How Flawless streamlined HR operations and reclaimed 93% of their payroll time

Pain Points

The Challenge

For Bekah Thompson, Head of People, building the people infrastructure to match this creative and technical ambition was key. She needed an HR platform that could move as quickly as the business — one capable of supporting Flawless’ biggest priorities: attracting and retaining top talent and fostering a high-performance culture.

When Bekah joined Flawless, she inherited a payroll and HR setup that struggled to keep up with the company’s pace. “We used to spend around 14 hours a month between two people on payroll with a significant number of manual steps, which was nerve-wrecking because pay is something you can’t get wrong”

ADP also struggled with regional compliance. “In California, you have to pay someone on their last day,” Bekah explains. “ADP didn’t enable that unless it was planned multiple days in advance, which isn’t always possible — it just wasn’t set up for how employment law works there.”

Even simple tasks, like prorating a new joiner’s first paycheck, required significant manual work. When support was needed on complex HR matters, response times were painfully slow.

“When we needed support in particularly sensitive situations, we could wait up to a week. That’s just not realistic when you’re running a startup across time zones.” 

The advice they did receive was often “categorically wrong,” leaving Bekah’s small team to navigate complex California employment law without reliable guidance. The lack of automation and local support meant her team spent valuable hours on repetitive admin — instead of focusing on strategic initiatives like manager development, performance culture building, and talent strategy.

The Solution

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When evaluating new platforms, Thompson had one non-negotiable: proper California compliance. "We wanted to know if Rippling was set up for California, because obviously that was one of our biggest pain points," she explains.

Flawless chose Rippling to consolidate HR, payroll, and compliance into one seamless, automated system. The difference was immediate.

“Rippling gave us confidence straight away,” she says. “They walked us through every step of the employee journey in California—it was all automated, compliant, and transparent.”

Rippling’s automation and pre-built workflows streamlined even the most complex processes. Rather than consulting lawyers or manually drafting documents, Bekah could simply answer a few questions:

"Are you doing a severance? Yes. Are they over 40? Yes" - and the system would generate the appropriate, pre-populated agreement linked directly to the paycheck.

This automation freed Bekah’s team to focus on the work that truly drives impact. Payroll, which once took 14 hours across two people, now takes just 30 to 60 minutes — handled confidently by one person.

“We don’t have to double-check anymore because we trust the system. Rippling has taken away the fear factor — payroll just works now accurately, and stress-free.”

Beyond saving time, Rippling has enabled Bekah to be more strategic.

“We’ve built a workflow for key stages of the employee journey including PEO and Payroll. It mirrors how we think about performance and potential across the business, so our systems now reinforce the culture we want to build.”

With Rippling managing the operational detail, Bekah can now dedicate her time to building for the future — scaling her People team and focusing on Flawless’ core priorities: attracting world-class talent, developing leaders, and creating ethical AI that empowers creatives globally.

The Impact

• 93% reduction in time spent on payroll, from 14 hours across two people to under an hour managed by one

• Improved compliance and accuracy with automated US workflows for onboarding and offboarding

• Savings on legal fees: with in-platform templates and trusted guidance reducing reliance on external lawyers

• Greater strategic capacity: allowing Bekah and her team to focus on leadership development, culture, and talent programmes

• Reassurance & trust: “The advice and support from Rippling have been brilliant — especially for sensitive situations. That trust and reassurance are huge.”