Pay Cat
Pay Cat is an Australian payroll compliance specialist that implements and manages Employment Hero Payroll for employers operating under modern awards, with deep specialization in the SCHADS Award for NDIS, aged care, and disability services providers across Australia and New Zealand.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2018
- HeadquartersNewcastle, Australia
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Pay Cat does
Pay Cat is an Australian payroll compliance specialist that implements and manages cloud payroll on behalf of employers operating under complex modern awards, with a primary focus on the Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award (SCHADS). The company is headquartered in Newcastle, NSW, and operates across Australia and New Zealand through paycat.com.au and paycat.co.nz, under the legal entity Hunter Madison Holdings Pty Ltd.
The core technology is a proprietary, independently reviewed SCHADS Award interpreter template built on the Employment Hero Payroll platform. The template automates interpretation of complex award rules including broken shifts, sleepover shifts, penalty rates, and allowances. Pay Cat extends this base with Pay Cat Connect, which surfaces SCHADS-compliant cost data at the rostering stage via integrations with care management and CRM platforms such as Visualcare and ShiftCare. Supporting integrations include Beam Super for superannuation payment processing and NoahFace for time and attendance.
Pay Cat generates revenue through a mix of managed services (outsourced payroll processing on Employment Hero Payroll, billed monthly), professional services (Employment Hero Payroll implementation, custom integrations, and awards/enterprise agreement template builds, typically under multi-year engagements), and training/education (courses, webinars, eBooks, and an allowances search tool). Go-to-market is sales-led with free 30-minute consultations, supplemented by a partner referral channel targeting accountants, bookkeepers, virtual CFOs, HR consultants, and software vendors. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed. The customer base is anchored in NDIS providers, disability services, aged care, and home care operators, with additional mid-market and SMB clients across retail, hospitality, construction, agriculture, and registered clubs.
Pay Cat firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Pay Cat
- Legal name
- Hunter Madison Holdings Pty Ltd
- Website
- https://paycat.com.au
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2018
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Pay Cat is an Australian payroll compliance specialist that implements and manages Employment Hero Payroll for employers operating under modern awards, with deep specialization in the SCHADS Award for NDIS, aged care, and disability services providers across Australia and New Zealand.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Pay Cat industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Payroll Compliance Services
- NAICS
- Payroll Services (541214), Accounting, Tax Preparation, Bookkeeping, and Payroll Services (54121)
- SIC
- Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Employer Payroll Processing (SMB & Enterprise) (FSAMAKAA)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Payroll Software & Payroll-as-a-Service (SaaS) (BPACAIAB), Payroll & Employment Tax Services (BPAHABAD)
Keywords
Where Pay Cat is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Newcastle
- HQ country
- Australia
- HQ region
- Oceania
Offices1 record
Markets served
Pay Cat business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Managed Payroll Services: Pay Cat handles end-to-end payroll processing, compliance, and employee payments using Employment Hero Payroll configured to specific modern awards. The team ensures every pay run is accurate, on time, and fully compliant.
- Employment Hero Payroll Implementation: Assistance with implementing all aspects of Employment Hero Payroll configuration and setup, from initial setup through to go-live support and training.
- Custom Integrations & Development: Custom development services for extending Employment Hero Payroll functionality, including additional reporting, specific rules within payroll process, and custom integrations with ERP and CRM systems.
- Awards & Enterprise Agreement Template Builds: Custom-built template files that run on cloud payroll software to match modern award or EBA conditions and automate payroll processes.
- Training & Education: Payroll and SCHADS training, online courses, webinars, guides, and educational resources for payroll professionals.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Multi-year contract | Employment Hero Payroll Implementation |
| Subscription | Monthly | Managed Payroll Services (PayDay) |
| Other | Multi-year contract | Custom Integrations & Developments |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels6 records
Pay Cat product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Pay Cat provides managed payroll processing, Employment Hero Payroll implementation, and modern award compliance services for Australian and New Zealand businesses. Its flagship offering is a 100% compliant SCHADS Award interpreter template combined with outsourced payroll operations, targeted at NDIS providers, aged care, disability services, and other modern award employers.
Product overview
Pay Cat is a payroll compliance service provider offering a suite of products built on and integrated with Employment Hero Payroll. The core offering consists of Employment Hero Payroll Implementation and Managed Payroll Services (PayDay), which handle the setup and ongoing processing of payroll respectively. Their flagship differentiator is a 100% compliant SCHADS interpreter template specifically designed for NDIS providers and care sector employers. Pay Cat Connect extends the portfolio by bringing SCHADS award cost visibility into the rostering stage, integrating with care management platforms like Visualcare. The service also includes Awards & Enterprise Agreement Template Builds, NoahFace time and attendance software, and comprehensive SCHADS Solutions for compliance implementation. Supporting offerings include Pay Cat Learn (educational resources), Allowances Search Tool, Modern Award eBooks, and a Client Portal for support management.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Employment Hero Payroll Implementation End-to-end setup and configuration of Employment Hero Payroll for Australian businesses, including system mapping, go-live support, and training, ensuring correct configuration from the start.
