Paystub — Online Payroll Software for Small Businesses

Banking and Finance

4 months

to build an MVP

times reduction in API query load

50 MB

serverless limit: successful optimization

Optimize Payroll Management

Paystub helps maintain accurate financial records by offering a high-quality paystub generator. This online tool is an accounting payroll software with multiple pros: user-friendliness, safety, privacy, and outstanding performance.

Technologies:	Next.js TypeScript React MobX Firestore Firebase Sanity.io Express.js Docker Show 5 more
Team:	1 Project Manager, 1 Developer Tech Lead, 1 Solution Architect, 1 UI/UX Designer, 3 Developers, 1 QA Specialist
Timeline:	4 months
Location:	USA

Challenge and Solution

Challenge:

Our customer asked us to upgrade a comprehensive pay stub tool for small businesses based on their unique layout.

Solution:

We created a unified design for the app and reconnected it with the platform’s unique feature, a complex calculation framework capable of adjusting to various state tax frameworks in a live mode.

Result:

A fully functioning pay stub generator that offers all features crucial for small business.

months to build an MVP

times reduction in API query load

MB serverless limit: successful optimization

Solution 1: Choosing and Optimizing a Tax API

Calculating Federal and Medicare taxes in the USA is difficult due to varying state formulas and rates. To simplify this process, we integrated an API that streamlined tax calculations by including sales tax rates and exemptions, reducing errors and improving pay stub accuracy. Given the API’s high cost, our team worked with our client to enhance payroll data entry, making client-side improvements and tracking user interactions. Additionally, we implemented server caching for tax calculation results. These changes helped us reduce API query load by ten times.

Solution 2: Delivering an Advanced PDF Generation Mechanism

We separated PDF generation from the main application because it demanded a lot of resources. By utilizing Firebase functions for PDF generation, our developers enhanced file organization and reduced the workload of the pay stub generator, effectively addressing resource limitations, which stemmed from a 50 MB limit for Next.js serverless functions within Vercel.

Solution 3: Optimizing the UI/UX of the Platform

We conducted comprehensive end-to-end (E2E) testing for the entire online payroll software project, evaluating the complete product flow from start to delivery. Based on its findings, our team unified the project design system by addressing inconsistencies in the grid layout and color schemes. Due to these important changes, we managed to optimize the project’s unique user flow that consolidated all calculation steps onto a single page and offered real-time feedback by removing visual bugs and enhancing backend performance.

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What Does Cooperation With Us Look Like?

Step 1. Analyzing customer requirements

Learning about the customer’s need to integrate more tax calculation frameworks in their pay stub generation platform, analyzing the unique live update features of their platform, and reviewing the feasibility of adding a new API to interact with them.

Step 2. Active development

Outlining the main tax API integration challenges, creating a clear development roadmap, integrating new tax generation APIs, upgrading PDF generation systems, improving UI/UX, and performing regular meetings to maintain a common vision.

Step 3. Process optimization

Analyzing the performance of the newly integrated API system, providing a set of solutions for a major improvement of its query efficiency, and optimizing the UI/UX to target a maximal number of devices.

Step 4. Post-launch support

Launching the product’s new tax API integration features, providing dedicated support to ensure their smooth operation in the long run, and addressing any emerging challenges to fully optimize API usage.