How Blue Rock saves time, reduces errors and keeps clients compliant with Employment Hero

Payroll expertise across industries

As a Senior Bookkeeper and Payroll Supervisor at Blue Rock, Che Kelly brings deep technical knowledge to the table. Supporting approximately 16 clients across a range of industries, Che handles everything from payroll and superannuation to invoicing and financial reporting. Her role demands precision, flexibility and software that works hard, so when it comes to recommending HR platforms, Che doesn’t do so lightly.

One tool that stands out is Employment Hero. For Blue Rock’s diverse client base, Employment Hero helped make work easier and more valuable by streamlining complex payroll processes, reducing errors and simplifying award interpretation.

“I use Employment Hero for onboarding, time tracking, leave management, processing wages and superannuation and exporting journals into the client’s accounting software. It’s one of the few platforms that actually brings everything into one place,” said Che.

A game changer for onboarding

Employee onboarding is often a time consuming and manual, especially when clients are hiring across different locations or roles. But with Employment Hero, Che says it’s seamless.

“What I like is that with onboarding, you can select qualifications and document acknowledgements. It sets the tone right from the start. Most other platforms just get the basic details. With Employment Hero, you’re collecting exactly what you need from the beginning.”

This extra level of control and customisation means Blue Rock’s clients can stay on top of compliance, right from day one. And it’s not just the administrators who benefit. Employees have a clear, guided experience that helps them hit the ground running.

Award interpretation that actually works

For a BAS agent like Che, accurate award interpretation is a non-negotiable. It’s one of the most technically challenging and legally sensitive parts of payroll and many platforms fall short. But that’s where Employment Hero really shines.

“I recommend Employment Hero, especially for our pharmacy clients. The award interpretation is really strong. It calculates overtime properly and allows you to overwrite pay rates if needed. That’s a massive time saver.”

Che notes that other payroll platforms don’t offer the same level of flexibility. Often, those systems require manual calculations or don’t pick up on overtime correctly, leading to potential compliance issues and frustrated clients.

“Being able to see the interpretation, make adjustments and ensure it’s right takes a lot of pressure off. And you’re not second-guessing the system every pay run.”

Time saved, errors reduced and more control

One of the biggest advantages of using Employment Hero, according to Che, is the way it eliminates double handling and reduces the risk of error.

“Everything’s in one place and I can export straight into Xero or MYOB. I don’t have to manually re-enter things like I do with other software. And I know the awards are set up right, so I don’t need to double check every little detail.”

With built-in tracking for staff hours and locations and the ability to customise permissions, Employment Hero gives Che and their clients more visibility and control. That flexibility is essential for working across different businesses with varying operational needs.

“Some businesses want employees to see everything, others want to limit access. With Employment Hero, we can set certain access settings that work for each client. That’s a big difference from other platforms, where giving payroll access means giving access to everything.”

By saving time on manual tasks like checking pay calculations, chasing onboarding documents and re-entering data into different systems, Che is free to focus on higher-value work. 

“It means I can actually spend time with clients, looking at the numbers, giving them insights, helping them make better decisions. That’s the kind of work that adds value.” 

The time saved not only improves Blue Rock’s service offering but also allows Che to work more strategically across a larger client portfolio without compromising on quality.

Trusted software for payroll professionals

For someone with Che’s level of technical responsibility, trust in a software platform means everything. Their go-to recommendation?

“We recommend Employment Hero to our clients because everything can be done through the one platform. There’s no need to jump between Xero and other systems. Payroll is processed and paid, super is included, and it’s all submitted to STP from the same place.”

Ready to simplify payroll and make work easier for your team? Book a demo with Employment Hero and see how it can work for your business.