How to choose payroll software for a growing Australian business

Key takeaways:

• To choose payroll software that fits a growing Australian business, start with your business problem, not the software. 
• Map your full payroll process, find the manual time drains, trace every data hand-off between systems. 
• Test how your existing software handles your awards, agreements and workforce types. 
• Plan for any expected new entities, locations and workforce in the next three to five years, and define a clear implementation pathway.

In our September 2026 webinar “Is your payroll the right fit”, 70% of attendees said collecting, verifying and manually approving timesheets took the most effort, and 50% revealed that they have a highly manual general ledger process. 

We get it. Payroll and HR teams we speak to are often already snowed under. Plus, there is also a real concern that any changes to the payroll system could disrupt business as usual.

Before choosing new software, take a closer look at the process behind your payroll and whether it’s built to keep pace with your business’s growth.

Why you shouldn’t wait until your payroll outgrows your business

A payroll system that suits 150 employees may not be the right fit at 600. 

Amity Reece, an ELMO Payroll Specialist with more than 20 years in payroll, worked with a customer that had grown from 150 to around 600 employees and planned to reach 1,000.

“We’re trying to set them up for what they’ve got now, but also understand what their ‘to-be’ state is.” She helped the customer prioritised a payroll roadmap that could support future growth and multi-entity requirements, rather than simply solving today’s payroll challenges. “It’s about setting them up with a system now that will suit them in the future,” said Amity.

Forward planning matters. ELMO’s 2026 HR Industry Benchmark found that 79% of Australian HR professionals expect their workforce to grow over the next year, but only 23% of organisations have a fully centralised platform across HR, payroll and workforce management.  

Planning ahead also gives payroll, HR, finance and IT the time to agree on the desired outcome, test the right scenarios and prepare people for change. This can reduce rekeying, rework and rushed decision-making.

Are you maintaining a multiple-tab spreadsheet to check your payroll? Here’s how to audit your payroll process.

6 steps to evaluate your next Australian payroll software

Evaluate payroll software first by starting with your business problem. ELMO Payroll Specialist Amity Reece recommends six steps: map the full payroll journey, find manual time drains, trace every data hand-off, test local award and leave requirements, plan for three-to-five-year growth, and define the implementation pathway.

1. Map the full payroll journey

Document the process from onboarding through to pay, reporting and finance. Mark where information is entered, checked, delayed or reworked so you can see how payroll really operates.

2. Find the manual time drains

Track repeated data entry, spreadsheet calculations, timesheet chasing, manual adjustments, reconciliation and finance file preparation. Estimate how often each task occurs and how long it takes. The aim is to record familiar workarounds, assess their risk and identify what should be automated, integrated or redesigned.

3. Trace every data hand-off

List the systems involved, including HR, rostering, time and attendance, finance and reporting. Record what information moves between them, who checks it and where duplicate entry or reconciliation occurs.

4. Test local requirements

Document the awards, agreements, allowances, leave rules and reporting requirements you manage. Use real scenarios to test how a potential system handles rates, public holidays, overtime, employee types and pay changes. 

Don’t just rely on a generic payroll demonstration. Ask to see the workflows that create the most risk or manual effort in your organisation.

5. Plan for future growth

Identify expected changes over the next three to five years, such as new entities, acquisitions, locations, workforce models or more complex rostering. Assess whether the solution can support them without creating more manual work or another major implementation.

6. Define the implementation pathway

Clarify the configuration, testing, parallel pay runs, training and support involved. Assign responsibilities across payroll, HR, finance, IT and operations so an overstretched payroll team is not expected to fix everything at once.

Once you’ve assessed your fit and plan for change, here are two broader factors to consider. 

Why does Australian payroll expertise matter when choosing software?

Australian payroll is not one-size-fits-all. Payroll software should reflect how Australian organisations pay people, including awards, enterprise agreements, penalty rates, overtime, allowances and leave. 

Local capability should be built into the way the system interprets and applies those rules, rather than leaving payroll teams to translate them manually. Each year, the Fair Work Commission reviews minimum award rates, with changes usually taking effect from the first full pay period on or after 1 July. 

If an award change is missed, employees may be underpaid, leaving payroll teams to identify affected pay periods, calculate back-pay adjustments and explain the outcome to employees.

Local capability should extend to reporting obligations such as Single Touch Payroll (STP) Phase 2, which requires additional information about income types, employment and taxation conditions to be included in STP reports.

Australian payroll requirements also vary by industry. Retail and hospitality may involve casual workforces and complex shifts, while healthcare payroll teams may need workforce management data to connect with care or funding systems. 

How ELMO helps you choose the right payroll solution

Choosing payroll software does not have to be a journey you take alone. A trusted payroll partner can help you navigate the payroll landscape, understand your requirements and explore a solution in the context of your business. That’s the approach we take at ELMO. 

• The right fit for you: Our payroll experts recommend the right engine from our curated network of best-of-breed payroll partners, matched to your industry, scale, complexity and future direction.
• A trusted view of workforce data: Mapped employee data flows between HR and payroll, and intelligent conflict detection surfaces issues for review before the pay run.
• Backed by local experts: Local experts in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand guide you from engine selection through implementation, adoption and optimisation.

It starts with a discovery call. We’ll walk you  through your current process, identifying manual time drains, and agree on your desired outcomes.  From there, our payroll specialists help identify the right payroll fit for not just you and your team, but for other key stakeholders in your business. 

If your company is scaling and changing in the coming months, get a head start today. Don’t wait for a bad pay run to happen.

Frequently asked questions 

1. Why review your payroll system before it becomes a crisis?

Payroll changes can be prompted by growth, system end-of-life, a restructure or the need for better functionality. Repeating implementation and change management every few years can also be costly. Reviewing the current process early gives payroll teams and the business time to define its desired outcome, plan the transition and look for improvements in processing time, data confidence, risk and segregation of duties.

2. How do you know when your payroll system has outgrown your business?

Common signals of when your payroll system has outgrown your business include: 

• Manual workarounds that keep expanding
• Systems that do not connect with each other
• Limited support for award interpretation or rostering
• New requirements such as multi-entity payroll 

Consider both your organisation’s current needs and its expected future state, rather than only asking whether the existing system can complete today’s pay run.

3. What should growing Australian businesses look for in payroll software?

Look for a solution that fits your industry, workforce scale, award complexity and business circumstances. It should support relevant local requirements, keep employee data aligned between HR and payroll, surface mismatches for review, and provide an audit trail. Local payroll specialists can also help teams assess their requirements and support implementation and optimisation.

4. Can payroll software reduce manual spreadsheets and reconciliation?

Yes, Payroll software reduces manual spreadsheets and reconciliation when it automates calculations currently tracked by hand, like award rates, overtime and leave accruals, and syncs data with HR, rostering and finance so figures don’t need re-checking across systems.