PALS INC: From whiteboards to a system-oriented, efficient team

Pals Inc, a disability service provider in Moira Shire, Victoria, supports around 113 clients across Yarrawonga, Cobram and Numurkah, with a team of 84 staff. They provide individual supports, group activities, SIL houses, and short-term accommodation and worked with Visualcare to improve their operations, specifically across their rostering and payroll functions.

A paper-based headache.

Until recently, their entire operation was run manually. As late as 2022, a whiteboard in the office tracked daily activities, including who was going where, which participants were supported, and which staff were on shift.

Every morning, the staff huddled for updates. If they missed the meeting, they’d rely on colleagues to fill them in. Any roster changes meant phone calls, scraps of paper, and mounting admin.

Case notes were kept in folders that staff carried on shifts. At day’s end, those notes plus rosters and timesheets were written out by hand and scanned for finance. “We could have 10 or 15 sheets of paper just for one day,” Tori Wright from the admin team recalled.

Client invoicing was just as painful.

“Back then, we were doing the invoicing aligned with payroll, so every two weeks. And it would take the entire two weeks!” Tori said.

Change is never easy

By their own admission, the manual processes had become overwhelming. Rostering, invoicing and shift tracking were slow, error-prone and risky for compliance. Yet adopting new systems wasn’t straightforward.

They had trialled software before without success. This time, leaders made staff buy in central to the rollout.

“When people are a part of it, they feel responsible for it, so they're going to use it,” Tori explained.

Acting CEO Heidi De Paoli agreed: “We involved the core team, so everyone gets an opportunity to see, to provide

feedback. Think of it from their perspective, because everyone will look at what they need and ask whether it can do what they

need it to do.”

A clear project plan and deadline kept momentum.

The result: Pals Inc moved from a fully manual system to Employment Hero for HR, Xero for finance, and Visualcare for compliance and rostering.

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"For smaller organisations particularly, and even for larger, there isn’t a lot of funding for all the things that you need to do. So if you can streamline as best as you can, it really does give you some time back so you can redirect staff across other functions"

Heidi De Paoli, Acting CEO, PALs Inc.

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A new way of working

Today, rostering and shift allocation happen in the app. Admin staff like Megan Rodda can send invitations for open shifts, giving workers the ability to select what suits them.

“It's having that immediate access whether you're remote or not. And it’s not just a little bit of information. The information that we can input on here is quite thorough,” Megan said.

Communication has also transformed. Using Visualcare’s messaging app, carers and back-office staff share updates, photos and key information in real time. They have group chats set up with all the carers who support each client so everyone is across the updates.

“We use it for day-to-day client interaction between team leaders and staff, which is quite handy because you know they're going to read it straight away,” Heidi said.

Audit readiness is no longer a scramble as participant histories and compliance documents are centralised. Most importantly, admin time has been freed up. Tori, once buried in invoicing and payroll, now contributes to broader business projects.

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“I've actually been able to redirect some of Tori's time to other projects. Tori is system-oriented and a great troubleshooter, so to have her focus her attention on doing some system deep dive work will benefit the team further.”

Heidi De Paoli, Acting CEO, PALS Inc.

Turn your paper-based headaches into streamlined workflows.
Visualcare helped PALs Inc. move from whiteboards and folders to real-time rostering, faster invoicing, and compliance peace of mind. Now it’s your turn.

Book your free demo today and see how Visualcare can give your team back hours every week.

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