Lisa Lowe
Financial accounting coordinator at Bega Valley Shire Council, responsible for overseeing payroll operations, accounts payable, and overall financial accounting processes.
Bega Valley Shire Council employs approximately 500 employees, comprising full-time, part-time, casual, and short-term contract staff. The workforce includes both indoor (administrative) and outdoor (operational) teams, which is typical for a local government structure.
From paper to digital: The reality before elementTIME
Before adopting elementTIME, Bega Valley Shire Council managed timesheets primarily on paper, especially for outdoor staff. Employees filled out A3 paper timesheets by hand, recording each work order, start and finish time, hours worked, and which plant was used.
Once completed, the timesheet had to be physically delivered to a supervisor for sign-off, and then handed to the payroll team, who would manually calculate and enter the information.
Casual staff followed a similar, but slightly simpler, paper-based process. Indoor staff used a basic electronic timesheet, essentially an attendance sheet, developed by a local business.
Internal challenges during the transition to elementTIME
The transition to elementTIME is still ongoing at Bega Valley Shire Council, as the team continues to gradually onboard staff from the previous system. The implementation has been staggered strategically, focusing first on teams more likely to adapt quickly, particularly those with access to digital devices.
“The staff that we’ve onboarded already… it’s been really well received. We’ve had nothing but good feedback.”
Some outdoor staff have already been onboarded, which has reduced the amount of manual timesheet processing. However, a key internal challenge remains: device access.
This limitation is not related to elementTIME itself, but rather to council infrastructure. The IT and management teams are currently working through potential solutions, which may include issuing devices to all employees or introducing a bring-your-own-device allowance.
Exceptional support throughout implementation
During the implementation of elementTIME, Bega Valley Shire Council experienced a consistently high level of support from the elementTIME team. The responsiveness was particularly notable, questions and requests were answered almost immediately, something that has become increasingly valued and expected in today’s workplace.
Despite supporting multiple clients, the team provided personalised attention and took the time to understand the council’s specific processes, even when they differed from standard practices. Lisa highlighted how team members, including Nic and Megan, were especially helpful in resolving complex or unconventional issues with practical, tailored solutions.
The quality and consistency of support provided played a key role in the success of the implementation and left a lasting positive impression on the council’s team.
“They worked through how we currently do things — even if it’s a bit strange — and came up with a solution.”
Positive changes after implementing elementTIME
Although Bega Valley Shire Council is still in the process of onboarding all staff to elementTIME, the impact has already been significant. With around 500 employees now using the system, there has been a noticeable reduction in manual timesheet processing, which has freed up the payroll team to focus on more analytical tasks, such as reviewing data, improving processes, and generating reports.
Lisa shared her excitement about the broader potential once full implementation is complete. With everyone on the platform, the council will be able to deliver reports and insights to managers, something that wasn’t feasible before due to time constraints.
A major highlight from staff feedback has been the usability of the system. elementTIME has proven to be intuitive and accessible for all teams.
Smooth integration with Civica Authority
Bega Valley Shire Council uses Civica Authority Altitude as its financial system. Despite the platform being outdated, elementTIME integrated successfully through a two-way API, allowing work-orders and timesheet data to flow in and out of the system efficiently. The initial setup included minor challenges related to legacy data fields, but the elementTIME team worked closely with the council’s IT staff to resolve them.
Here’s how the integration changed their workflow:
Before elementTIME
- Manual keying of timesheets
- Legacy data fields caused confusion
- Hesitation around plant costing
- Slow, error-prone processes
After integration with elementTIME
- API syncs data automatically
- Support team resolved API mapping issues
- Plant data syncs correctly and reliably
- 10–15 min automated integration
Seamless integration with CM9 Document Management
As part of its digital ecosystem, Bega Valley Shire Council uses Content Manager (CM9) for document management. The integration between CM9 and elementTIME has proven to be highly efficient, allowing key documents – such as medical certificates and statutory declarations – to be handled automatically within the system.
This automation has significantly reduced the manual workload for payroll staff, removing the need to save and upload files manually and ensuring consistent documentation practices across the organisation.
By eliminating routine tasks, the integration contributes directly to time savings and administrative efficiency, further enhancing the council’s broader digitisation efforts.
Reliable, knowledgeable, and proactive support
The ongoing support provided by the elementTIME team has been a standout aspect of the council’s experience. From routine questions to complex edge cases, the support staff consistently deliver prompt, in-depth, and solution-focused assistance.
She also highlighted the impressive breadth of expertise within the team:
Improved visibility across the council
Since the implementation of elementTIME, Lisa has noticed a significant improvement in visibility across all levels of the organisation. The impact has gone beyond process improvement, it has reignited her interest in payroll. What was once a manual and frustrating process has become clearer, faster, and far more efficient. Something that was simply not possible under the old paper-based system.
Before elementTIME, the payroll team spent a huge amount of time chasing missing timesheets, correcting work order errors, redoing totals, and following up on missing leave entries. These repetitive issues added constant pressure to an already overloaded process.
Today, that reality has changed. For the 200+ staff already onboarded to elementTIME:
Hours are automatically calculated
Errors are caught earlier in the process
Leave is tracked and submitted directly by staff
Managers can generate reports with a click
A new experience with payroll
For Lisa, the impact of elementTIME has been deeply personal. She admits that payroll used to be one of the most frustrating parts of her job, constantly chasing late timesheets, fixing work order errors, doing manual calculations, and following up with staff who hadn’t submitted their leave. It was a process filled with pressure and repetition, and it left little room for meaningful work.
With elementTIME, much of that burden has been lifted. The system takes care of calculations, flags issues early, and allows employees to manage their own hours and leave. Even reporting, which once required manual effort from the payroll team, is now simple and accessible, managers can generate the data they need with just a few clicks.
Lisa says the system’s ease of use has made it one of the most welcomed tools among staff. Many supervisors are now actively encouraging full adoption across their teams because the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.
About elementTIME
Timesheets
Leave
Complex award interpretation
Tightly integrated with key council systems
Payroll
Rosters and schedules
Advanced work-order costing
Plant usage and costing
