ADP Workforce Now
Comprehensive HR and payroll platform for mid-sized businesses with integrated payroll, benefits, talent management, and compliance tools.
Deputy
Website: www.deputy.com
Deputy at a glance
- Best for
- Shift-based clients in retail, hospitality, and care
- Pricing model
- Per user per month, by module
- Deployment
- Cloud, with iOS and Android apps
- Regions
- AU, UK, US, NZ
- Key integrations
- Xero, QuickBooks Online, KeyPay, Gusto
Last reviewed . Pricing and features change frequently — confirm current details with the vendor.
Deputy is a workforce management platform covering employee scheduling, time and attendance, and task management, with break compliance tracking and labour cost forecasting.
How accounting firms use it
Firms encounter it at clients with shift-based workforces — retail, hospitality, healthcare, and services — where rostering and timesheets drive payroll. The advisory value is in labour cost: for these businesses wages are the largest controllable expense, and rostered cost visibility during scheduling is the point at which it can actually be managed.
Approved timesheets flow into payroll directly, removing the manual re-entry step where hourly payroll errors typically originate. Firms processing payroll for these clients feel that saving immediately.
Key features
Scheduling covers shift creation, templates, and publishing, with rostered labour cost shown against budget while the schedule is being built. Availability and leave are factored in automatically.
Time and attendance captures clock-in and clock-out through a mobile app with GPS, a tablet kiosk, or facial recognition, with the record reconciled against the roster so variances surface for approval.
Break compliance tracking records mandated breaks, which matters in jurisdictions where failure creates wage claim exposure. Timesheet approval routes to a manager before payroll.
Who it’s best for
Businesses with hourly or shift-based staff, particularly in Australia, New Zealand, and the UK where adoption is strongest, and the firms advising them on labour cost and payroll.
Firms wanting to track billable time on client engagements need Toggl Track, Harvest, or practice management with time built in — this is not a professional services tool. Australian clients needing full award interpretation should pair it with KeyPay.
Deputy FAQ
- Does Deputy handle award interpretation?
- It applies pay rules including penalty rates and overtime, and integrates with payroll platforms that carry full award engines. For Australian clients with complex Modern Award obligations, the common arrangement is Deputy for rostering and time capture with KeyPay handling interpretation and the pay run.
- How does it help with labour cost control?
- Rostered cost is shown against budget as the schedule is built, so a manager sees the wage cost of a shift pattern before publishing it rather than discovering it after the pay run. For hospitality and retail clients where labour is the largest controllable cost, this is usually where the return comes from.
- Can accounting firms use it internally?
- Some do for multi-office or seasonal staffing, but it is built for shift-based hourly work rather than professional services. Firms tracking billable time against client engagements need a professional services tool — Toggl Track, Harvest, or practice management with time built in.
- Does it integrate with payroll and accounting?
- Yes. Approved timesheets flow into Xero, QuickBooks Online, KeyPay, Gusto, and other payroll systems, removing manual timesheet entry — which is where most hourly payroll errors originate.
Deputy Alternatives
Other hr tools for accounting firms, ordered by how much of Deputy's functionality they cover.
BambooHR
HR and payroll software helping growing companies manage workforce processes, automated HR, payroll, and employee self-service.
ClockOn
ClockOn is an Australian workforce management platform combining rostering, time and attendance, award interpretation, and STP payroll in one system.
Deel
Global payroll and compliance platform for hiring and paying employees and contractors in 150+ countries with local tax compliance.
Gusto
Cloud-based payroll, benefits, and HR platform that simplifies payroll and HR management for small to medium-sized businesses.