Beyond Payroll: What customers are discovering on the journey to Dayforce

For over 30 years, Preceda has served as a highly reliable time and pay platform, trusted by hundreds of organisations across Australia and Asia. It was built for consistency, accuracy, and stability, and it delivered on that promise.

But it was never designed to be the complete HCM solution.

Traditionally, Preceda operated as part of a wider tech stack, often integrated with other HR systems that manage recruitment, onboarding, performance, and more. For a long time, that model worked. But the modern workplace has shifted, and a recent Dayforce study found that too many platforms for getting work done hinder organisational performance instead of helping it. The pressure to scale, respond faster, and gain clearer workforce insights is exposing the limits of that multi-system, integrated approach.

What we are now seeing is a mindset shift. Customers are not just replacing a platform; they are rethinking how payroll, HR, and operations connect and what is possible when all that data lives in one place. With Dayforce, that shift lays the foundation for a platform that offers real-time insights, and the use of AI to power smarter decisions across the employee experience.

“We did not realise how much we were missing.”

Many organisations we worked with did not start their Dayforce journey aiming to overhaul their HCM strategy. They started because they had to. A known platform was reaching end of life, and the timeline to act had arrived.

But very quickly, those projects started revealing bigger opportunities.

“We had systems that did the job, but they did not talk to each other. Once we brought them into one platform, the difference was immediate.” – Head of People and Culture, Community Services Sector

“We were spending days reconciling data across payroll and HR. Now we just trust the numbers. That has been a huge shift.” – Finance Manager, Education Provider

“We have gone from fixing problems to actually improving things.”

Customers who have recently gone live with Dayforce are seeing changes that go beyond system uptime and pay runs:

• More visibility: One client cut their reconciliation effort by over 50% by reducing data mismatches across disconnected systems
• Real-time agility: A national retailer reported a 70% drop in back pay adjustments within three months of going live
• Empowered users: A healthcare provider saw an 80% reduction in HR queries about payslips and leave. Employees now self-serve through a modern, mobile-friendly interface

“We always assumed errors were just part of payroll. But when things are calculated in real time, those issues disappear before they happen.” – Payroll Manager, Aged Care Provider

“The team is no longer firefighting. We can actually get ahead of issues instead of patching them every pay cycle.” – HR Business Partner, Manufacturing

“Payroll used to be its own island. Now it is part of how we run the business.”

What is emerging is a shift in mindset. The organisations moving to Dayforce are modernising their business by building stronger links between payroll, HR, and finance.

“We used to run our monthly workforce reports over a weekend. Now we get them in 24 hours.” – CFO, Not for Profit

“Our HR and finance teams are finally speaking the same language because we are finally looking at the same data.” – Director of Corporate Services, Independent School

This shift is not just technical; it’s strategic. The end of a legacy platform became the catalyst for rethinking how workforce technology should actually work.

Payroll still needs to be precise, timely, and compliant. That has not changed. But when it’s within a single HCM platform, it starts playing a bigger role. Payroll informs decisions, improves service delivery, and helps teams run with more clarity and confidence.

Final thoughts

In my first blog, I reflected on the end of the Preceda era. It was not just a system change, but a shift in how we think about payroll and people. In the second, I walked through the transition — what the project work looks like and what early adopters were starting to see.

Now, a few months on, we are seeing real traction. Customers are now live and better equipped to make faster decisions. They are reducing overheads while delivering better employee experiences.

“If we had known this was what we would gain, we probably would have moved sooner.” – General Manager, Logistics Company

The value of Dayforce extends beyond what it replaces. It is in what it enables. And that is becoming clearer with every customer who makes the move.

Explore how Dayforce can help support your transition from Preceda through the My Pathway program.