Employment Hero has announced a new payroll solution to Australian Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs). The company first aquired Employment Innovations and promptly set about creating the world's first fully automated payroll solution, reportedly set to change the way businesses manage their payroll. According to the company, payroll processing time could be reduced to just a few hours for some businesses, which could lead to around an 80% saving in time currently spent on payroll administration for SMEs.

In its recently released Future of Payroll Report, Employment Hero highlighted that currently, 95% of pay runs take up to three days to complete, causing significant time drain and operational inefficiencies for businesses across the country. The report also indicated that 89% of payroll professionals are ready for a change and would prefer to expedite the payroll process by utilising AI automation. In addition, the report highlighted that professionals view AI as a vehicle for enhancing their data analysis (51%) and payroll skills (45%).

Again referring to the findings from the Future of Payroll Report, Phil Bernie, GM, Payroll at Employment Hero, stated, "It's madness that in 2024 it takes days to complete pay runs for Australian businesses. With the software and automation available, running payroll should be a matter of hours." Acknowledging the significant support for AI and automation among Australian business owners, bookkeepers, and accountants, Bernie suggested that AI and automation could transform how businesses manage employment, improving efficiency, and productivity.

The acquisition of Employment Innovations, with its three decades of payroll management expertise, will help Employment Hero achieve its ambitious objectives, the company said. This strategic move will contribute towards the creation of an AI-powered payroll automation system capable of learning from individual pay runs, thus automating complex payrolls that frequently change from day to day. The alliance is expected to culminate in a system that combines AI-driven efficiency and accuracy with the expert human touch.

Beyond the mentioned benefits, the acquisition also increases the global reach of Employment Hero by adding the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Singapore, and Malaysia to its existing footprint. This will make the company’s managed payroll and HR advisory facilities available and affordable for businesses of all sizes in these nations. The CEO of Employment Hero, Ben Thompson, commented, "This is an incredibly important milestone in our journey towards building the very first fully automated payroll solution and becoming the world's largest employment management platform."

The company also reported that accountants and bookkeepers using Employment Hero will now have more time to offer strategic analysis and advice to their clients, instead of spending excessive time on running payroll. Shane Duffy, CEO of Employment Innovations, said, "Working together to produce the world’s first fully automated payroll solution will be truly exciting. [...] The combined offering has the chance to be game-changing, not just for Australian SMEs, but for those across the globe."