Does Your Salary Arrangement Actually Meet the Award Floor?
Your payroll calculates what it's told to — but who checks the arrangement itself? We run a shadow payroll alongside yours to verify annualised salaries and modified award conditions still meet the award floor. Under the Closing Loopholes Act 2024, getting this wrong means up to $8.25M penalty or 10 years imprisonment.
The $4.1 Billion Problem
Your payroll system isn't the problem — the arrangement is. Annualised salaries must absorb every entitlement. Modified conditions must still meet the floor. Without independent verification, a compliant-looking payslip can mask a growing shortfall.
Total remediation costs for Australian employers since 2019
Maximum corporate penalty under Closing Loopholes Act 2024
Maximum imprisonment for intentional wage theft
Underpayment cases where root cause is upstream of payroll
One Report. Focused on Your Risk.
Every assessment delivers a single compliance report scoped to the area that matters most to your business. We work with you to choose the right focus.
Annualised Salary Reconciliation
Award floor vs annualised amount for actual hours worked. Component-level breakdown and shortfall identification.
Shadow Payroll Variance
Independent pay calculation (120+ Modern Awards). Expected vs actual per employee, classified by severity.
Modified Award Review
IFAs, above-award terms, and custom roster patterns verified against the base award floor. Drift detection included.
BOOT Health Check
EA vs Modern Award comparison, margin calculation, and decay trend analysis.
Classification Audit
Award coverage, classification level, and duties-to-classification matching for every employee in scope.
Remediation Roadmap
Prioritised action plan ranked by dollar exposure, with fix recommendations and timeline.
Every report includes a remediation summary and can be scoped to combine multiple focus areas.
The 10-Day Process
Read-only connections to your existing systems. Your payroll keeps running exactly as-is — we add a verification layer alongside it.
Connect
Days 1-2
We connect to your T&A and payroll systems via read-only API connectors. Your data stays in your systems.
Shadow Run
Days 3-5
Our wage engines independently calculate pay for every in-scope employee, then reconcile annualised salaries and modified award terms against the award floor.
Analysis
Days 6-7
We compare shadow calculations against actual payroll, classify variances, and identify root causes — especially where annualised amounts no longer absorb actual entitlements.
Report
Days 8-9
Your compliance report covering your chosen focus area, with findings, root causes, and remediation summary.
Walkthrough
Day 10
60-minute executive briefing walking through findings, risk exposure, and recommended actions.
Investment
100% of assessment fees credited against ongoing Smartta governance subscription.
Starter
Up to 200 employees
- 1 Modern Award
- 2 pay periods
- 1 focus area + remediation summary
Standard
Up to 500 employees
- Up to 3 Modern Awards
- 4 pay periods
- Up to 3 focus areas + full remediation roadmap
Enterprise
500+ employees
Tailored to your scope
- All applicable awards
- 6+ pay periods
- All focus areas + dedicated analyst
- Bonus: Fair Work Inspector Portal — read-only scoped access for regulatory inspection
100% of assessment cost credited toward annual subscription if you proceed to deployment.
All prices ex-GST. Includes read-only connector setup. No ongoing commitment required.
Is This Assessment Right for You?
Frequently Asked Questions
What systems do you integrate with?
Deputy, Humanforce, Tanda, Kronos/UKG for T&A; Xero, MYOB, KeyPay, SAP for payroll. Custom connectors available for Enterprise tier.
Do you need access to our payroll system?
Read-only API access. We never modify your data. Connector uses OAuth with scoped permissions.
What awards do you cover?
120+ Modern Awards compiled into wage engines. We cover retail, hospitality, healthcare, construction, manufacturing, professional services, and more.
What if we only have Enterprise Agreements?
We run BOOT validation against the underlying Modern Award floor. If no Modern Award applies, we can still validate against NES minimums.
We already use KeyPay / Xero / MYOB — doesn't our payroll handle this?
Your payroll calculates correctly based on what you configure. What it can't do is verify that your annualised salary or modified award terms still meet the award floor once actual hours are factored in. Smartta fills that gap — alongside your payroll, not instead of it.
What is an annualised salary reconciliation?
Many Modern Awards let you pay a fixed annual salary instead of hourly rates — provided it covers all entitlements. A reconciliation compares the salary paid against what the award would have paid for actual hours worked. If the salary doesn't absorb the entitlements, there's a shortfall.
How is this different from Yellow Canary / PaidRight?
They audit historical pay to find past underpayments. Smartta verifies the arrangement is structurally compliant and flags when drift erodes the margin. Prevention, not remediation.
What happens after the assessment?
You keep the full report regardless. For ongoing governance, Smartta deploys alongside your existing systems — no replacements required.
Book Your Assessment
10 days. Shadow payroll. Annualised salary reconciliation. A clear path to compliance.