How University of Sydney Brought Transparency & Assurance into Payroll

The Challenge: Limited Visibility and Mounting Compliance Pressure

Before Paytools, Mel and her team were grappling with critical issues:

• • No clear visibility of status of payroll tasks and activities.
  • Difficulty tracking statutory obligations and task ownership, especially when team members were on leave.
  • Lack of governance, no tooling in place to ensure effective record keeping and controls.
  • Audit readiness was a headache, with no centralised system to track issues or document processes.

In Mel’s words, there was a real need for transparency, assurance and governance – and the existing tools, mostly Excel-based, just weren’t cutting it.

The Solution: Why Paytools Stood Out

The turning point came when Paytools was introduced through a Higher Education Services engagement 4 years ago, where Mel first saw the platform. She was immediately impressed.

“We began our journey as the guinea pig for our sector,” she said. “The benefits were clear from the start.”

Here’s what made Paytools a game-changer:

• • Clear and version controlled processes via checklists templates.
  • The ability to easily manage audit recommendations in the issues register.
  • Visibility and monitoring of work done via the payroll work schedule.

It wasn’t just another tool. It was a dedicated solution for modern payroll operations.

The Adoption Journey: From Resistance to Real Results

Change is never easy – especially in payroll, where consistency is king.

“There was resistance at the start. But with support and a bit of encouragement, our team is now loving it.”

Despite initial hesitations, Paytools quickly proved itself by:

• • Giving leadership peace of mind that things are getting done with better oversight and a formal process for controls and approvals.
  • Turning skeptics into believers, especially once internal auditors started praising the system after first using the issue register and audit log.

The Impact: Confidence, Compliance and Collaboration

The results speak volumes.

• • Audit-Ready Processes: Auditors now have self-serve access to sign-offs, checklists and documentation – all within Paytools.
  • Stronger Collaboration: Even external teams now have visibility and can sign off via automated guest access.
  • Scalable Adoption: The university recently expanded their licenses from 10 to 20, enabling broader team participation.
  • Faster Onboarding: New starters can easily pick up tasks thanks to clear process documentation.

One standout feature? When working with consultants to complete a pay configuration audit, the recommendations were added directly into the Paytools’ issues register. The UoS team were then able to skip the post audit manual admin, as well as track how they were resolving these issues in the register (as well as add their own issues moving forward).

By formalising this process they could easily escalate with management, and because they better understand their problems – it was much easier to resolve all identified systemic issues.

Paytools has now been called out a few times by leaders as having major positive impacts for both internal and external audits.

Mel’s Final Words: “Just Do It”

When asked what she’d say to another person who’s considering using Paytools, Mel didn’t hesitate:

“What are you waiting for? Just do it.”

For Mel, the transparency and assurance Paytools brings to payroll is non-negotiable and a no brainer. If she were to take a new role tomorrow, she says the first thing she’d do is implement Paytools.