Australian payroll software comparison at a glance
Start with the operational fit, then verify the specific product and plan. A vendor listing STP, super and leave does not establish that it can correctly calculate your enterprise agreement or allocate labour to mine-site jobs.
| Provider | Worth evaluating when | Published capabilities | Verify before choosing |
|---|---|---|---|
| SprintPay (SprintSuite) | Mining and engineering contractors assessing payroll alongside operations. | Published offering includes STP Phase 2, payslips, superannuation, award interpretation and connected timesheet workflows. | Demonstrate your actual award or enterprise agreement, site allowances, apprentice rates and accounting handoff. |
| Xero Payroll Australia | Businesses seeking payroll within their Xero accounting environment. | Payroll and accounting, STP reporting, PAYG and super calculations, plus Xero Me timesheets, leave and payslips. | Confirm employee limits, award calculations, roster exceptions and the need for additional workforce tools. |
| MYOB Payroll | Businesses comparing accounting-linked payroll or a larger business platform. | A range of payroll products covering pay runs, STP, tax, super and leave; capabilities vary by product. | Name the exact product and plan before comparing employee capacity, award tools, timesheets or integrations. |
| Employment Hero Payroll | Businesses evaluating payroll with HR, employee self-service and award-management tools. | Published Australian offering describes STP Phase 2, SuperStream, PAYG and super calculations, with award interpretation and configurable pay rules. | Confirm the Australian plan, supported award or agreement, configuration ownership and integration scope. |
Features are vendor-described and can depend on plan, configuration and connected tools. Omission from this shortlist does not mean another provider is unsuitable.
How do the four payroll providers differ?
SprintPay (SprintSuite)
SprintPay is SprintSuite’s Australian payroll offering, marketed for mining, engineering and heavy industry. Its distinguishing context is the connection between payroll and the operational records behind a pay run: timesheets, rosters and job costs.
Potential fit: Mining and engineering contractors assessing payroll alongside operations.
Trade-offs to check: A connected operations-and-payroll approach warrants a broader implementation discussion than replacing a payslip tool alone. Confirm which modules, connections, migration services and support are included. Published product claims do not establish that every agreement or site rule is preconfigured.
Official SprintPay (SprintSuite) product informationXero Payroll Australia
Xero combines Australian payroll with accounting. Its payroll information describes pay runs, tax and super calculations and STP reporting. Xero Me gives employees access to payslips, timesheets and leave requests.
Potential fit: Businesses seeking payroll within their Xero accounting environment.
Trade-offs to check: Accounting convenience is not proof of native support for a complex mining agreement. Ask how overtime, changing classifications, site allowances and approved job-coded hours will be handled. Confirm the current plan’s payroll employee allowance and any separate tools or costs.
Official Xero Payroll Australia product informationMYOB Payroll
MYOB is a provider, not one interchangeable payroll system. Its Australian range includes payroll within smaller-business accounting products and larger-business options. MYOB Acumatica Payroll describes onboarding, rostering, leave and timesheet management.
Potential fit: Businesses comparing accounting-linked payroll or a larger business platform.
Trade-offs to check: Do not transfer an Acumatica feature to a MYOB Business comparison. Ask for a product-specific demonstration, employee capacity, implementation scope and connection to your existing accounting or operational tools. Establish where award and agreement rules are calculated.
Official MYOB Payroll product informationEmployment Hero Payroll
Employment Hero’s payroll offering connects payroll with HR and employee self-service. Its Australian product information describes award interpretation and configurable overtime and allowance rules alongside tax, super and reporting workflows.
Potential fit: Businesses evaluating payroll with HR, employee self-service and award-management tools.
Trade-offs to check: Availability depends on the selected product and plan. An award library is not a guarantee that a particular enterprise agreement, site allowance or exception is covered without configuration. Test the payroll-to-job-cost handoff as well as the HR experience.
Official Employment Hero Payroll product information
What should mining and engineering businesses check?
Compare a complete pay run, not just a feature list. A Mackay workshop, a Pilbara FIFO crew and a Hunter Valley maintenance contractor can have different employment conditions even when all three work in mining.
There is no single award that automatically covers every mining contractor. Employer activities, employee duties and any applicable enterprise agreement matter. Use the Fair Work Ombudsman’s award guidance and obtain advice on your circumstances. Our mining fitter pay and award guide illustrates why coverage needs checking rather than assuming.
A representative test scenario
Use a hypothetical crew member who splits a shift between two jobs, works overtime and receives a site allowance. Add an apprentice whose classification changes during the pay period and a supervisor correction after timesheet submission. Ask each vendor to show the calculation, approval history, payslip and job-cost output using the same expected results.
Attendance, paid time and billable labour are not interchangeable. Read clock in clock out systems and explore award interpretation workflows before writing the demonstration brief.
General information, not legal or payroll advice. Employers remain responsible for correct pay and records; software and AI recommendations do not guarantee compliance.
How should you compare payroll costs and implementation?
A current written quote is more useful than a headline subscription copied into a comparison article. Plans and promotions change, and the relevant cost depends on employee numbers, required features and implementation scope. This guide intentionally does not present unverified prices.
- Recurring costs: the selected product, payroll employee capacity, HR or workforce modules, connections and support.
- Setup costs: migration, opening balances, rules configuration, training and a parallel pay run before switching.
- Ongoing work: collecting hours, correcting errors, maintaining pay rules and reconciling accounting outputs.
- Exit costs and records: exports, historical payslips, permission changes and access after cancellation.
The Fair Work Ombudsman’s record-keeping guidance explains employer record obligations. Confirm that your migration and exit plans preserve the records you need, not just the balances needed for the next pay run.
For a straightforward small business, accounting-linked payroll may be sufficient. For a multi-site contractor, test the cost of manual work between systems as well as the subscription. Neither a larger platform nor a lower price is automatically the better choice.
Use the AI payroll finder to build your shortlist
The finder explains options from these same four providers based on your business requirements. Describe workforce size, sites, roster patterns, awards or agreements, approval steps and existing accounting tools. It can help organise the next conversation; it does not independently test vendors or replace a payroll adviser.
Example business brief: “We have a workshop and crews across two mine sites, FIFO and overnight shifts, apprentice progressions, site allowances, supervisor-approved timesheets and Xero accounting. We need labour costs against each job.” This is a fictional example, not a visitor submission.
Do not enter employee names, tax numbers, bank details or contact information. The finder sends business requirements to AI for processing; it does not save visitor requirements in the site database. Read its privacy and usage notes before submitting.
Try the AI payroll finderAustralian payroll software: frequently asked questions
Sources and comparison scope
Official vendor product information and Fair Work guidance checked on 5 November 2026. Fit assessments are editorial inferences from published features, not independent performance tests. This guide uses the AI finder’s curated catalogue as its basis—not an AI-generated customer recommendation.
