This is part of our Payroll and STP series, powered by Employment Hero (Chapter 4 of the QuickBooks tutorial hub):

• Lesson 1: Understanding QuickBooks Payroll Powered by Employment Hero
• Lesson 2: Choosing Standard or Advanced Payroll in QuickBooks
• Lesson 3: Setting Up STP in QuickBooks and Connecting to the ATO
• Lesson 4: Award Interpretation and Running a Compliant Pay Run in QuickBooks
• Lesson 5: Super Clearing Houses in QuickBooks and Payday Super
• Lesson 6: STP Phase 2 Reporting and EOFY Finalisation in QuickBooks

Unlike Xero or MYOB, QuickBooks payroll runs on Employment Hero technology embedded directly into QuickBooks, rather than being built natively.

1. What Employment Hero brings to QuickBooks payroll

Employment Hero is widely used by Australian accountants and bookkeepers, and its integration gives real-time syncing of timesheets and pay runs with QuickBooks.

2. Payroll is a separate add-on

Unlike Xero, payroll is not included in the base QuickBooks plan. It is priced as a per-employee add-on on top of your subscription.

3. Who this setup suits

Businesses already comfortable with QuickBooks for accounting, wanting a well-supported payroll option without switching software entirely.

4. Getting started

Payroll is enabled from within your QuickBooks account, with Employment Hero handling the payroll specific functionality behind the scenes.

QuickBooks Australia’s official YouTube channel covers payroll setup: see the official QuickBooks Payroll playlist. Our registered BAS agents can help you understand the true all-in cost before committing.