Expedia: On a mission to be biggest and best

Once an off-shoot of the global software giant Microsoft and now an independent and publicly traded business listed on Nasdaq, Expedia is a high profile world leading travel services company. Already the fourth largest travel agency in the world, and the largest on the internet, the company provides tools and information for business and leisure travellers that help them research, plan and buy everything from airline tickets to hotels and hire cars.

Handling the complexity of variable salaries, whilst maintaining small and nimble teams across different regions of the world, required a strategic decision around how Expedia would handle its payroll needs. ADP, world leader in payroll solutions and HR administration was the natural choice. Michelle Brown, Senior Finance Manager based in Expedia's London office says, "We like to keep a very small finance team, and to stay on top of the law we'd need more than one specialist payroll person. Because payroll has to be spot on, we outsource that function right across our European businesses. Then we can take advantage of local knowledge and the flexibility that outsourcing brings."

Expedia is one of the darlings and success stories of the internet revolution, and with that comes a history of complex trading and fundraising over its relatively short history. Depending on when a particular member of staff joined the company, and in what location, will determine whether they have option gains, restricted stock unit gains or warrant gains rolled up into their benefits package. As members of staff move around the business, for example transferring from the Australian office to London, there can be tax implications depending on what sort of scheme they are on. While this is commonplace for technology companies that evolve so quickly, and there is an expectation that ADP can handle that complexity, Michelle still likes to sign off elements of the payroll manually. "It suits us to have the responsibility to sign off."

Yet this isn't a signal of lack of trust, as Michelle adds, "It's only when we get involved with the complexity of stock and bonuses that we need to look hard. With everything else we check all changes but have to assume that nothing happens that isn't requested, and that there is a level of trust that we must be able to hand over to a payroll expert like ADP." Michelle has also recommended ADP's services to Expedia's Corporate Travel business.

"It does make it easier to have a single supplier across as much of our business as possible," concluded Michelle. And as Expedia says of itself, "We are on a mission: to become the largest and most profitable seller of travel in the world, by helping everyone everywhere plan and purchase everything in travel." ADP takes care of their payroll needs, allowing Expedia to concentrate even more on meeting their mission.