Workday sees rapid growth in Australian payroll software adoption

Workday has reported increasing adoption of its payroll software in Australia, with more than 60 organisations now signed up to its Workday Payroll for Australia solution. The trend reflects growing demand for payroll systems that streamline compliance, integrate with other business tools, and offer real-time analytics to address regulatory and operational challenges.

Adoption trends

According to Workday, at least half of these Australian customers are expected to be operational with the platform by the end of 2025. Organisations such as Equity Trustees and Cognizant have adopted Workday's payroll solution, joining a mix of businesses across industries that are seeking to modernise processes and gain efficiencies in their payroll operations.

Businesses are moving away from manual, disconnected payroll processes that are prone to errors and compliance risks. The search for a unified platform that connects human resources, finance, timekeeping, and payroll data is driving the accelerated uptake of cloud-based and AI-enabled payroll systems.

Compliance and automation

The regulatory environment in Australia for payroll remains complex and is subject to frequent changes. According to the Australian Payroll Association's 2025 Industry Report, nearly a quarter of payroll teams report poor system integration, while almost 20% struggle to keep up with changing legislation. Many industry participants see automation and artificial intelligence as essential tools for managing these challenges and improving productivity.

Workday's payroll platform, designed and tested locally, offers automation features such as real-time data synchronisation and automated compliance alerts. Processes that previously required manual verification or retrospective checks can now be monitored live for potential anomalies. These capabilities are intended to reduce the administrative burden on payroll teams while improving accuracy and compliance.

Global payroll push

Workday has released additional solutions in its strategy to broaden global payroll support, including Global Payroll Connect and Workday Payroll provided by Strada. These offerings are intended to enable multinational companies to manage complex international payroll requirements, leveraging a connected partner ecosystem for a more unified approach across different countries.

The broader integration with Workday Human Capital Management allows for a single source of information on employees, pay, and performance, delivering data visibility and automation across payroll and HR functions.

Customer perspectives

"Payroll is one of the most critical and complex functions for any business, and it is time it became a source of strategic value," said Jo-Anne Ruhl, Vice President and Managing Director, Workday Australia and New Zealand. "With native Workday Payroll for Australia and our expanding global payroll capabilities, we are helping organisations move beyond manual work and fragmented systems. By unifying automation, AI, and trusted data, we give payroll teams and leaders the insight and confidence to make better decisions, faster. Demand for native Workday Payroll in Australia has already exceeded our expectations."

Jordyn Grubb, People Systems Analyst at Equity Trustees, said, "Some of the biggest benefits that I've seen with Workday Payroll for Australia have definitely been the compliance actions running through a pay cycle. A lot of the things that previously you could only check once pay was finalised are now live and ready to check before finalising... which means that you can catch errors before they go through. We all know it's much easier to fix an error before a pay is finalised than it is to correct it afterwards," said Grubb.

Elaine Hanner, Payroll Director at Cognizant, said, "Running Workday Payroll for Australia has already saved us a significant amount of processing time and improved overall accuracy."