KeyPay Review Australia 2026

AU-MadePayroll
5.0 / 5— SoftwareHQ AU Rating
Pricing verified 2026-03-18

Overview

KeyPay is cloud payroll built for au accountants and bookkeepers. Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Sydney, NSW, it serves Australian businesses with local data hosting and AU-based support.

Cloud payroll built for AU accountants and bookkeepers

AU Compliance Scores

BAS Lodgement
0/5
STP Phase 2
5/5
Payday Super
5/5
Modern Awards
5/5
GST Handling
0/5
Bank Feeds
0/5
Modern Awards NoteIndustry-leading Modern Award auto-interpretation with pre-built Awards covering hospitality, retail, healthcare, aged care, cleaning, manufacturing, and more. Automatically calculates correct base rates, penalty rates, overtime, allowances, and leave loading based on employee classification and hours. Auto-updates when Fair Work changes Award rates. Requires Plus plan ($6/employee/month).

Pricing (AUD inc. GST)

All prices below are in Australian dollars and include GST. Pricing verified as of 2026-03-18.

Standard
$4/mo
per employee
$4/active employee/month (AUD incl. GST). Includes customisable payroll, employee self-service portal, WorkZone mobile app, timesheets, reporting, STP Phase 2 reporting, automated super payments, leave management, document management, and third-party integrations. Does not include Award Interpretation or rostering.
  • Employees: unlimited
  • Clients: unlimited
Most Popular
Plus
$6/mo
per employee
$6/active employee/month (AUD incl. GST). Everything in Standard plus Modern Award auto-interpretation, Pay Conditions Engine for custom rules and Enterprise Agreements, rostering with real-time shift costing, Time & Attendance kiosk, and Dimensions for cost centre/location tracking.
  • Employees: unlimited
  • Clients: unlimited

Pros & Cons

Pros

  • Best-in-class Modern Award auto-interpretation covering 100+ Awards with auto-rate updates — eliminates the #1 source of payroll errors
  • STP Phase 2 compliant (ATO-certified since June 2022) and confirmed Payday Super ready for July 2026
  • Multi-client dashboard purpose-built for accountants/bookkeepers managing 20+ client payrolls from a single login
  • Automated super payments to all major AU funds via built-in KeyPay Super clearing house — no third-party gateway
  • Transparent per-employee pricing: $4/employee (Standard) or $6/employee (Plus with Awards) — no hidden fees or minimums
  • AU-made, AU-hosted (AWS Sydney), ISO 27001 certified, with mandatory 2FA and encrypted data at rest

Cons

  • Payroll-only — no invoicing, BAS lodgement, or general accounting; requires Xero/MYOB/QuickBooks alongside
  • No phone support on any plan — email and chat only during Mon-Fri 9am-5pm AEST business hours
  • Per-employee pricing adds up for larger teams: 50 employees on Plus = $300/month, 100 employees = $600/month
  • UI is functional but dated compared to modern SaaS design — the interface prioritises capability over aesthetics
  • Now part of Employment Hero — long-term product direction and potential feature consolidation creates strategic uncertainty for standalone KeyPay customers

Who Is KeyPay Best For?

  • Accountant Bookkeeper
  • Multi Client Payroll
  • Complex Modern Awards
  • Hospitality Payroll

KeyPay may not be the best fit for:

  • Sole Trader No Employees
  • Full Accounting Needs
  • Invoicing Only

KeyPay Alternatives

If KeyPay doesn’t quite fit your needs, consider these alternatives for Australian businesses:

  • Xero — Australia's most popular cloud accounting platform. From $35/mo inc. GST.
  • MYOB — Australia's original business management platform. From $35/mo inc. GST.
  • Employment Hero — All-in-one HR, payroll and benefits platform for AU businesses. From $20/mo inc. GST.
  • Payroller — Simple payroll for AU small business. Free plan available.
  • Reckon One — Australian-built cloud accounting with flat-rate payroll. From $24/mo inc. GST.

Related Comparisons

Head to Head
Xero vs KeyPay 2026
Xero Payroll is convenient if you already use Xero for accounting, but KeyPay offers industry-leadin...
Head to Head
MYOB vs KeyPay 2026
MYOB and KeyPay both score 5/5 on Modern Award auto-interpretation, but KeyPay is confirmed Payday S...
Head to Head
KeyPay vs Employment Hero 2026
Employment Hero acquired KeyPay, so both share the same Modern Award engine (5/5) and Payday Super r...
Head to Head
KeyPay vs Payroller 2026
KeyPay offers industry-leading Modern Award auto-interpretation (5/5 vs 3/5), confirmed Payday Super...

Migration Guides

Step-by-step switching guides involving KeyPay for Australian businesses.

