Yellow Canary and The Access Group have formed a strategic partnership to transform how SMEs approach payroll compliance.
By combining Access Group’s trusted payroll software with Yellow Canary’s automated compliance audit platform, SMEs can now access the same assurance long relied upon by some of Australia’s largest employers.
Why this matters
Payroll is one of the largest costs for Australian businesses, yet it remains notoriously difficult to manage because modern awards and enterprise agreements are complex, constantly evolving, and easy to misapply. On top of this, recent court decisions and legislative changes have made it clear that regular payroll reconciliation is no longer optional.
Until now, many organisations have traditionally relied on manual data exports or costly outsourced reviews to assess payments to employees. These approaches are often narrow in scope and performed infrequently, which means errors that occur early in the year can go unnoticed until they are too entrenched to fix systemically.
Left unaddressed, these errors can quickly escalate, exposing organisations to financial, legal, and reputational consequences, while also eroding employee trust.
What this means for Access Group customers
Marcus Zeltzer, co-founder and Managing Director at Yellow Canary, explains what the partnership means for SMEs:
“Because of the integration between The Access Group and Yellow Canary, we can now take enterprise-grade payroll compliance and make it accessible for SMEs,” said Zeltzer. “The two biggest burdens in payroll compliance, rules and data, are solved under this partnership.”
“Our partnership with Yellow Canary brings together deep compliance expertise and powerful automation to offer a Pay Assurance Service that helps businesses stay ahead of evolving regulatory requirements and build trust with their workforce," Michelle Tea, General Manager at Access People & Payroll, APAC added.
With Yellow Canary’s automated payroll compliance audit layer embedded into Access Group’s payroll ecosystem, SMEs can now access a new service offering, Pay Assurance. This solution provides a seamless, cost-effective way to gain clear visibility into how employees are paid under modern awards and enterprise agreements.
By integrating payroll data directly, SMEs can identify and quantify payroll errors, trace their root causes, and act before issues escalate, all without the burden of complex implementation.
“[The solution] dramatically reduces the cost and increases the speed, so employers can reconcile payroll as regularly as they want. It is the most cost-effective way of getting confidence in your payroll,” Zeltzer added.
What’s next
The partnership will launch with Yellow Canary’s Pay Compliance solution, covering wages and salaries under modern awards and enterprise agreements. Over time, it will expand to address other payroll complexities across superannuation, leave, and benefits.
“It is about giving every employer, of any size, the clarity and confidence they need when paying their people,” said Zeltzer.
Download the Annual Salary Arrangement Compliance Guide 2025, jointly compiled by Yellow Canary and The Access Group, to unlock expert insights on payroll compliance and Annualised Salary Arrangements.
