PayWhiz Automates Payroll Data Flow with Make.com and SFTP To Go

Background

Since 2021, PayWhiz, out of Brooklyn, NY, has been bringing their national clients cutting-edge payroll and HR services with a personal touch. The company works closely with small and mid-sized businesses to deliver custom payroll solutions fashioned for diverse industries. 

PayWhiz focuses on streamlining payroll and HR processes for clients through innovative technology and tailored solutions that are carefully fitted to individual business needs. 

They cover everything from payroll processing, tax compliance, and benefits administration to employee engagement and niche solutions that support compliance with local, state, and federal regulations. 

With their scalable solution, PayWhiz empowers businesses to manage their HR and payroll needs efficiently, no matter how complex or singular the case. 

Pioneering in their sector, PayWhiz have moved beyond traditional nightly batch processing, using real-time data integration via highly secure SFTP To Go, integrated via Webhooks  with  Make.com to ensure that payroll data is processed and delivered the moment it lands in their storage system.

Mission and services

At its core, PayWhiz simplifies complex payroll and HR tasks through customizable, scalable systems. Their services include:

• Personalized payroll services to meet specific business requirements.
• Custom reporting tailored to different industries and client needs.
• Compliance management with local, state, and federal regulations for various sectors.
• Automation tools to streamline routine tasks like payroll processing and benefits administration.

PayWhiz ensures that their clients can stay compliant while saving time with innovative technology designed to grow alongside their businesses.

The challenge

With their expanding client base, PayWhiz needed a solution to help them automate and secure file transfers and safely deliver custom reports for their customers.

Ensuring compliance with strict data protection regulations is non-negotiable for many PayWhiz clients, and using encryption methods like SSH, S3, and SFTP would help PayWhiz securely transfer and manage sensitive data.

They also required a flexible, cost-effective system that could integrate seamlessly with their existing architecture. 

Given their complex data-processing operations and use of diverse 3rd party tools, they needed a robust solution to automate and integrate, and importantly one that supports secure  protocols like SFTP. 

We chatted with Zev Hershkowitz, CEO of PayWhiz, and he explained that, 

"We needed to automatically send files that were deposited into an SFTP server while keeping everything secure and customized for different industries". 

The SFTP To Go and Make.com solution

SFTP To Go proved to be the perfect platform for securely transferring payroll data to and from clients. It uses AES-256 encryption for file transfers and S3 for storage, aiding compliance with HIPAA, PCI DSS 1, and more. 

All data exchanges are encrypted with SSH to prevent unauthorized access, while MFA and IP whitelisting bring another layer of security. The solution gives PayWhiz the ability to handle sensitive data compliantly and securely, while also ensuring that files are delivered efficiently. 

Powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS), SFTP To Go ensures 99.9% uptime and multi-AZ redundancy, meaning PayWhiz’s data is protected even during outages. This reliability means that payroll and HR operations continue smoothly, no matter what—while everything on top is automated through Make.com.

Instead of relying on outdated nightly data processing, PayWhiz wanted to implement a system where webhooks could trigger immediate processing as files arrived, allowing for real-time routing and data transformation. Integrating SFTP To Go with Make was the solution.

Using Make.com's scenario-based automation, PayWhiz can create highly customizable workflows, enabling the system to adapt to various client requirements with minimal manual intervention. This includes not only data encryption but also formatting, compression, and on-the-fly manipulation of reports based on client-specific triggers.

Make.com is adept at integrating with external applications and platforms like Google Cloud, among hundreds more, allowing PayWhiz to automate additional functions such as file analysis, validation, and custom alerts before final delivery. This modularity lets PayWhiz design unique workflows that scale easily with increasing client demands.

These automated workflows ensure that each client's specific requirements are met, without manual intervention.

Here’s how the integration works:

1. File deposit: First up, PayWhiz’s system drops reports and files into SFTP To Go via an encrypted SFTP connection.
2. Webhook trigger: SFTP To Go triggers a webhook in Make.com to initiate a series of automated actions. 
3. File processing: The webhook in Make.com initiates conditional workflows, allowing PayWhiz to dynamically route files based on folder structure or file names. This flexibility lets PayWhiz automate multi-step processes like sending files to specific clients, encrypting them, or rerouting them through additional solutions before final delivery.
4. Final delivery: Files are securely delivered to clients.

By using SFTP To Go for secure data transfers and integrating Make.com to automate processes and reduce complexity, PayWhiz ensures efficient and safe data delivery for its wealth of global clients.

