Best Payroll Software for Small Business in Australia (2026)

For most small employers, the best payroll software is the payroll already built into your accounting software — Xero if you're on Xero, MYOB Business Pro if you're on MYOB — because it's STP Phase 2 enabled, pays super automatically every pay run for payday super, and your accountant already knows how to fix it. The exceptions matter, though: rostered, award-based teams are better served by Employment Hero Payroll (which also powers QuickBooks Payroll), and micro employers counting every dollar can run fully compliant payroll on Payroller's free tier or Reckon's flat $16-a-month plan. Here's how the six main options compare on verified 2026 pricing, and which one fits your size of business.

What payroll software has to do in 2026

Three things are non-negotiable this year.

STP Phase 2 reporting. Every pay run must be reported to the ATO through Single Touch Payroll on or before payday, itemised the Phase 2 way — allowances, overtime and salary sacrifice as separate components. All six products below are STP Phase 2 enabled, so this is a pass/fail test they all pass. If STP is new to you, start with our Single Touch Payroll guide.

Payday super. Since 1 July 2026, super guarantee — 12% of qualifying earnings — must be received by each employee's fund within 7 business days of payday, and the ATO's free Small Business Superannuation Clearing House has closed. A clearing house built into the payroll, so super goes out in the same sitting as the pay run, has gone from nice-to-have to the most important payroll feature of the year. Our payday super guide covers the rules; the comparison below shows how each product handles it.

Correct pay rates. Payroll software applies the rates you give it. If your staff are on a modern award with penalty rates, overtime and loadings, the gap between software that interprets the award and software that doesn't is the gap between a five-minute pay run and a spreadsheet — and between compliance and a back-pay claim. If you're not sure which award covers your people, sort that first with our guide to finding your employees' modern award.

After those three, the things that separate the products are timesheets and rostering, employee self-service apps, and what your bookkeeper already uses.

The six options at a glance

Prices are AUD per month at standard, non-promotional rates (as at September 2026). Vendors differ on whether they quote including GST — Payroller's prices are ex GST, for instance — so check before you budget, and expect introductory discounts that expire after three to six months.

Xero Payroll

Xero doesn't sell payroll separately in Australia; every business plan includes it, along with automatic super payments, and the plans differ mainly in how many people you can pay. Ignite ($37) covers one employee, Grow ($78) two, Comprehensive ($107) five and Ultimate 10 ($143) ten, with Ultimate 20, 50 and 100 at $180, $250 and $300 (as at September 2026, after the July price rise). The catch is that you can't buy an extra payroll seat — hire a third person on Grow and you're moving to Comprehensive, a $29 jump for one employee.

What you get is the smoothest pay run of the bunch: employees submit timesheets and leave through the Xero Me app, STP filing is a click at the end of the run, and super batches go to funds through Xero's built-in clearing facility. What you don't get is award interpretation. Xero uses pay templates, so you set the rates and rules; hospitality and retail businesses typically bolt on Deputy or Tanda for rostering and award rules, at extra cost. Xero's strongest argument remains that almost every Australian bookkeeper works in it.

MYOB

MYOB is the value play for growing headcounts. Business Lite ($315 a year, about $26 a month) and Business Pro ($70 a month) add payroll at $3 per employee per month — Lite is capped at two employees, Pro is unlimited — and AccountRight Plus ($165 a month) includes unlimited payroll with no per-head fee (as at September 2026). There's also a standalone Payroll Only plan at $15 a month for up to four employees, one of the cheapest ways to be STP-compliant if you keep your books elsewhere.

Super is handled by switching on Pay Super, included in the payroll subscription, and the MYOB Team app gives staff rosters, timesheets, clock-on and payslips on their phones. Award interpretation isn't a headline feature — like Xero, you're setting up pay items and rates yourself, or integrating a workforce tool. MYOB's product range (Solo, Lite, Pro, AccountRight, Payroll Only) is confusing, and the constant 60–70% introductory discounts make the real price easy to misjudge; budget on the standard rate.

QuickBooks Payroll (powered by Employment Hero)

QuickBooks Online doesn't have its own payroll in Australia. Instead, QuickBooks Payroll is Employment Hero's engine resold inside QuickBooks: Standard Payroll costs $6 per employee per month on top of any QuickBooks plan (Simple Start $33, Essentials $60, Plus $84, Advanced $125, as at September 2026), with an Advanced Payroll tier that adds award interpretation, rostering and time-and-attendance at a higher per-employee rate — check the current price on the QuickBooks site before you budget.

The upside is real: for the price of a bolt-on you get the same award engine that Employment Hero sells for $10 a head, without the $100 minimum. Intuit has also brought HeroClear, Employment Hero's clearing house, inside QuickBooks Payroll so super goes out with each pay run under payday super. The downside is the seam: it's a second system with its own login, and when a pay run goes wrong at 5pm on payday you can find yourself between two support teams.

Employment Hero Payroll (formerly KeyPay)

KeyPay built its reputation on automated award interpretation and became Employment Hero Payroll after the acquisition; the KeyPay name survives mainly for accountants and bookkeepers running payroll for multiple clients. Bought direct, payroll is $10 per employee per month with a 10-user minimum, so the effective floor is $100 a month (as at September 2026). Partner pricing through a bookkeeper isn't published — comparison sites quote a few dollars a head — so if your bookkeeper is an Employment Hero partner, ask.

For that money you get the most complete payroll here: more than 100 modern awards pre-built as pay condition rules (penalty rates, overtime, loadings), rostering and timesheets that flow straight into pay, an employee app, and HeroClear paying super automatically after each run. It's overkill for three salaried staff. It's exactly right for a cafe with fifteen casuals and a roster full of penalty rates.

