Clear Scope HCM
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How we work

Know the scope before anyone signs.

Seven steps, the same every time. You see what happens at each one, who is responsible, and what you get at the end of it.

1Free

Fit call

Forty-five minutes on your business, your Dayforce goals or pain points, and your timeline. We tell you honestly if we are the right fit.

You get

A clear yes, no or not yet, and a proposed Discovery scope.

23–5 weeks

Discovery & Blueprint

Workshops with payroll, HR, finance and IT. We document how you work today, what must change, and how ready your organization is.

You get

Blueprint: scope by module, readiness assessment, phased plan, named team and fixed-fee quote. Fee credited if you proceed.

3Sign-off

A contract you can hold us to

The SOW mirrors the Blueprint: deliverables, milestones, acceptance criteria and the named leads on each workstream.

You get

A signed SOW with no unpriced unknowns left on the table.

4Build

PMO-led delivery

A dedicated PM runs the plan on modern tooling. Certified leads with 10+ years own payroll, WFM, HR and integrations.

You get

Weekly status, live RAID log and budget burn you can see any time.

5In parallel

Org readiness

Because we have been the admins and the users, we prepare your people as carefully as your configuration: roles, training and super users.

You get

Change plan, training materials and trained super users before go-live.

6Cutover

Testing, parallels and go-live

Structured testing and payroll parallels against your current system, with clear go/no-go criteria agreed up front.

You get

Reconciled parallel results and a documented go-live decision.

7After

Hypercare and support

We stay through your first pay cycles and first year-end, then hand off cleanly. Or we stay on as your fractional admin.

You get

A stable system, a knowledge-transfer pack and a team that can run it.

Step 1 · Free

Fit call

Forty-five minutes on your business, your Dayforce goals or pain points, and your timeline. We tell you honestly if we are the right fit.

What happens

  • We ask about your organization: headcount, provinces, unions and pay groups.
  • Where you are with Dayforce: buying, implementing, or live and stuck.
  • What is driving the project, and the date that matters most.
  • We tell you what we would do first. If we are not the right fit, we say so and suggest who might be.

Who’s involved

Your team

  • Project sponsor or HR / payroll lead
  • Anyone who lives with the pain points

Our team

  • A senior lead from our team
Sample · fictional data

Example: The three questions we send before the call

  1. What made you start looking for help now?
  2. Which modules are in scope, and how many employees, provinces and pay groups?
  3. Is there a date you must hit: fiscal year, year-end, or the end of a contract?

You get

  • A clear yes, no or not yet
  • A proposed Discovery scope and fixed fee within two business days
Step 2 · 3–5 weeks

Discovery & Blueprint

Workshops with payroll, HR, finance and IT. We document how you work today, what must change, and how ready your organization is.

What happens

  • Kickoff and document request: pay registers, policies, collective agreements, current reports.
  • Workshops by area: payroll, time and scheduling, HR, benefits, integrations and reporting.
  • Current-state process maps and the pain points behind them.
  • Readiness assessment of your people, data and decision-making.
  • Scope, phased plan, named team and fixed-fee quote, reviewed with you before sign-off.

Who’s involved

Your team

  • Sponsor, about 2 hours a week
  • Payroll, HR, finance and IT leads for workshops (2 to 3 half-days each)
  • One person to gather documents

Our team

  • PMO lead
  • Payroll, WFM and HR leads as needed
  • Change and readiness lead
Sample · fictional data

Example: Blueprint table of contents

  1. Summary and recommendation
  2. Current state: processes, systems, pain points
  3. Scope by module, in and out
  4. Requirements with priority: must, should, could
  5. Data conversion and integrations
  6. Readiness scores and change plan
  7. Phased plan and key dates
  8. Named team and roles on both sides
  9. Assumptions, risks and fixed-fee quote

You get

  • The Blueprint document
  • A fixed-fee implementation quote
  • Discovery fee credited in full if you proceed
Step 3 · Sign-off

A contract you can hold us to

The SOW mirrors the Blueprint: deliverables, milestones, acceptance criteria and the named leads on each workstream.

What happens

  • The SOW is written from the Blueprint, so nothing new shows up at signing.
  • Every deliverable has acceptance criteria that you sign off.
  • Payments are tied to milestones, not hours.
  • The change-order process is spelled out: when one is raised, how it is priced, who approves.
  • Named leads are written in, with a process if anyone has to change.

Who’s involved

Your team

  • Sponsor
  • Procurement or legal
  • Finance, for the payment schedule

Our team

  • A co-founder
  • PMO lead
Sample · fictional data

Example: Milestones and payments

MilestoneAccepted whenPayment
KickoffCharter and plan signed15%
Design sign-offConfiguration design approved20%
Build completeUnit tests passed, test system ready20%
Parallels reconciledAgreed variance thresholds met25%
Go-liveFirst live pay run completed15%
Hypercare completeHandoff pack accepted5%

You get

  • A signed SOW
  • A milestone payment schedule
  • The change-order process in writing
Step 4 · Build

PMO-led delivery

A dedicated PM runs the plan on modern tooling. Certified leads with 10+ years own payroll, WFM, HR and integrations.

What happens

  • Configuration in rounds, each reviewed with your team before we move on.
  • Data conversion in rounds (usually three), each one validated with you.
  • Integrations built and tested with your vendors: bank, benefits, general ledger.
  • Weekly status meeting and report, and a RAID log you can open at any time.
  • A steering committee every month.

Who’s involved

Your team

  • Sponsor, at steering committee
  • Payroll, HR and IT leads for reviews (a few hours a week)
  • A data owner for validation

Our team

  • A dedicated project manager
  • Certified leads for each workstream
  • Integration and data specialists
Sample · fictional data

Example: A typical week during build

DayWhat happens
MondayPlan check and RAID review
TuesdayConfiguration review with your payroll lead
WednesdayData validation session
ThursdayWeekly status meeting, 30 minutes
FridayStatus report in your inbox

Samples of the weekly status, RAID log and budget burn are further down this page.

You get

  • A configured system ready for testing
  • Converted data you have validated
  • Tested integrations
  • Weekly reports from start to finish
Step 5 · In parallel

Org readiness

Because we have been the admins and the users, we prepare your people as carefully as your configuration: roles, training and super users.

What happens

  • Readiness assessment scored in five areas, repeated before go-live.
  • Stakeholder map and communication plan.
  • Role-based training for admins, managers and employees.
  • A super-user network, trained first and involved in testing.
  • Updated procedures for your payroll and HR teams.

Who’s involved

Your team

  • A readiness owner, often in HR
  • Super users, one per site or team
  • Managers, for communications

Our team

  • Change and readiness lead
  • Workstream leads, for admin training
Sample · fictional data

Example: Readiness scores

Leadership and sponsorship4/5Sponsor active, steering committee in place
Process and policy3/5Overtime rules differ by site
Data quality2/5Duplicate employee IDs, cleanup plan agreed
People and skills3/5Two payroll admins new to Dayforce
Technology and integrations4/5Bank and benefits vendors confirmed

You get

  • The readiness assessment and change plan
  • Training materials
  • Trained super users before go-live
Step 6 · Cutover

Testing, parallels and go-live

Structured testing and payroll parallels against your current system, with clear go/no-go criteria agreed up front.

What happens

  • Test plan and scripts by process, signed off before testing starts.
  • System and integration testing, then user acceptance testing by your team.
  • At least two payroll parallels, compared line by line with your current system.
  • Every variance explained and fixed, within thresholds you agree.
  • An hour-by-hour cutover plan and a go/no-go meeting.

Who’s involved

Your team

  • Testers from payroll, HR and management
  • Sponsor, for the go/no-go decision

Our team

  • Test lead
  • Payroll lead, for parallels
  • Project manager, for cutover
Sample · fictional data

Example: Go/no-go checklist (excerpt)

  • Parallel 2: net pay within the agreed threshold for every employeeDone
  • All high-severity defects closedDone
  • Bank file accepted by the bank in testDone
  • Super users trained and signed offDone
  • Year-to-date balances loaded and reconciledDue Tuesday
  • Rollback plan reviewedDone

You get

  • Signed test results
  • Reconciled parallels
  • A cutover plan
  • A documented go-live decision
Step 7 · After

Hypercare and support

We stay through your first pay cycles and first year-end, then hand off cleanly. Or we stay on as your fractional admin.