Rather than waiting for nightly processes, Make.com’s webhooks trigger workflows as soon as files hit the SFTP server, ensuring that data is processed and routed in real-time, meeting client needs instantly and way more efficiently than the competition.

Key benefits of using SFTP To Go and Make.com

• Secure automation: SFTP To Go manages the secure transfer of data while Make.com handles automation, saving time, boosting security, and reducing manual error.
• Customization: PayWhiz can tailor reports and processes to meet the specific needs of each industry.
• Data security: SFTP To Go’s encryption ensures that every file is transferred securely, and keeps sensitive payroll data protected both in transfer and rest. Make.com supports SFTP and a range of other secure protocols.
• Cost-effectiveness: Zev told us that "SFTP To Go is easy to use, provides the features we need, and is cost-effective”.
• Advanced workflow automation: Make.com enables PayWhiz to set up custom scenarios that automate end-to-end processes, from secure file delivery to custom data manipulation, reducing manual workload and improving efficiency. According to Zev “Make.com integrates with solutions that other platforms won’t, & its intuitive UI also makes the whole setup and workflow mapping process a breeze.”
• Webhooks for real-time processing: Make.com’s use of webhooks integration to enable real-time processing via various 3rd-party tools means that PayWhiz avoids the delays of nightly batch processing, so they can handle data as soon as it arrives, for maximum speed and efficiency.

Why SFTP To Go?

For PayWhiz, SFTP To Go was the missing-link solution for securely managing data transfers. 

Its ease-of-use and multi-layered security features help them keep payroll data safe, without unnecessary fuss and complexity. 

The ability to integrate easily with Make.com makes it a versatile choice for businesses with hefty workflows that call for advanced automation needs. SFTP To Go also complies with SOC 2, ISO 27001, and other standards like HIPAA, helping PayWhiz align with security and confidentiality regulations for data management.

At the end of the day, SFTP To Go is the top MFT choice for them because it provides all the features they need at a great price. 

Why Make.com?

Make.com’s webhooks and its ability, unlike Zapier, to integrate directly with SFTP allow PayWhiz to automate multi-step processes across multiple services, ensuring that files are processed and distributed quickly and securely. This integration ensures that PayWhiz can manage files through a range of applications without the need for manual oversight.

Make.com’s workflow automation scales effortlessly with PayWhiz’s expanding needs, allowing the company to increase automation levels as more clients are onboarded, without adding complexity to their operations.

PayWhiz selected Make.com not only for its deep integration capabilities with SFTP To Go but also because of its unparalleled automation engine. Make.com offers an intuitive interface where complex multi-step processes can be easily configured, reducing the need for IT support and enabling PayWhiz to respond quickly to changing client needs. 

The platform’s ability to seamlessly integrate with over 1000 other applications makes it a flexible choice for a growing company looking to streamline their workflows across departments and clients.

Advice for similar businesses

For businesses looking to automate and secure their data transfer processes while meeting stringent data compliance standards and regulations, PayWhiz CEO, Zev, recommends the SFTP To Go and Make.com integration.

By integrating SFTP To Go with Make.com, PayWhiz ensures that data is processed and routed instantly upon arrival, eliminating the need for traditional nightly transfers. 

SFTP To Go's secure protocols, including AES-256 encryption and SSH, mean that sensitive payroll data is protected at every step, while Make.com's versatile webhook integration features enable seamless, real-time automation across as many diverse platforms as needed.

This particular combination is a secure, easy-to-use solution that saves time and works perfectly to automate labyrinthine tasks swiftly and compliantly—and both SFTP To Go and Make.com make management easy with their intuitive UIs.

Make.com specializes in automating the most convoluted workflows and integrates with their and their clients existing tools painlessly. The platform's vast library of application connectors, along with its user-centric interface, empowers companies like PayWhiz to dramatically streamline all sorts of data operations. 

With Make.com, they automate client communications, file manipulations, and custom notifications and reporting, freeing up internal resources to create exemplary client experiences, day after day.

In conclusion

By integrating SFTP To Go and Make.com, PayWhiz has fortified its data transfer and storage process, ensuring that sensitive payroll and HR data is securely and efficiently delivered to clients through a number of automated processes. 

With SFTP To Go for secure transfers and Make.com bringing advanced automation and efficiency, PayWhiz can focus on delivering personalized, high-quality services to their global client base.