The Challenge: An ineffective partner for seasonal payroll

Running a seasonal nonprofit means Brad is constantly managing the ebb and flow of a business that looks completely different from one month to the next. In the offseason, a small core team keeps the center running. When summer arrives, payroll jumps from a few thousand dollars a month to $17,000 every two weeks.

A leader like Brad, who’s not an accountant, needs a strong partner or solution to make payroll easy, no matter the season. For years, Forebay Aquatic Center had been relying on a local brick-and-mortar payroll company for help. Unfortunately, it wasn’t working.

“It was a pain,” Brad recalls. “There were a lot of issues, and they were expensive. And tax time was a nightmare. I was counting on them to just make this easy for me, and it was never easy. I was exasperated.”

Brad found their manual, paper-and-pen processes outdated and error-prone. Rather than focusing on developing outdoor education programs, Brad regularly had to drive to the company's physical office to sort out mistakes. That was time he didn't have, especially during peak season. 

The cost was high. The reliability wasn't.

A stressful, time-consuming payroll process was the exact opposite of what Brad needed, especially during peak season.

As a nonprofit, every dollar matters at Forebay Aquatic Center. Money spent managing a broken payroll process is money not spent on educational programming or equipment. Brad knew the situation was unsustainable. He needed something affordable, reliable, and built for the reality of seasonal staffing.

A younger team member who got paid through an online platform at another job suggested he take a look at Homebase. That was enough to get him started.

We’ve gone from serving a couple thousand people a year to more than double that. We’ve expanded into a whole lot more outdoor education activities, like river adventure trips and birding trips. We’ve gone from barely surviving to thriving.

—Bradley Cooke, Executive Director, Forebay Aquatic Center

The Solution: Payroll that works as hard as the team does.

Making the switch wasn't without its challenges. Brad had never managed payroll through an online platform before, and the learning curve was real. What made it work was knowing he didn't have to figure it out alone. Homebase’s local support team was there to guide his way. 

"I could call a real human in the Bay Area and get help, and that made all the difference. I probably called once a month for the first six months, but now that I've learned all the things I can do in it, I just love it."

— Bradley Cooke

The feature that resonated most immediately was how Homebase handles the complex back-end work of every paycheck. Automated tax filing and payment, unemployment insurance deductions, and year-end W-2 and 1099 filing happen without Brad having to lift a finger. For a nonprofit operator who isn't an accountant, that's not a small thing.

Brad also relies on Homebase's reporting to keep a close eye on staffing costs, his largest expense, as seasonal demands shift throughout the year.

While payroll was the catalyst, Homebase quickly became the center's home for scheduling and time tracking too. Managing what Brad calls "an army of young people" across multiple programs and activity locations is no small feat. Now he can replicate weekly schedules, make adjustments on the fly, and add notes directly to specific shifts so his team has clear direction before they even clock in.

Time tracking rounds out the picture. Team members clock in and out through the app — a natural fit for younger seasonal workers who expect digital tools to just work. And because time tracking feeds directly into payroll, there's less room for errors or missed hours. Everyone gets paid accurately, and on time.

The Impact: 30 minutes on payroll, more time outdoors

Brad spends just 30 minutes running payroll now. That's roughly 10 times faster than before, once you factor out the driving, the troubleshooting, and the back-and-forth with a provider that made things harder than they needed to be. He's also cut payroll management costs by about 30%.

"Every time I open up payroll, I'm happy, because of how simple it is."

— Bradley Cooke

But the result Brad comes back to most isn't a number — it's what those numbers add up to.

"I'm not concerned about payroll problems anymore. I don't have that stress on my mind. I can play with my dog more. That's super simple, but super positive, and it's worth a lot to me."

— Bradley Cooke

For a nonprofit that exists to get people outside and into the water, having an operations tool that gets out of the way and just works isn't a nice-to-have. It's how the mission stays afloat.