First Advantage scales Workday payroll across US and Canada

Managing multi-state and international payroll takes a partner who knows every jurisdiction, every tax code, and every detail.

“After being with Workday and [OneSource Virtual], there is no other way to do payroll. It’s the only way. I’ve been doing payroll since 1980, so I’ve been around the block."

Susan Reed, Payroll Director, First Advantage

Jurisdiction expertise without the call tree

Managing payroll tax compliance across multiple states gets complicated fast. Each state has its own filing deadlines, tax rates, and regulations. When your payroll team handles this alongside regular work, things can fall through the cracks, and compliance risks compound quickly.

First Advantage hit this challenge when scaling operations across North America. Their payroll director, Susan Reed, described the difference: "It's not like dialing into a large vendor and saying you have an issue with a specific jurisdiction, then waiting while it escalates through eight different people who may not have direct expertise in that state."

They paired Workday with OSV, as a partner specializing in multi-state tax requirements — gaining direct access to teams handling specific jurisdictions every day, not generalist support.

Migrating Canadian operations without missing a beat

Expanding payroll operations across borders introduces numerous complexities, including T4 filings, provincial tax requirements, and Workday integration across regions. When First Advantage acquired Sterling in 2024, they needed a migration partner who understood Canadian payroll nuances alongside their existing multi-state operations.

Susan walks through how they pulled it off with zero compliance issues. Her payroll admin, who has 20-plus years of experience and lives in British Columbia, captured it succinctly: “I don’t know how it can be this easy.” That ease came from specialized expertise — teams that know Canadian payroll inside and out, not generalists treating the migration like any other project.