Payroll plays a critical role in council operations, yet many organisations still rely on disconnected systems, manual workarounds, and duplicated processes that increase administrative burden and operational risk.

As workforce expectations, compliance obligations, and reporting requirements continue to grow, councils increasingly require connected systems that improve visibility, reduce duplication, and support more efficient workforce management.

According to AHRI Payroll Modernisation Research, 63% of organisations use three or more systems for payroll and HR operations, while only 10% operate from a single integrated payroll and HR solution. This challenge is not unique to Australia. Additional public sector research from Zellis found that 48% of organisations across the UK and Ireland still rely on manual workarounds due to payroll and HR system limitations.

For local government, where lean teams often manage multiple operational responsibilities simultaneously, disconnected payroll processes can quickly create inefficiencies across the wider organisation.

The challenge of disconnected payroll systems

Many councils continue to operate payroll, time and attendance, leave management, approvals, and finance across separate systems.

This often results in:

• duplicate data entry across multiple platforms

• spreadsheet-based workarounds

• inconsistent employee records

• manual reconciliations

• fragmented reporting

• overpayments and underpayments

• increased administrative workload

In some environments, employee information and payroll setup data must be entered and maintained separately across both payroll and time & attendance systems. Payroll teams may also be required to manually calculate timesheets, export and import files between systems, and manage approvals through disconnected workflows.

Beyond the administrative burden, these processes increase the risk of human error, reduce visibility across workforce operations, and create dependency on internal payroll knowledge.

This can place additional pressure on regional and remote councils where small corporate services teams are often responsible for payroll, finance, HR, and administration functions simultaneously.

In many cases, the challenge is not payroll itself — but the lack of connection between payroll and the wider operational environment.

Why integration matters

Integrated Payroll & Employee Self Service (ESS) solutions help connect payroll, employee records, award interpretation, leave management, approvals, finance, and reporting within a single operational platform.

CouncilFirst’s Payroll & ESS solution integrates directly into the broader ERP environment, helping councils reduce duplication while improving operational visibility and efficiency across the organisation.

Award interpretation and payroll automation

Integrated award interpretation functionality helps reduce the need for manual exports, imports, and payroll calculations across multiple systems.

Instead, payroll calculations can be automatically generated based on award conditions and enterprise agreements, reducing administrative effort and supporting greater consistency in payroll processing.

This can help reduce:

• manual calculations

• payroll processing time

• overpayments and underpayments

• administrative burden

• compliance risks

This is particularly important in local government environments where payroll conditions, allowances, and enterprise agreements can become highly complex.

Connected finance and payroll operations

Integration between payroll and finance also helps reduce manual intervention between teams.

For example, payroll deductions can integrate directly into Accounts Payable and vendor workflows, improving financial accuracy while reducing double handling and disconnected processes.

As one of council’s largest operational expenses, payroll should not operate separately from broader financial management and reporting processes. Greater integration improves visibility, governance, forecasting, and operational consistency across the organisation.

Improving employee experience through ESS

Employee expectations continue to evolve, with staff increasingly expecting accessible, self-service digital experiences.

CouncilFirst’s ESS functionality provides employees with access to:

• leave requests and approvals

• timesheet entry

• payslips

• personal information updates

• leave balances and projected accruals through desktop or mobile access.

This reduces reliance on payroll staff for routine administrative tasks while improving accessibility, transparency, and workforce flexibility.

For councils with dispersed workforces, depots, field staff, or flexible working arrangements, mobile and self-service functionality can significantly improve workforce accessibility and operational efficiency.

Supporting lean council teams

Many councils operate with lean corporate services teams responsible for managing multiple operational functions.

Disconnected payroll systems and manual processes can increase:

• administrative workload

• operational bottlenecks

• key person dependency

• inefficiencies across payroll and finance

• risk during leave periods or staff turnover

Integrated systems, automated workflows, and self-service functionality help reduce repetitive administration while improving operational resilience and process consistency.

As workforce and compliance pressures continue to grow across local government, councils increasingly require systems that support both efficiency and long-term operational continuity.

How the Shire of Leonora created a more connected operational environment

For the Shire of Leonora in Western Australia, improving payroll processes formed part of a broader objective to create a more connected and efficient operational environment across council.

On day-to-day operations before implementing CouncilFirst, Leonora’s Manager of Business Services, Kiara Lord, explains: