with them. And every engagement needed its own permission model for consultants, client HRBPs, and reviewers.
The goal: fewer hours per project, faster delivery, and a client experience that felt like a product rather than a document exchange.
What changed
AI does the first pass on architecture and pricingOne-click job architecture and AI job matching do the first pass; consultants review and adjust instead of building from scratch.AI Job Architecture · AI Job Matching
Clients work inside the engagement, not around itMapping, level review, and approvals happen in the client's own instance — nothing travels as an email attachment.Engage · Mapping & approval
A permission model per clientConsultant, client HRBP, and reviewer roles are set per client instance, with secure data transfer in and out.Partner · Role-based access
The outcome
30+ client engagements delivered end to end on the platform.
About $150 saved per job — an estimated $10.5 million across 70,000 jobs a year.
Fewer human errors — matches, levels, and approvals recorded once, in one place.
Secure data transfer with the access model the firm's security team required.
Happier clients who work inside the platform instead of waiting for the next version of a file.
An M&A use case
The firm is using Payfederate on an M&A project to combine two job architectures and is pleased with the AI-generated output.
70,000 jobs × $150 saved per job = $10.5 million in estimated annual savings, based on the firm's estimates.
“Payfederate wins again with user experience.”
Estimated return
$150consultant cost saved per job (firm estimate)
×
70,000jobs architected and priced per year
=
$10,500,000estimated savings per year, flowing to delivery margin
Figures as estimated by the firm. Savings are consultant time removed per job; they do not include the revenue effect of faster delivery or repeat engagements.
Figures as reported by the customer and rounded. Tenure, listing status, footprint, and client-base size are shared with the firm's permission; the firm's name is withheld at their request.
Employer · International · 25+ countries
A global manufacturer replaces a legacy system and runs pay for 25+ countries from one place.
The legacy platform could not handle 20+ country pay structures, local surveys, and an HRIS that never quite agreed with it. Payfederate consolidated it all, connected to Workday, and cost less than the system it replaced.
Pay structures20+ countries → 1 systemevery country's structure, currency, and differentials in one governed set
HRISWorkday ↔ syncedemployees, jobs, and org data flow automatically — no manual uploads
Cost~40% lowerannual platform cost versus the legacy system it replaced
The situation
Each country carried its own pay structure, currency, and surveys. The legacy tool handled one market well and the rest awkwardly: structures lived half inside and half outside it, the yearly survey release meant re-matching by hand, and Workday data had to be exported and re-imported to stay aligned. Reporting sat behind administrators.
The team wanted one system for all of that complexity, in sync with Workday, with self-serve analytics — for less than the legacy contract.
What changed
Twenty-plus country structures consolidated into one governed setEvery country's grades, ranges, currency, and differentials in one governed set, linked to one global job architecture.Market Pricing · Pay Structures · Job Architecture
Workday connected, not exportedEmployee, job, and organization data sync from Workday on a schedule; placements and approved changes flow back.Workday integration · API
Survey refresh and reporting made routineNew survey vintages load once and matches migrate forward with deltas flagged; analytics are self-serve by country and business unit.Survey Management · Analytics · Reports
The outcome
Complexity solved — 20+ country structures, currencies, and survey sources in one system.
Workday and compensation agree — the export-and-reimport routine is gone.
Survey refresh is a task, not a project — matches migrate forward automatically and deltas are reviewed in weeks instead of months.
Self-serve analytics for business partners in every country; the comp team stopped producing extracts.
The unexpected part
It cost less: roughly 40% cheaper per year than the legacy platform — including the Workday integration and survey management the old contract charged extra for.
Before, a structure per country — several kept outside the legacy tool — plus a manual Workday round-trip and a hand-built survey refresh. After, one architecture priced locally in 25+ countries, Workday synced, surveys in one repository.
“Our old system was built for one country and tolerated the rest. Payfederate was built for all of them — and it costs us less.”
Estimated return
$120kper year saved on platform cost vs. the legacy contract
+
~300 hrsper year of survey-refresh and Workday reconciliation work removed
=
≈ $145kestimated annual value, before the value of self-serve analytics for 25+ countries
Platform-cost savings compare the legacy annual contract with the Payfederate Enterprise plan including integration and survey management. Hours are estimated from the team's description of the old refresh and reconciliation cycle; the $85 per hour loaded cost is an illustrative U.S. benchmark.
Figures as reported by the customer and rounded. Industry, footprint, and size band are shared with the customer's permission; the company name is withheld at their request.
Mid-size consulting firm
A mid-size consulting firm builds recurring revenue and a stronger valuation case.
