Payroll sits at the intersection of employee trust, legal compliance, taxation, superannuation, financial reporting and organisational reputation. Errors can create employee hardship, regulatory exposure, remediation costs, penalties and significant Board-level risk.
Our expert consultants use Empirical-AI to test whether payroll governance, employee data, Award and Enterprise Agreement interpretations, system configurations, processing controls and payment outcomes are complete, consistent and reliable.
It is designed to identify not only incorrect payments, but also the system, data and governance weaknesses that allow payroll errors to occur and remain undetected.
What Empirical-AI reviews
Empirical-AI can examine payroll policies, employment contracts, Awards and Enterprise Agreements, employee classifications, payroll system rules, timesheets, rosters, leave records, allowances, deductions, taxation, superannuation, salary packaging, termination payments, reconciliations, audit material and payroll governance documents.
The review can assess:
- Payroll governance, ownership and accountability
- Award and Enterprise Agreement interpretation
- Employee classifications and base rates
- Ordinary hours, overtime and penalty rates
- Allowances, loadings, bonuses and commissions
- Timesheet, roster and attendance integrity
- Leave accruals, leave loading and entitlements
- Tax withholding and payroll tax processes
- Superannuation calculation and payment controls
- Benefits, salary packaging and FBT treatment
- Contractor payment arrangements
- Termination, redundancy and final pay
- Payroll data, privacy and identity controls
- Workers compensation and return-to-work payments
- Payroll reconciliation, audit and reporting controls
What Empirical-AI compares against
- Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth)
- Income Tax Assessment Acts 1936 & 1997 (Cth)
- Taxation Administration Act 1953 (Cth)
- Fringe Benefits Tax Assessment Act 1986 (Cth)
- Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992 (Cth)
- Payroll Tax Acts (various States/Territories)
- Long Service Leave Acts (various States/Territories)
- Paid Parental Leave Act 2010 (Cth)
- Independent Contractors Act 2006 (Cth)
- Privacy Act 1988 (Cth)
- Identity Verification Services Act 2023 (Cth)
- Workers Compensation Acts and Return to Work Acts (various States/Territories)
In addition to the above legislation, Empirical-AI can also assess payroll performance and control measures such as:
- Payroll Accuracy Rate
- Underpayment and Overpayment Rate
- Payroll Error Value ($ and % of payroll)
- Affected Employees (numbers and %)
- On-Time Payroll Processing Rate
- Award/EBA Classification Accuracy
- Timesheet Completion and Approval Rate
- Payroll Exception Rate
- Payroll Variance Rate
- Leave Balance Accuracy
- Superannuation Compliance Rate
- Tax Withholding Accuracy
- Payroll Reconciliation Completion Rate
- Payroll Compliance and Reporting Accuracy Rate
How the process works
The Detection Phase identifies gaps, inconsistencies and compliance risks across payroll governance, employee records, Award/EBA interpretation, system configuration and payment outcomes. It can highlight where information is incomplete, incorrectly classified, unsupported, inconsistently applied or outside approved frameworks.
The Enhancement Phase focuses on correcting identified weaknesses and strengthening payroll control. This may include improved employee setup, clearer Award/EBA clause mapping, corrected system rules, stronger approvals, better reconciliations, updated procedures, targeted remediation or improved exception reporting.
The Continuous Learning Phase monitors whether agreed improvements are being implemented and whether future payroll outcomes continue to align with legislation, industrial instruments, employment terms and the approved payroll framework.
If the business can correct and solidify its framework so that it is legally compliant, Empirical-AI is then able to be engaged to run a diagnostic on a sample of your current payroll position against the approved and updated systems to evaluate the amount of risk and associated costs that may previously been incurred.
Lastly, Empirical-AI can run an exercise to the parameters of its client to highlight the cost of correction. Parameters include who is involved, to what level and for how long.
Why it matters
A Board and/or CEO cannot safely assume employees are being paid correctly simply because payroll is processed on time or the system produces a consistent result. A flawed interpretation, configuration or employee record can repeatedly produce the wrong outcome.
Empirical-AI helps identify whether payroll controls are robust, whether errors appear isolated or systemic, and where further testing, remediation or corrective action may be required.
What you get
- Payroll governance and compliance report
- Payroll process and control risk assessment
- Award/EBA interpretation and configuration gap analysis
- Point-in-time or annual payroll testing report
- Underpayment and overpayment analysis
- Root cause and systemic risk summary
- Estimated liability and exposure assessment
- Priority remediation action list
- Costed project plan
- Executive presentation
- Ongoing monitoring reports