Knowledge
Construction payroll operations.
Approval happens on site during the week. Interpretation is automatic on Monday. Wages, super and STP2 leave together on Tuesday, and costed labour hits job codes the same day. The only human work is exceptions.
Runbook
What does the payroll week look like?
- Mon–FriHours captured and approved on siteForemen approve in the software they already use. Nothing waits for a payroll deadline.
- MondayInterpretation and exceptionsThe engine applies the agreement; only genuine exceptions — missing approvals, unusual patterns — reach a human.
- TuesdayRun finalisedNet pay file, PAYG, super remittance and STP2 lodgement leave together from one finalised run.
- TuesdayCosted labour postsActuals land on job cost codes and the GL journal posts to your ledger.
- Any timeAdjustmentsLate timesheet changes come through as adjustments with an audit trail against the original line.
Failure points
How do you know your pay run is fragile?
Each of these works fine until the week someone is on leave.
- A CSV between approval and payment — an unlogged change to pay data
- One person who knows how the allowances work
- Rates maintained in a spreadsheet beside the payroll system
- Super held until the quarter, which is no longer lawful
- Labour cost that only exists after the month closes
- Interpretation nobody can trace back to a clause
Operations questions
How long should a weekly construction pay run take?
Hours, not days. If approved hours arrive synced and interpretation is automatic, the human work is exceptions and sign-off.
What if a timesheet is approved late?
It's paid in the next run as an adjustment, with the audit trail against the original line rather than a manual correction nobody can find later.
Who should own payroll in a builder?
Someone in finance or operations with authority to sign off exceptions — not a person maintaining rate tables. If your payroll owner spends their week interpreting clauses, the tool is wrong.
Do we still need a bookkeeper?
Usually yes, for the books. What they shouldn't be carrying is award and agreement interpretation risk.
Reviewed August 2026.