By Ross Heron | CEO, Australian Payroll Association
Voice of Confidence | Episode 1 of 7 | Paul Broughton, Managing Director, Asia Pacific, UKG
A discussion with UKG’s Paul Broughton on data, AI and why payroll’s seat at the table is coming.
It’s mid afternoon, the pay run closes in two hours and the timesheets don’t match the roster. Again. Someone’s chasing a manager for an approval, someone else is re-reading the same award clause for the third time this week and everyone knows the truth: payroll is cleaning up a mess that started somewhere else.
I hear some version of that story more than any other. Every year we survey payroll professionals across Australia and every year, much to my frustration, the same issue sits at the top of the list: data. Old systems, systems that don’t talk to each other and integrations held together with sticky tape and good intentions. Our 2026 Payroll Industry Report puts numbers on it. Poor or incomplete data was named a top payroll risk by 65.3% of respondents, making it the number one risk for the second year in a row. And 45.2% said poor integration between systems is one of their biggest challenges.
So for our very first Voice of Confidence episode, I sat down with someone who sees that problem from the other end. Paul Broughton leads UKG across Asia Pacific. You may know the business by its old name, Kronos. Paul has worked across law, HR and technology and he’s spent plenty of time on the frontline himself. As he reminded me: “I’ve been a frontline worker many times, Ross.”
Get their pay wrong twice and they’re gone
One finding even surprised Paul. Research UKG ran with KPMG found that if an employee’s pay is wrong twice, they’re highly likely to leave. Payroll teams already know how much that matters. Paul’s not convinced every HR leader does.
His answer is simple: prevention is the best cure. Get rostering, scheduling and award interpretation right upstream and payroll isn’t left to deal with the fallout.
“If you’ve got the right rules and calculations happening on the workforce management side, then by the time you get to payroll, you’re not fighting a bushfire.”
You can’t build a great bathroom on dodgy plumbing
Paul is American, but he’s clearly settled in. To explain data foundations, he reached for the most Australian reference possible: The Block.
“If you don’t get the plumbing right, you can build the best bathroom you like but all of a sudden the tap doesn’t work.”
Workforce data works the same way. Employee records, reporting lines and award classifications are the plumbing. Rosters and award rules are built on top. Skip the foundations and you’ll pay for it later, usually in back pay.
Get them right and things get exciting. Because staff clock in, clock out and take breaks through the system every day, organisations end up sitting on a goldmine. Where is overtime creeping up? Which site has an absenteeism problem? Where is money quietly leaking out the door? And it adds up. UKG and KPMG’s global payroll report estimates organisations lose 2–4% of their total labour spend to inefficiencies, poor data and errors. Answer those questions and payroll moves from processing to advising.
“Can’t we just turn it off?”
I shared a story from my own career. I once reported to a US president who after I explained long service leave to him was adamant we should just turn it off. If only.
Paul admits his American colleagues are sometimes shocked by how complex Australian payroll is. We did agree on one thing, though: France sounds worse. His advice for keeping up with constant change, like the right to disconnect and annualised salary reforms, is to treat your systems like your car or your teeth. Regular servicing, not a one-off check-up.
AI: move fast or measure twice
Paul was refreshingly practical about AI. He uses two simple tests:
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Low risk, automated tasks: move quickly, test and learn.
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Anything with compliance risk: measure twice, cut once. As Paul put it, he won’t mention any names but the news is full of organisations that didn’t.
One example he’s excited about is wonderfully ordinary: asking for leave by simply typing “I’d like the 14th to the 18th off” and seeing it approved moments later, without clicking through screen after screen.
Paul’s 12 month prediction
I asked Paul for a prediction he’d be happy to be held to. “I won’t be giving any Bitcoin advice, Ross,” he said. “I’m not that silly.” After briefly predicting something for twelve years’ time (he quickly corrected himself), he settled on this:
“Twelve months from now, payroll professionals are going to have a more elevated, more strategic role in the organisation.”
His reasoning: as AI takes on more of the repetitive admin, people who combine payroll expertise with business sense become far more valuable. Over his 25+ years in HR technology he’s watched HR leaders earn their seat at the table. He believes payroll is next.
I agree, with one condition. The professionals who thrive will be the ones who understand how their work helps the business and who use these new tools to prove it. Paul has told us to bring him back in 12 months and play the replay. We’ll be holding him to it.
Vendor or partner?
Too many members tell me they have a purely transactional relationship with their software provider. Paul’s view of a good partnership is honest: it won’t be perfect so speak up early when something’s not working. And his team’s side of the deal?
“When they pick up the phone to give us a ring, mate, we’ve got to answer it.”
What this means for you
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Payroll professionals: most pay errors start upstream. Fix the source, not just the symptom.
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Bookkeepers and accountants: getting employee setup, award classifications and timesheet approvals right before the pay run saves hours of rework, whatever the size of the business.
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HR professionals: getting pay wrong twice is a retention problem, not just a payroll problem.
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Finance professionals: clean rostering and time data reveals overtime trends and cost leakage you can act on.
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Payroll compliance officers: treat compliance as ongoing maintenance. Rules change and so should your system settings.
Watch the full conversation
This is only part of the story. In the full episode you’ll also see:
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The moment Paul worried I was about to “out” his age.
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Why the career ladder has become a lattice and why some of his best people took the scenic route.
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Why the person asking for workforce data isn’t always who you’d expect.
[Watch Episode 1 of Voice of Confidence with Paul Broughton]
This is the first of seven Voice of Confidence conversations with leaders shaping Australian payroll. Sign up to Payroll News at austpayroll.com.au/newsletter-sign-up so you don’t miss the next one.
Voice of Confidence is the Australian Payroll Association’s leadership series, featuring conversations with the people shaping the future of payroll in Australia.