Hard
How to Switch Payroll Provider Mid-Year
4-8 hours · 7 steps
Moderate
How to Migrate from Employment Hero to KeyPay
3-5 hours · 8 steps
Moderate
How to Switch from Manual Payroll to Software
3-6 hours · 8 steps

Related Compliance Guides

Guide
STP Phase 2 Explained — What Australian Employers Need to Know
Single Touch Payroll Phase 2 expands the data reported to the ATO with each pay run, including disag...
Guide
Payday Super 2026 — Employer Preparation Guide
From 1 July 2026, employers must pay superannuation on or before payday instead of quarterly. This i...
Guide
Modern Awards Explained for Australian Employers
Modern Awards set minimum pay rates, conditions, and entitlements for employees in specific industri...
Guide
Payroll Tax by State — Thresholds, Rates & Registration
Payroll tax is a state and territory tax on wages paid by employers above a threshold. Each jurisdic...
Guide
Workers' Compensation Insurance by State — AU Employer Guide
Workers' compensation is compulsory for all Australian employers and is managed by each state or ter...
Guide
Data Sovereignty in Australia — Where Is Your Business Data Stored?
Australian businesses are increasingly concerned about where their financial and employee data is ho...
Guide
How to Set Up Single Touch Payroll (STP)
Single Touch Payroll requires all Australian employers to report payroll information to the ATO each...
Guide
Contractor vs Employee in Australia — How to Classify Correctly
Misclassifying an employee as a contractor is one of the most common and costly compliance mistakes ...
Guide
Superannuation Guide for Australian Employers
Employers must pay the Superannuation Guarantee (SG) for eligible employees at the current rate of 1...
Guide
Fair Work Compliance Essentials for Australian Employers
The Fair Work Act 2009 sets the national framework for workplace relations in Australia, covering mi...
Guide
Leave Entitlements by State — Long Service Leave & State Variations
While annual leave and personal leave are set nationally under the NES, long service leave (LSL) var...
Guide
ABN Registration Guide — How to Get an Australian Business Number
An Australian Business Number (ABN) is an 11-digit identifier required for most business activities ...

Frequently Asked Questions

Is KeyPay the same as Employment Hero Payroll?
Yes. Employment Hero acquired KeyPay in December 2021 and rebranded the product under the Employment Hero name in March 2023. The underlying payroll platform, features, and pricing remain the same — KeyPay is now the payroll engine within Employment Hero. The keypay.com.au website still works and the product is still widely referred to as KeyPay by accountants and bookkeepers. Existing KeyPay customers were migrated to Employment Hero branding with no change to their service.
How does KeyPay handle Modern Award interpretation?
KeyPay's Plus plan ($6/employee/month) includes pre-built interpretations of 100+ Australian Modern Awards. Once you assign an employee to their correct Award classification, KeyPay automatically calculates base rates, penalty rates (weekends, public holidays, evenings), overtime, shift loadings, allowances, and leave loading based on their actual hours worked. When Fair Work updates Award rates each July, KeyPay updates automatically. This eliminates manual rate lookups and is KeyPay's biggest differentiator versus Xero Payroll or MYOB Payroll.
Is KeyPay ready for Payday Super in July 2026?
Yes. KeyPay has confirmed readiness for Payday Super, which takes effect 1 July 2026. Under the new rules, employers must pay super contributions within 7 days of each pay day (replacing the current quarterly deadline). KeyPay's automated super payment system will schedule and process contributions aligned to these shorter timeframes, helping businesses avoid late payment penalties of up to 200% of the shortfall.
Can I use KeyPay without an accounting platform like Xero or MYOB?
You can run payroll standalone in KeyPay, but since it's payroll-only (no invoicing, BAS, or general accounting), most businesses pair it with Xero, MYOB, or QuickBooks Online. KeyPay's native integrations automatically post payroll journals to your accounting software after each pay run, so there's no double entry. If you only need payroll and super — for example, you're an accountant processing client payrolls — KeyPay works perfectly as a standalone tool.
How does KeyPay pricing compare to Xero Payroll?
KeyPay Standard is $4/employee/month and Plus (with Award interpretation) is $6/employee/month — both with unlimited employees and a 30-day free trial. Xero Payroll is included in Xero Business plans (from $65/month) but only supports up to a limited number of employees before you need higher-tier plans, and lacks automated Award interpretation. For businesses with 10+ employees on a Modern Award, KeyPay Plus at $6/employee is typically more cost-effective and far more capable for Award compliance than Xero's built-in payroll.
Where is my payroll data stored?
All KeyPay data is hosted in the AWS Asia Pacific (Sydney) region, meaning your payroll data stays in Australia. KeyPay holds ISO 27001:2013 certification and is PCI compliant. Data is encrypted with 256-bit SSL in transit and encrypted at rest. Full backups run daily with transaction logs every 15 minutes, verified weekly. Two-factor authentication has been mandatory for all users since March 2022.