MHC NorthStar is MHC Software’s cloud-native platform for automating document, communication and payment workflows. Current MHC materials organize the platform across customer communications, invoices, AP payments, payroll, employee tax documents, employee documents, supply-chain documents and accounts-receivable documents.
That range explains why two MHC users can have almost nothing in common operationally.
One works in payroll.
Another works in accounts payable.
A third may simply be an employee retrieving a W-2.
The common element is not their job. It is the NorthStar infrastructure handling documents, workflows or payments around that job.
NorthStar Is Broader Than Payroll
MHC has a long association with finance and document automation, but the current NorthStar platform spans several stakeholder groups.
MHC organizes its product architecture around:
customers
vendors
employees
with specific document processes serving each group.
For employees, that includes payroll, tax and HR documents.
For vendors, it includes invoice and payment processes.
For customers, it includes communications and receivable documents.
NorthStar Can Sit Around Existing Systems
NorthStar is not positioned as a requirement to throw out every ERP or HR platform.
MHC explicitly emphasizes integrations and describes the platform as complementing enterprise systems. Its Infor offering, for example, works with both Infor Lawson and Infor CloudSuite.
That produces a common enterprise architecture:
ERP / HR / payroll system
→ supplies business data
→ MHC NorthStar
→ generates, routes, delivers or stores documents and transactions
→ employee, vendor or customer receives the output
This division of responsibility is central to understanding MHC.
Payroll
NorthStar Payroll focuses on documents and payment outputs associated with payroll.
Current functionality includes configurable payroll checks, direct-deposit advice, off-cycle work, reprints, ACH-related processes, positive-pay files and employee self-service access.
This does not necessarily mean NorthStar is the system calculating every aspect of payroll.
It can extend the organization’s existing payroll environment.
Employee Tax Documents
Tax processing receives its own NorthStar product.
MHC currently identifies W-2s, W-2Cs and 1095-Cs among supported employee tax documents and provides both digital self-service and print-delivery options.
Separating tax forms from ordinary payroll documents is useful because year-end production, correction and distribution involve their own operational requirements.
Employee Documents
Employee Documents moves beyond payroll.
MHC specifically identifies:
- employment contracts;
- compensation statements;
- benefits agreements;
- policy and agreement acknowledgements.
This lets HR use the same broader automation ecosystem for employment documents that may never appear on a paycheck.
Accounts Payable
NorthStar’s AP side covers the journey from invoice capture through approval and payment.
MHC’s current AP product describes automated extraction, configurable routing, ERP-validated GL coding, visibility into outstanding payables and payment processing through ACH or checks.
That workflow serves vendors rather than employees, but it uses the same general automation philosophy.
Payment Automation
MHC also provides dedicated payment automation.
Current documentation includes checks, positive pay, ACH, remittance distribution and more advanced payment options through Payments Plus.
This turns NorthStar from a document-only system into a platform that can also participate in financial transactions.
Customer Communications
NorthStar also includes customer communication management.
MHC describes this part of the platform as automating production, personalization and distribution of customer communications across channels.
The same enterprise may therefore use NorthStar for an employee pay statement and a completely unrelated customer communication.
Why the Platform Approach Matters
The value proposition is less about having ten unrelated tools and more about standardizing document-heavy workflows.
A large enterprise can have:
- millions of documents;
- several ERP modules;
- multiple departments;
- different stakeholder groups;
- regulatory deadlines;
- payment processes.
NorthStar provides a common automation layer around those processes.
NorthStar and Self-Service
Self-service appears across several NorthStar use cases.
Employees can retrieve payroll and tax documents.
Vendors can receive payment or remittance information.
Business users can use configured workflows without routing every minor change through IT.
MHC’s current product positioning repeatedly emphasizes secure access and configurable automation.
NorthStar Was Introduced as a Cloud-Native Platform
MHC publicly introduced NorthStar in 2021 as a cloud-native workflow and content automation platform intended to consolidate and scale critical document-oriented processes.
Since then, MHC has expanded the platform, including adding broader payroll and employee-document generation capabilities announced in 2024.
That history helps explain why older MHC customers may encounter product names or workflows that predate the current NorthStar branding.
NorthStar in One Model
Core system holds business records
↓
NorthStar receives relevant data
↓
workflow rules determine what happens
↓
documents or transactions are generated
↓
information is distributed
↓
users retrieve documents or complete actions
↓
status and history remain available
That is the architecture tying together otherwise very different MHC products.