Scaling with confidence: How Futuro streamlined payroll and HR during rapid growth

About the business

Futuro Early Learning is a fast-growing childcare provider in New South Wales, expanding from one to three centres in 12 months, with more underway. With 140+ educators on weekly pay cycles and strict compliance requirements, the business needed a platform that could scale efficiently and accurately.

The challenge

Futuro’s previous setup couldn’t keep pace with growth. HR and payroll processes were fragmented, especially leave management, which was re-entered by finance and extremely manual because employees had no direct access to the system.

“Before Employment Hero, employees didn’t have access to manage their own leave and everything came through me manually, which created a lot of extra work,” explained the Finance Manager, Jane Ding.   

With payroll representing ~70% of operating costs and paid weekly, accuracy and timeliness were non-negotiable, particularly as the number of employees and locations continued to increase.

“A reliable payroll system is critical for us because we pay our staff weekly. It’s around 70% of our costs, and our employees rely on it landing accurately and on time every week,” said Chief Financial Officer, Adam Drhimer. 

The solution

Employment Hero now centralises onboarding, HR and payroll in one employment operating system –  contracts are issued digitally, data feeds straight into payroll, and staff self-manage leave via the Work App. Award interpretation and reporting tools support financial oversight, while automated qualification and WWCC tracking help maintain compliance across multiple sites.

The ROI

• Payroll processing reduced by 66% from 3 hours for 40 employees to 1 hour for 140+ employees
• 140+ employees now fully self-servicing leave and documents
• Zero payroll delays during rapid expansion
• Reduced onboarding friction for new centers
• Stronger auditability and compliance control

“Payroll used to take three hours for 40 employees; now it takes under an hour for 150 with Employment Hero,” said Jane.

Why it matters

By eliminating manual processes and consolidating HR and payroll in one platform, Futuro now has a stable infrastructure to scale without operational strain.

“Everything is taken care of with Employment Hero. We don’t have to think twice about payments, payroll tax or super. The reports are easy to access and we have no issues with it at all,” said Adam.