About the business
Melinda Carter has been the business manager at Toothkind since the first clinic opened in 2010. With 40 staff across two Brisbane locations, her day covers rostering, payroll, HR, patient experience, and stepping in chairside when the clinic needs her. It's a big job, held together by a reliable and competent operator.
That's not unusual in healthcare, with most small and mid-size practices running the same way. The work gets done eventually, which can make it hard to spot system problems bubbling under the surface.
For Toothkind, the breaking point was payroll. Every Monday was payday, and payday was something Mel dreaded. Between timesheet approvals, award rate checks and trying to get two disconnected systems talking to each other, it ate up half her day. The cost of that in time, money and stress, was starting to add up. Mel knew something had to be done.
Since switching to Tanda, it's all changed. And Monday mornings belong to the clinic again.
CHALLENGES
When the tools stop working
Toothkind was running two separate systems, one for rostering and one for payroll, that were supposed to integrate. But they didn't.
"Trying to integrate our rostering and payroll system was just too difficult. It made the whole process of doing the wages very cumbersome. We had to do so many extra steps and the tool we had was just really clunky. Sometimes it took all day if anything went wrong."
The workaround was a bookkeeper. Every week, Mel would spend two to three hours approving timesheets, chasing staff who hadn't submitted their hours, and preparing everything to hand off. The bookkeeper would take it from there. Between the two of them, it added up to half a day, every single week.
For the owners of Toothkind, it meant money leaving the business in two directions: fees for the bookkeeper, and their business manager spending half a day on something that should have taken an hour.
Award compliance added another administrative layer. When award rates changed (and in healthcare they do), Mel had to download the updates herself, read through everything, and enter the changes into the system profile by profile.
"I’d get alerts from Fair Work so I didn’t fall behind on award changes. Then I’d have to make sure I downloaded everything, and enter it manually, which took a long time."
And getting it wrong wasn't just an administrative problem.
"If I didn't get the award right, I would be worried that I'd get in trouble with Fair Work. And the staff would not be so happy to be working with us if they're not getting paid correctly."
Anyone running a similar clinic will recognise that feeling. Award compliance in healthcare is genuinely complex, and in most smaller practices it lives entirely in one person's head. When that person is stretched thin or out of office, the risk doesn't go away.
The thing that followed her on holidays
Mel is the kind of business manager that staff genuinely value. Her reliability and commitment to the clinic are exactly what make her great at her job. They're also what made the old system unsustainable.
Payroll ran on Mondays. It didn't matter where Mel was.
"When I was away on holidays, I still had to do the wages. Wherever I was, even travelling overseas, I'd block out half a day. I would miss out on going out to do things because it just took so long."
And handing it off wasn't really an option either. The process was built around her knowing how to navigate it, and the old system was so clunky that anyone else would take all day. So she kept doing it herself, even on holiday, because it was easier than the alternative.
"I always dreaded coming into work on a Monday to do the wages. It took me about half a day to go through everything, and then I had to send it over to the bookkeeper to finalise it."
That's what made her start looking for something different.
Finding Tanda
Mel's search was practical; she wanted a rostering system that could also handle pay. Tanda came up – it was Australian-built, founder-led, and designed to do both things in one place.
For Mel, it was the demo that really sealed it. She could see that the payroll process was straightforward, the MYOB journal integration actually worked, and award interpretation was built in, rather than something she'd have to manage herself.
When it came to internal stakeholders, Mel didn't need to do a big pitch. The owners had watched her Monday mornings for long enough.
"They were happy for me to do what would make my job easier. They knew that Mondays were always difficult for me with the wages. Once I had a look and let them know Tanda was the one I was interested in, they were happy with my decision."
For Toothkind, the right system would give their business manager her time back, reduce compliance risk, and remove the added bookkeeper cost from the payroll process.
Going live
Implementation was one piece at a time, one session per week, with the same person throughout. Mel didn't go live until she was confident everything was right.
"We didn't go live until all systems were correct. We had time to have a play around, and when we went live I had someone there to help if I needed it."
Staff have adapted quickly. The clock-in photo feature became a bit of a running joke, with the team getting creative with their shots. Beyond that, the transition was straightforward; they received a message, downloaded the app, and were walked through it.
"They all found it easy. If they need to swap a shift with somebody, they can put it up for grabs and chat to that person individually through the app. Whereas before, they didn't have that option."
Monday mornings now
Mel’s Mondays look quite different now. When she walks through the door, Mel can run payroll for both clinics, two separate entities and 40 staff, in under an hour.
"I come in on a Monday morning, approve the hours, go to payroll in Tanda, and send it off. It literally takes me an hour. Sometimes I even do it on a Sunday night because I know it’s so quick, and then I have my whole day free on Monday."
Within Tanda, award updates happen automatically — when the annual Fair Work rate increases come through, the system handles it.
"With the award increases that come in on the first of July every year, it used to be quite stressful. With Tanda now, that is automatic. It just takes the whole stress out of it."
And the overall cost picture has shifted too.
"The previous costs we had before Tanda, the systems, the bookkeeper, my time going through Fair Work documents and entering data, are gone. The cost savings has been a huge improvement to the business."
The process is now simple enough that it wouldn't take the business down if Mel was on holiday. For a practice owner, that's worth something too.
What Mel would tell another clinic
"I think if you're looking for a system that can offer everything to you, give Tanda a go. You'll be amazed how easy it is to use and how much time you will get back."
"The hesitation you may have about trying something different — you'll be supported all the way along. It's small steps to get the best outcome. But once you've gone live, you'll find how easy everything becomes."
And the biggest difference between before Tanda and now?
"I'm not dreading coming in on Monday morning to do the wages! Now they're done within the hour. I don't have to worry about looking at awards. I don't need a bookkeeper involved. It's just so much easier. It's really been amazing for our business."
Payroll
From half a day every week to under one hour.
Admin
Bookkeeper no longer needed for payroll, a direct and recurring cost saving.
Compliance
Award interpretation automated, no longer managed manually or sitting in one person's head.