Payroller

Payroller is the budget pick and the only genuinely free option here. The Lite plan is free, mobile-only and covers STP Phase 2 reporting, super, leave and an employee app — enough for a sole trader paying a couple of staff from their phone. The Standard plan adds web access at $3.99 per employee per month on annual billing or $5.50 monthly, ex GST, with a minimum spend of $15.96 or $22 a month once the six-month $0.99 introductory rate ends; timesheets and rosters are an add-on at $3.99 (annual) or $6 (monthly) per employee (as at September 2026).

Ten employees on Standard costs $39.90 a month — less than a third of Xero's Ultimate 10, though Xero is also doing your accounting. Payroller doesn't interpret awards, and support is email and help centre rather than phone. It's built for exactly the micro employers the ATO had in mind when it pushed for no-cost and low-cost STP products, and it does that job well.

Reckon Payroll

Reckon's payroll is priced flat rather than per head: $16 a month for up to four employees, $32 for up to ten and about $60 for the unlimited plan, either as a standalone app or added to Reckon One accounting from around $24 a month (as at September 2026). Ten employees for $32 is the cheapest paid option here, and unlimited for $60 is hard to beat for a larger, simple payroll.

It's STP Phase 2 enabled, calculates super every pay cycle, pays it through the Beam clearing house and is payday super ready. Timesheets and leave tracking are built in, with the Reckon Mate app for employees. It doesn't interpret awards, so complex penalty rates mean manual calculation or another tool — and fewer bookkeepers work in Reckon than in Xero or MYOB, which can cost you at tax time. Reckon is an ASX-listed Australian company with local business-hours support.

What it costs at four team sizes

Standard monthly pricing, no promotions, as at September 2026. The Xero and MYOB columns include accounting; the last three are payroll only.

Two things jump out. Xero's tier structure punishes small headcount increases — the third and sixth employees each cost you a plan upgrade. And Employment Hero's $100 floor makes it the most expensive option under ten staff and merely mid-priced above it, which is exactly the size where its award engine starts earning its keep.

Our picks by business size

One or two employees. If you already run Xero or MYOB for your books, use what's built in. If you don't, MYOB Payroll Only ($15) or Reckon Payroll ($16) gives you web-based STP and super for up to four staff, and Payroller Lite does it free from your phone.

Three to ten staff on salaries or simple hourly rates. Xero or MYOB, decided by whichever your bookkeeper uses — that saves more than any price difference. On price alone MYOB Pro wins ($82 versus $107 at four staff, $100 versus $143 at ten). The broader Xero-or-MYOB comparison is in our best accounting software guide.

Rostered, award-based teams of any size. Employment Hero Payroll, or QuickBooks Advanced Payroll if you're a QuickBooks shop. Under about eight to ten staff the $100 floor stings; the alternative is Xero or MYOB with Deputy or Tanda handling rosters and award rules, which usually lands in a similar place once you add that subscription.

Ten to fifty staff. MYOB AccountRight Plus ($165, unlimited payroll) if you want accounting and payroll in one system; Employment Hero if awards and rostering dominate; Reckon's unlimited payroll plan (about $60) if your payroll is simple and price is what matters.

How to choose without regretting it

1. Ask your bookkeeper or BAS agent first. Their familiarity is worth more than $20 a month in either direction, and they'll be the one fixing a failed STP submission.
2. Count employees twelve months out, not today. Tiered products (Xero, Reckon) get expensive at the boundaries; per-employee products (MYOB, Payroller, QuickBooks) scale smoothly.
3. Be honest about awards. If you pay penalty rates, overtime or shift loadings to more than a handful of people, budget for award interpretation somewhere in the stack.
4. Test the super flow before the first live pay run. Authorise super on payday itself — the 7 business days run until the fund receives the money, and clearing houses take several days.
5. Switch at a clean break. The start of a financial year is easiest; the start of a quarter is workable. You'll need year-to-date figures for each employee, and an STP finalisation from the old system by 14 July.
6. Budget on the standard price. Introductory discounts of 60–70% are common and expire in three to six months.

For everything else that changed for employers this year — minimum wage, tax tables, wage theft penalties — see our payroll changes for 2026–27.

Key takeaways

• All six products are STP Phase 2 enabled and can pay super through a built-in clearing house — the payday super deadline is met by workflow, not by software choice.
• If you already use Xero or MYOB, their built-in payroll is the right answer for most simple payrolls; MYOB is cheaper as headcount grows, Xero has broader bookkeeper support.
• Employment Hero Payroll (also inside QuickBooks Payroll) is the pick for rostered, award-based teams, but its $100-a-month minimum makes it poor value under about ten staff.
• Payroller (free Lite tier, $3.99 per employee on Standard) and Reckon Payroll ($16 for up to four) are the cheapest compliant options for micro employers.
• Budget on standard prices, check GST treatment, and count employees a year ahead — Xero's plan boundaries are where costs jump.

Where to get help

• ATO — Single Touch Payroll: the rules, Phase 2 reporting and the register of no-cost and low-cost STP products for employers with one to four staff — ato.gov.au — Single Touch Payroll
• ATO — Payday super: the 7-business-day rule, qualifying earnings and clearing house alternatives — ato.gov.au — About payday super
• Fair Work Ombudsman — Pay and Conditions Tool: to check the award rates your software should be applying — calculate.fairwork.gov.au
• Your bookkeeper, BAS agent or accountant: for choosing between products, migrating year-to-date balances and setting up pay items correctly for STP Phase 2.