ADP Workforce Now
Comprehensive HR and payroll platform for mid-sized businesses with integrated payroll, benefits, talent management, and compliance tools.
KeyPay
Website: www.keypay.com
KeyPay at a glance
- Best for
- Accounting firms running payroll bureau services
- Pricing model
- Per employee per pay run
- Deployment
- Cloud, with employee self-service app
- Regions
- AU, NZ, UK, SG, MY
- Key integrations
- Xero, QuickBooks Online, MYOB, Deputy
Last reviewed . Pricing and features change frequently — confirm current details with the vendor.
KeyPay is a cloud payroll and workforce management platform operating in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Singapore, and Malaysia. It covers automated pay runs, leave management, employee self-service, time and attendance, and the statutory compliance requirements of each supported country.
How accounting firms use it
The platform is structured around bureau work rather than single-employer payroll. A firm accesses every client payroll from one dashboard, with staff permissions scoped per client, which removes the login-per-client problem that arises when payroll sits inside each client’s accounting file.
In Australia the decisive capability is automated Modern Award interpretation. Penalty rates, overtime, allowances, and shift loadings are derived from recorded start and finish times against the applicable award, rather than configured by hand for each employee. Award interpretation is the single largest source of error and rework in Australian payroll, so automating it changes the economics of offering payroll as a service line — particularly for clients in hospitality, retail, healthcare, and construction.
Key features
Pay runs support multiple frequencies, pay categories, and employment types, with leave accrual handled per local statutory entitlements. Employee self-service covers timesheet submission, leave requests, and payslip access through a mobile app, moving routine queries away from the firm.
Statutory compliance is built in per jurisdiction — Single Touch Payroll and SuperStream in Australia, RTI and pension auto-enrolment in the UK. Rostering and time capture are included, and the platform integrates with dedicated workforce tools where clients need more.
Payroll journals post automatically to Xero, QuickBooks Online, and MYOB.
Who it’s best for
Accounting and bookkeeping firms offering payroll bureau services in the supported markets, especially those with award-heavy clients where manual interpretation is the bottleneck.
Firms with straightforward salaried payrolls may find the payroll inside Xero or MYOB sufficient. US-based firms need a different platform entirely, since this one does not cover US payroll tax.
KeyPay FAQ
- Does KeyPay handle Australian Modern Award interpretation?
- Yes, and it is the main reason Australian firms select it. Award rules covering penalty rates, overtime, allowances, and shift loadings are applied automatically from recorded hours, rather than requiring pay rules to be configured manually per employee. Pre-built award templates cover common Modern Awards, and custom rule sets handle enterprise agreements.
- Can firms manage multiple clients from one login?
- Yes. A partner-level dashboard gives firms access to every client payroll from a single account, with permissions set per user and per client. This bureau structure is what distinguishes it from payroll built into an accounting platform, where each client generally requires a separate login.
- Which countries does it support?
- Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Singapore, and Malaysia, each with local statutory compliance built in — STP reporting and SuperStream in Australia, RTI and pension auto-enrolment in the UK, and the equivalent obligations elsewhere. It is not a US payroll product.
- Does it integrate with Xero and MYOB?
- Yes. Payroll journals post automatically to Xero, QuickBooks Online, and MYOB, so firms can keep their preferred ledger while using it as the payroll engine. Pairing it with Xero is a common arrangement for Australian firms that want award automation Xero's own payroll does not provide.
KeyPay Alternatives
Other payroll tools for accounting firms, ordered by how much of KeyPay'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.