What happens

  • Daily check-ins for the first two pay cycles.
  • A priority support line for your payroll and HR admins.
  • Support through your first year-end, T4 and RL-1 included.
  • Knowledge-transfer sessions with your admins.
  • A formal handoff: open items, documentation and who to call.

Who’s involved

Your team

  • Payroll and HR admins
  • Sponsor, at closure

Our team

  • The same leads who built it
  • Project manager until closure
Sample · fictional data

Example: Handoff pack contents

  • Configuration workbook, as built
  • Admin procedures for each pay cycle and for year-end
  • Integration run book
  • Open items list with owners and dates
  • Training recordings and guides
  • Contacts and support options, including fractional admin

You get

  • A stable system
  • The handoff pack
  • A team that can run it

What you’ll always see

The same reports every week, so you always know where things stand. Click a card to see an example.

Sample · fictional data

Weekly status report

Sample client · 1,200 employees · Payroll, WFM and HR
Week 9 of 24 · Build phase · Report date: Friday

On track
ScopeNo change
ScheduleBuild 2 of 3 on plan
BudgetEffort 2% under plan
ResourcesClient SME away 1 week

Done this week

  • Pay policies and earnings codes configured and unit-tested
  • Time-off accrual rules signed off by HR
  • Second data load: 98.6% of employee records passed validation

Next week

  • Configure union pay rules (two collective agreements)
  • Bank file test with the client’s bank
  • Start test script review with payroll team

Decisions needed

  • Approve rounding rule for punches (owner: Payroll manager, due Wed)
  • Confirm go-live pay period: option A or B (owner: Project sponsor, due Fri)

Every engagement gets this, in English or French. All names and figures here are made up.

Sample · fictional data

RAID log (risks, actions, issues, decisions)

Sample client · 1,200 employees · Payroll, WFM and HR
Shared live with your team · 5 of 31 entries shown

IDTypeDescriptionOwnerDueStatus
R-07RiskUnion rule changes in the new agreement could arrive after buildClient HR leadWeek 12Open · mitigation agreed
A-22ActionSend last 3 pay registers for parallel test baselinePayroll managerWeek 10In progress
I-04Issue12 employee records missing SIN in legacy extractData leadWeek 9Resolved
D-11DecisionUse one pay group for salaried and hourlyProject sponsorWeek 7Decided
R-09RiskYear-end falls 3 weeks after go-livePMO leadWeek 14Open · watching

Every engagement gets this, in English or French. All names and figures here are made up.

Sample · fictional data

Budget burn (effort against plan)

Sample client · 1,200 employees · Payroll, WFM and HR
Fixed-price engagement · tracked weekly

Planned to date590 h
Actual to date578 h
Variance−12 h (−2%)
Contingency used0 of 165 h
0200400600800W1W3W5W7W9W11W12
Planned effort (cumulative)Actual effort (cumulative)

Your fee is fixed and billed on milestones, not hours. We still show the burn every week so you can see the project is healthy, and so nobody is surprised.

Every engagement gets this, in English or French. All names and figures here are made up.

Sample · fictional data

Named team

Sample client · 1,200 employees · Payroll, WFM and HR
In the proposal and on the project: the same people

SL
Program & PMO lead

18 years · Project management certification

EN · FR Weekly status, RAID, steering committee

MB
Payroll lead

14 years · Dayforce payroll certified

EN · FR Pay policies, union rules, parallel tests, year-end

JT
WFM lead

12 years · Dayforce WFM certified

EN Scheduling, time and attendance, accruals

NP
Change & readiness lead

11 years · Change management certification

EN · FR Readiness assessment, training plan, go-live support

Every engagement gets this, in English or French. All names and figures here are made up.

Our change-order policy, in one paragraph

If something was in the Blueprint, it’s in the price. A change order is only raised when your requirements change after sign-off. It is never used to cover something we should have found in discovery. Every change order comes with its impact on scope, timeline and cost, and nothing starts without your written approval.

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