In Australia, paying employees unfairly can result in business bankruptcy and criminal charges. So, many businesses in Australia rely on payroll software to pay their employees.
This enables them to work out payroll calculations and deductions quicker, generate accurate payslips, and make you stay compliant with ATO. You need to understand the Australian rules, and your business needs to select the right payroll software. We’ve experimented with twenty different payroll software. Out of which, the five best payroll software in Australia was selected.
Patriot Software stood out among these five Australian payroll software because of its functionalities and affordability.
It also has built-in tax tables that automatically update as tax rates change, taking the guesswork out of deductions. Below are the five best payroll software in Australia;
If you are in a hurry, select from the list above. Or read their details below to get more information before making your choice.
Table of Contents
1. Patriot Software (Our Top Choice)
Patriot Software is a payroll management solution that ensures your employees are paid on time accordingly. It enables you to pay taxes and track whatever you paid for, create and email payslips, manage employee benefits, and create payroll reports for you.
A properly configured payroll software like patriot payroll allows organizations to maintain compliance with tax laws and other financial regulations and reduce costs. In addition, its affordable price sets it apart from competitors and makes it especially practical for small businesses and nonprofits. Patriot is based entirely online, so you can run payroll from anywhere with an internet connection and a web browser.
Core Features of Patriot Payroll
Employee self-service portal:
Patriot payroll software allows employees to access and manage their personal and employment-related information. This system often sends notifications to the employee or administrator when some actions or approvals are required, enabling employees to stay engaged, be more productive, and enhance their experience with the company.
Direct deposit:
Patriot payroll enables the electronic transfer of wages from your bank account to your employees’ accounts without paper cheques or cash. Aside from wages, other payments like child support, Social Security benefits, and tax refunds can be transferred through direct deposit. It also eliminates the possibility of fraudsters stealing checks from mailboxes and altering their amounts and recipients.
Automatic Tax Payment:
Here, the Patriot automated payment program offers you an excellent opportunity for residents and businesses to pay their taxes in small, regular installments instead of receiving a bill for the entire amount right before the due date. If you worry about being able to pay your tax bill on time, this is a good alternative and can help prevent you from becoming delinquent.
Tax Filing:
Patriot payroll systems have built-in tax tables that automatically update as tax rates change, taking the guesswork out of deductions and streamlining the tax filing process.
Patriot’s Pros
Intuitive user interface.
Great payroll flexibility.
Provides excellent value for an affordable price.
Excellent employee portals
Patriot’s Cons
Does not include benefits management.
No separate payroll screens for hourly and salaried workers.
Pricing details
- Basic: $17/month, +$4 per employee or contractor
- Full service: $37/month, +$4 per employee or contractor
Pricing Starts: $17/Month
2. Gusto Payroll Software (Best for Advanced Payment)
The Gusto Payroll platform helps growing businesses onboard, pay, insure, and support their hardworking teams with payroll, benefits, and more. This is the most advanced software selected from the five best payroll software in Australia, as it allows employers to release payroll funds in advance to employees to cover an unexpected expense, which cannot be delayed till payday.
Core Features Of Gusto Payroll
Onboarding:
Gusto plays a vital role in helping you to follow all legal guidelines while ensuring your employees are ready to be paid, proper taxes are withheld from their paycheck, and they understand their rights and policies, and procedures within your workplace.
Report:
With Gusto Payroll, employers can verify their tax liabilities or cross-check financial data, which may include information such as pay rates, hours worked, overtime accrued, taxes withheld from wages, employer tax contributions, vacation balances, and more. It shows employers how much tax they’ve withheld from employee wages, how much they’ve paid government agencies, and how much they still owe.
Time Tracking:
Gusto payroll software allows you to log in employee work hours and store the data as timesheets for payroll processing. Here you turn on the time tracking app in Gusto so that employees and contractors can track their hours in the platform, making it easy to run payroll tired to an hourly rate.
Accessibility:
Gusto’s accessibility feature focuses on providing features that make products and services as usable for Australian employees as possible, including employees with disabilities or special needs.
Gusto’s Pros
Exceptional user experience
Automatic tax filing and compliance guidance.
Understandable admin mobile access
Gusto’s Cons
Has no account receivable feature.
No time tracking in the Simple plan
Pricing details
- Simple: $40/month, Plus $6 Per Month Per Person
- Plus: $80/month, +$12 Per Month Per Person
Pricing Starts: $40/Month
3. Onpay (Easy-to-Use Payroll Software)
OnPay is an innovative payroll software in Australia designed to make it easy for business owners to navigate the platform and manage payroll efficiently to save time, reduce errors, and stay compliant with tax regulations.
80% of our customers said that OnPay is easier to use than their previous payroll platform. Onpay is the simplest to use among all the five best payroll software in Australia, even if you aren’t tech-savvy.
Core Features Of OnPay Payroll
Time tracking:
Here, Onpay enables you to easily track each employee’s paid time off, including vacation time, sick leave, federal holidays, family leave, and maternity and paternity leave which forms the agreed number of days an employee can skip work.
