How IFS Eliminated 750 Compensation Spreadsheets in One Cycle

The Company

Company: IFS
Industry: Enterprise Software
Employees: 9,000+ globally
Use Case: Annual compensation planning

The Challenge

When the IFS compensation team started exploring alternatives to their legacy process, the spreadsheet system was getting out of hand:

“We had some 750 spreadsheets this year.”
— Sally Knill, Global Head of Reward, IFS

Their process relied on an unmanageable web of Excel files, version control issues, and manual reporting. Each change required follow-up, reconciliation, and often involved IT or additional vendors. HRBPs couldn’t track manager activity. Senior leaders lacked visibility. And there was no audit trail.

The team needed a solution that preserved flexibility but added control without locking them into yet another tool that slowed them down.

Why IFS Chose Aeqium

“I mean, you know, Sally said the spreadsheet situation for us last year was horrific. Like we were at breaking point with it. So to now actually have a tool that in my opinion is very well suited to IFS because we do need that flexibility. We do need to be able to make changes very quickly to the configuration rather than have to, for example, raise a ticket and wait for another company to do it for us.”

— Clare Elgie, Global Senior Rewards Manager, IFS

The ability to configure logic, adjust cycles, and troubleshoot issues in real time was a core differentiator. IFS wanted to own the process and scale it across regions, not rely on external support to make system updates.

The Impact

In their first full compensation cycle with Aeqium, IFS saw dramatic improvements:

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“I mean, we brought the whole process down to a month and it had taken nearly double that originally…And the ease of pulling the data out was just mind blowing… Didn't even have to run pivot on it because the report was there…What would have taken me a day…And all that kind of stuff took me about half an hour.”

— Sally Knill, Global Head of Reward, IFS

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The self-serve capabilities gave the comp team complete control while surfacing clear insights to HRBPs and senior leadership.

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Looking Ahead

IFS is now preparing to expand their use of Aeqium into Sweden, Norway, and Finland, reusing core logic and workflows already built.

With centralized control, audit-ready data, and configuration on their terms, the IFS team is no longer chasing spreadsheets. They’re running compensation the way they want to.

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Test drive more manageable, more flexible compensation planning with Aeqium.

Compensation teams trust Aeqium for:

✅ Designing total compensation strategies

✅ Automating the prep work that goes into compensation planning

✅ Making data-driven decisions about employee compensation

✅ Seamlessly connecting information from across your people data ecosystem

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