Summary: Three to four hundred employees spanning every age group, and the endless rework that follows any mistake under traditional methods — for a mid-sized Shenzhen F&B company, issuing payslips was never a “small” job. This piece walks through the company’s full journey, from a friend’s referral in November 2021 to an evaluation completed within the same month and a partnership that began the following month, and on to a long-term working relationship. It’s a road other catering businesses can learn from.
Why Workforce Age and Scale Matter in Catering
In Shenzhen, this catering company isn’t the oldest in the city, but it has quietly grown into a substantial operation. Founded in 2017, it focuses on F&B management while also covering information consulting, domestic trade, professional cleaning and disinfection services, and the sale of edible agricultural products. It employs 300–400 people.
For a company like this, payday means the same thing every month: getting 300–400 payslips to the right people, accurately, on time, and confidentially.
Sounds simple enough? In reality, the structure of a catering workforce makes the job far harder than it looks. From the back of house to the front of house, from warehouse to admin, the team spans every age group — and their comfort with new tools varies just as widely. For the person in charge of payroll, the first hurdle isn’t how powerful a tool is. It’s whether employees can use it without any friction at all.
Where the Old Payslip Process Broke Down
What really makes payroll feel heavy are a few specific problems that come with the territory in catering.
First, “too many people, too much time spent sending one by one.” With 300–400 staff to cover, delivering payslips person by person is a repetitive grind. Every payday, HR or finance ends up burning hours on the simple act of “sending.”
Second, “error rework is even more draining.” Under the old way, once a payslip went out and a mistake turned up, the whole cycle started over: take it back, redo it, resend it. For a fast-paced, high-turnover catering business, that kind of rework is a real drag on efficiency.
Third, “a wide age range means you can’t add friction for staff.” The workforce includes young frontline team members as well as kitchen and warehouse staff who’ve been there for years. The company wanted a way for people to receive their payslips that was simple and easy to look up — ideally without anyone having to download a separate app.
Fourth, “both features and exception handling need to stand up to scrutiny.” During selection, the company paid particular attention to product features and the exception-handling process. The tool had to pass a review by the relevant departments and prove it could reliably handle day-to-day payroll before a purchase was justified.
For the payroll team, the problem was never about working harder. It was about finding a tool that was both simple and dependable.
A Referral Opened the Door — Evaluation Made the Decision
The way this company chose a tool reflects the pragmatic, word-of-mouth style of the service industry.
November 2021: a friend’s referral. The company learned about Ant Payslip through a friend’s recommendation. Compared with ads from unfamiliar channels, a genuine referral from a peer built trust much faster.
Then, a closer look. The company didn’t just read marketing materials. It zeroed in on whether the features could handle everyday payroll, and whether the exception-handling process was clear enough to be relied on.
The evaluation was completed within the month. After a thorough comparison and evaluation by the relevant departments, the tool met expectations on features, ease of use, confidentiality, and customer support — and the company decided that very month to adopt Ant Payslip.
Next month, the partnership began. In December 2021, the system went live, and payroll moved into a new phase.
The Practical Difference in Monthly Payroll
In day-to-day work, the changes were concrete.
No more reformatting spreadsheets. The existing Excel payroll file could be imported and sent without being reformatted. For a catering company with complex pay items and a large workforce, the time saved on checking and formatting was very real.
Staff no longer need to download an app. Payslips reach employees by secure email, so they can receive and view them without downloading a separate app. It’s genuinely “no download, easy lookup,” and it works for every age group.
Exceptions now have a safety net. A payslip that’s already been sent can be withdrawn, edited, and resent at any time. The old dilemma of “one mistake, one full round of rework” now has a clear path to resolution.
Questions are now resolved and documented. During the partnership, whenever an administrator had a question while issuing payslips, contacting the Ant Payslip team brought a prompt reply and resolution. Ease of use, confidentiality, and customer support took the worry out of payroll.
Four Lessons for Catering Payroll Teams
Looking back at this Shenzhen company’s evaluation process, there are four takeaways for peers in catering.
- Solve “will my staff actually use it” first. Catering workforces are wide-ranging in age and high in turnover, so the first thing to check is whether receiving a payslip is simple and whether it requires an extra app download. The fewer steps employees need, the smoother the rollout.
- Look at exception handling up front. Payroll doesn’t end when the payslip goes out. Can it be withdrawn? Can it be edited and resent? Is there a clear response mechanism for problems? These are questions to ask before you buy.
- A friend’s referral is a starting point, but the decision has to be yours. This company learned about the product through a friend, yet still ran a full internal comparison and evaluation before purchasing. For catering businesses, word of mouth can shorten the trust-building cycle, but it can’t replace your own selection criteria.
- Choosing a tool is also choosing service responsiveness. Catering moves fast and people come and go, so issues are bound to surface during payroll. Whether customer support responds promptly and whether questions are resolved determines whether the tool is something you’ll keep using.
Issuing payslips has never been a “trivial” task in catering. This Shenzhen company’s selection story offers a practical example for other restaurant and catering businesses.