Annual advisory and platform agreements extend the client relationship beyond a single project. With 80%+ first-anniversary client renewal, the firm has a foundation for recurring revenue and a business less dependent on its next project win.
Revenue modelAnnual plansrecurring advisory and platform fees alongside project revenue
Client renewal80%+of subscribed clients renewed at their first anniversary
Value propositionOngoing servicesurvey refreshes, job updates, and compensation advice beyond the initial engagement
The situation
Project-based consulting can require the firm to rebuild its revenue pipeline after every delivery. The client receives a framework and pay recommendations, but the relationship can go quiet until another major update is needed.
The opportunity is to turn that periodic work into an ongoing service: keep the client’s compensation framework current, retain the relationship, and build a recurring revenue base the firm can plan around.
What changed
Keep the work in the client’s platformJob architecture, survey matches, and pay ranges remain connected after the initial engagement, giving the firm a shared starting point for future advice.Job Architecture · Market Pricing
Package ongoing value in an annual agreementCombine platform access with a defined scope of survey refreshes, range reviews, and job updates. Agree the service and renewal terms with each client.Recurring advisory · Platform access
Make delivery repeatableUse consistent workflows and existing job data for ongoing service. Track consultant time, platform costs, and support effort to understand the margin on each agreement.Survey Management · AI Job Matching
Retention and recurring value
80%+ client renewal — the firm reports that at least 80% of subscribed clients renewed at their first anniversary.
A repeatable revenue model — annual advisory and platform agreements provide a base of recurring fees alongside project work.
Continuity between engagements — clients keep their job framework and pay data in the platform, creating a practical reason to return for ongoing advice.
A clearer route to scalable delivery — shared workflows and reusable job data can reduce repeated setup and help the team serve ongoing needs efficiently.
Why retention matters
Renewing clients provide a base for next year’s revenue and create opportunities for additional services. The value case depends on how much revenue renews and the profit earned from delivering it.
ROI at a glance
Recurring revenueannual advisory and platform fees
−
Delivery costsplatform, consultant time, and support
=
Recurring profitongoing earnings that can support business value
80%+ client renewal supports an ongoing revenue base. After platform and delivery costs, recurring profit can strengthen the firm’s valuation case.
The client renewal figure is supplied by the firm. Valuation factors describe the business case for recurring services; they are not measured valuation outcomes for this customer. The company name is withheld.
Consulting firm · under 50 clients
A boutique compensation advisory puts a platform behind its pitch and wins bigger deals.
Every pitch ended with the same question: “And what system does this live in?” Now the answer is a live demo on the prospect's own jobs, a proposal in days, and a software line on the contract.
Proposal turnaround3 weeks → 5 daysfrom first call to a priced proposal with a demo on the prospect's own jobs
Win rate1 in 4 → 1 in 2on qualified opportunities where a platform demo was part of the pitch
New revenue line+25%average contract value from Partner subscriptions sold alongside advisory
The situation
Buyers liked the advice but wanted to see it in a system — where ranges live, where HR can look up a job, where next year's refresh happens. Building software was not an option for a boutique. Proposals took weeks of custom spreadsheet work, and the deals that closed were advisory-only.
The firm needed a platform it could pitch, deliver in, and resell — without becoming a software company.
What changed
The demo runs on the prospect's own jobsWithin days of a first call, the prospect's job list is loaded, AI-matched to the firm's own surveys, and walked through live.AI Job Matching · Survey Management
Proposals come from the platform, not a blank workbookScope, job counts, survey coverage, and pricing come straight from the demo instance, so a priced proposal follows in days.Internal · Partner pricing
Software becomes part of every contractClients buy their instance through the firm as a Partner subscription — surveys embedded, consultants inside, renewal date set.Partner · child subscriptions
The outcome
Faster to a proposal — about five days from first call, down from roughly three weeks.
More deals won — about one in two qualified opportunities close, up from one in four.
A software revenue line — Partner subscriptions add about a quarter to average contract value.
Proprietary surveys work harder — the matching source inside every client instance.
The unexpected part
The demo instance became the onboarding instance — delivery started the day the contract was signed.
“We stopped describing what the client would get and started showing them their own jobs, priced, in the first meeting. Nothing else we changed mattered as much.”
Estimated return
+6additional clients won per year at the higher close rate
≈ $270,000incremental first-year revenue, before renewals on the subscription line
Assumes roughly two qualified opportunities a month and the before/after close rates above; all three inputs are the firm's estimates and are marked for confirmation.
Figures as reported by the customer and rounded. Practice focus, sectors, and client-base band are shared with the firm's permission; the firm's name is withheld at their request.
Bring your next compensation challenge to Payfederate.
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