Employment Hero

Employment Hero Payroll charges $20/emp/mo (Lite) per active employee. There is no monthly base fee, but a minimum monthly charge of 200 applies, meaning smaller teams pay that minimum regardless of headcount. This minimum makes Employment Hero better value as teams grow toward and beyond the threshold where the per-employee rate exceeds the floor.

Yes. Employment Hero Payroll is fully STP Phase 2 compliant and submits itemised payroll data, including wages, tax, super, and leave components, to the ATO each pay cycle. It supports the Payday Super changes from 1 July 2026 through its HeroClear clearing house, which processes super contributions alongside each pay run.

Employment Hero uses the same award interpretation engine as KeyPay, which it acquired in 2022. This engine is considered among the best in Australia for automated award compliance, covering more than 100 Modern Awards with pre-built pay condition rules for penalty rates, overtime, shift loadings, and annual award reconciliations. It is particularly well regarded for hospitality, retail, and healthcare businesses where award complexity is high.

Yes. Employment Hero is a full HR and payroll platform that includes onboarding and offboarding, employee self-service, leave management, performance reviews, and a benefits marketplace alongside the payroll engine. This makes it an all-in-one option for growing teams that want HR and payroll in a single system rather than two separate products.

Employment Hero suits Australian growing businesses, typically from about five to a few hundred employees, that want integrated HR and payroll with strong award compliance in a single platform. It is a natural upgrade path for businesses that have outgrown the payroll features in Xero or MYOB and need structured onboarding, self-service, and richer compliance tools.

Employment Hero owns KeyPay and uses its payroll engine, so the underlying award interpretation and compliance technology is the same. The main difference is scope: KeyPay is a payroll-only platform at a lower per-employee rate and no monthly minimum, while Employment Hero adds a full HR suite on top of the payroll engine at a higher cost and with a monthly floor. Businesses that need payroll only will often find KeyPay more economical; businesses wanting combined HR and payroll in one platform are the natural Employment Hero audience.

Yes. Employment Hero integrates with Xero, MYOB, and QuickBooks Online, pushing payroll journals and employee cost data into your accounting system after each pay run. This avoids manual data entry between systems and keeps financial records accurate without duplication.