Tax compliance:
The onpay tax compliance feature helps the employer to adhere to the government tax regulation by withholding taxes from employee paychecks and paying those taxes on behalf of the employee to the government timely and accurate.
Audit management:
Onpay helps payroll auditors in a given Australian company to analyze the company’s payroll processes, like pay rates, wages, tax holdings, etc., to ensure accuracy and know if the process is legally compliant.
Policy management:
Reducing errors, costly payroll mistakes, and the possibility of fraud can be perfectly achieved with the Onpay policy management feature. This helps you to create, maintain and enforce policies to minimize problems in the company.
OnPay’s Pros
Ease of use
Easily navigable interface,
Unlimited payroll runs
Feature-rich and scalable subscription plan
No extra fee for changing the plan
OnPay’s Cons
Lack automatic payroll
Inefficient customer support
Limited integration
Pricing details
- The first month is free.
- Base fee: $40/month, + $6/month per person.
Pricing Starts: $0/Month
4. Multiplier Payroll (Best for Global Employment)
Multiplier Payroll Software is a leading global employment platform in Australia. It allows companies to take care of their global team’s payroll, benefits, taxes, social contributions & local insurance policies without opening a local business entity. As soon as the employee is onboarded, you add the necessary details like country and employment type, and the platform will activate the employment for the new hire.
Core Features Of Multiplier Payroll
Employee onboarding:
Multiplier payroll is perfect for helping companies incorporate new employees into the company internationally, familiarize them with the company culture and policies, and pay them in their local currencies.
Audit management:
Here, Multiplier Payroll audits and examine the business’s active employees, pay rates, wages, and tax withholdings. It also ensures that all business activities comply with applicable regulations and works within the confines of corporate policies.
Compliance tracking:
Companies in Australia must structure, collect, and monitor all relevant compliance-related data and information to ensure no breaches or defects in standard business functions. Multiplier Payroll is the perfect software for that.
Employee database:
Did you know that the Multiplier employee database keeps records of current and past employees, which include contact information, job titles, payroll data, and other information related to employment? Other human resources functions can be managed through this feature.
Multiplier’s Pros
Comprehensive platform for global employment.
Immensely engaging with dedicated support.
A seamless experience is a definite pro.
Multiplier’s Cons
The customer support is slow.
Pricing details
- Hire employee: $300/month onwards
- Pay freelancers: $40/month
- Run global payroll: $40/month
- Provide employee insurance: $20/month
Pricing Starts: $20/Month
5. Freshbooks Payroll (Best for Global Employment)
FreshBooks is a cloud-based accounting and invoicing software that lets you create customized invoices and provides excellent customer support. It’s best for freelancers and small business owners who operate later.
This software doesn’t have built-in payroll processing. However, it seamlessly integrates with Gusto payroll software. In addition, its unique nature of excellent phone support and customizable invoicing features makes it outstanding.
Core Features of Freshbook Payroll
Customizable invoices:
One of the great things about Freshbook payroll software is that it lets you create your invoice to represent your business by using one of the invoice templates in the software.
Accounting:
All employees of an organization receive payments through the payroll department, so FreshBooks keeps track of employees’ wages, benefits, and payroll taxes and documents the records. This is done so employees can receive good earnings for the completed work.
Mobile Apps:
Companies use mobile devices to approve time cards, review expense reports, and complete payroll administration tasks while it helps their employees to access payroll and benefits.
Invoice processing:
Freshbook payroll helps you receive, examine (which may include checking figures for correct entry and proper codes, performing financial calculations, filing documents, assisting with payroll, performing billing tasks, calculating tax information, processing payment), and fulfilling vendor payment requests.
Freshbooks’ Pros
FreshBooks has several time-saving features that can speed up payment.
Good accounting software
Ease of invoice creation
User-friendly interface
Ease of invoice status tracking
Freshbooks’ Cons
Lack of robust reporting tools
The pricing is relatively expensive.
Limited customization
Pricing details
- Lite: $8.50/month
- Plus: $15/month
- Premium: $27.50/month
Pricing Starts: $8.50/Month
Conclusion
Businesses in Australia must make the right choice of the payroll solution they should use to be in line with the government rules. With cost-effective and seamless payroll like Patriot Payroll, the complexities of running payroll services for your employees and staying compliant at all times would be tackled.
Frequently Asked Questions
These tested five best Payroll software in Australia are built on the cloud to enable the vendor to respond quickly to threats. A set of technologies are utilized to safeguard your data. Policies are executed to ensure that these technologies are adequately maintained. For example, the Patriot payroll software Security & Systems Team is notified immediately when monitoring systems detect abnormal activity.
The payroll software you choose should be adept at factoring in earnings, salary revisions, bonuses, one-time deductions, leave, and attendance so you can process payroll with a single click. You should also look for software that automatically and securely mails payslips and tax documents to employees. Our best is Patriot payroll software, which carries out all these functions at a very low price tag, unlike other payroll software.