- Managed Payroll Services (PayDay) Outsourced payroll processing where Pay Cat handles end-to-end payroll processing, compliance, and employee payments using Employment Hero Payroll configured to specific modern awards.
- SCHADS Solutions Comprehensive SCHADS Award compliance solutions including compliance implementation and ShiftCare integration, designed to ensure 100% compliant cloud payroll for NDIS providers and care sector employers.
- Pay Cat Connect
- Employment Hero Payroll Customisations & Integrations Custom development services for extending Employment Hero Payroll functionality, including additional reporting, specific rules within the payroll process, and custom integrations with ERP and CRM systems.
- Awards & Enterprise Agreement Template Builds Custom-built template files that run on cloud payroll software to match modern award or enterprise bargaining agreement conditions and automate payroll processes.
- Pay Cat Comply
- NoahFace Time and Attendance
Quantifiable outcome
- Payroll processing time reduced from 3-4 days to 20 minutes
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Pay Cat
Customer profileNamed customers9 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Pay Cat technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration2 records
Feature4 records
Pay Cat partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- VisualcarecoreVisualcare is the first care management platform to partner with Pay Cat Connect, bringing SCHADS cost visibility into rostering workflows. This partnership enables NDIS providers to assess cost changes before they impact margins.
- Employment HerocoreEmployment Hero is the cloud payroll platform that Pay Cat implements and manages for clients. Pay Cat is an Employment Hero Payroll Partner of the Year 2025 winner. Their proprietary SCHADS Award template is built on the Employment Hero platform.
- Audit Ready ConsultantsminorAudit Ready Consultants are NDIS auditors who partnered with Pay Cat to deliver webinars on NDIS audit readiness and compliance. They offer free 30-minute consultations to Pay Cat customers.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Pay Cat competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- KeyPay: KeyPay is an Australian cloud payroll platform (owned by IRIS Software) serving SMBs with award interpretation, STP compliance, and managed payroll features, directly competing for the same modern award employer customers.
- Tanda: Tanda is an Australian workforce management platform with time-and-attendance, rostering, and award-aware payroll features targeting hospitality, retail, and healthcare — directly overlapping with Pay Cat's modern award and care sector customer base.
Broad incumbents
- Employment Hero: Employment Hero is the underlying cloud payroll platform that Pay Cat implements and manages. As Pay Cat's core technology partner and 2025 Partner of the Year awarder, it is both a critical enabler and a potential competitive threat if it expands into managed services.
- Ascender HCM: Ascender provides large-scale payroll and HR software across Australia and the Asia-Pacific, with deep award interpretation capabilities serving enterprise and mid-market employers similar to Pay Cat's modern award focus.
- Deputy: Deputy is an Australian-founded (now Square-owned) workforce management and payroll platform serving shift-based industries with award interpretation, competing with Pay Cat for the same modern award employer segments.
- Xero Payroll: Xero offers payroll add-ons (Xero Payroll, PayPowered) widely used by Australian SMBs, providing commoditized payroll and STP compliance that competes with Pay Cat's managed services offering for smaller customers.
- MYOB Business Payroll: MYOB provides payroll solutions for Australian SMBs and accountants with modern award support, overlapping with Pay Cat's vertical on basic award payroll but lacking Pay Cat's deep SCHADS specialization.
- Frontier Software: Frontier Software is an Australian HR and payroll specialist serving large enterprise and government employers with complex award interpretation, comparable in domain focus to Pay Cat but at a much larger scale.
Emerging players
- ShiftCare: ShiftCare is a care management platform for NDIS and disability providers that Pay Cat integrates with. While focused on rostering and care management rather than payroll, it intersects Pay Cat's customer base and could expand into payroll-adjacent services.
- Visualcare: Visualcare is a care management CRM that partnered with Pay Cat on Pay Cat Connect. It serves the same NDIS/aged care customer base as Pay Cat and represents both a partner and a potential adjacent competitor in care sector workflows.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Pay Cat social profiles
Digital presencePay Cat financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Pay Cat leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
Pay Cat funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Pay Cat M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Pay Cat
What does Pay Cat do?
Pay Cat provides managed payroll processing, Employment Hero Payroll implementation, and modern award compliance services for Australian and New Zealand businesses. Its flagship offering is a 100% compliant SCHADS Award interpreter template combined with outsourced payroll operations, targeted at NDIS providers, aged care, disability services, and other modern award employers.
Is Pay Cat a public or private company?
Pay Cat is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Pay Cat founded?
Pay Cat was founded in 2018. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Pay Cat based?
Pay Cat is headquartered in Newcastle, Australia, in the Oceania region.
How does Pay Cat make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Managed Payroll Services are the primary driver. The others are employment Hero Payroll Implementation, custom Integrations & Development, awards & Enterprise Agreement Template Builds and training & Education.
Who are Pay Cat's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are KeyPay and Tanda. Broad incumbents are Employment Hero, Ascender HCM, Deputy, Xero Payroll, MYOB Business Payroll and Frontier Software. Emerging players are ShiftCare and Visualcare.
Does Pay Cat have an API?
No public API is recorded for Pay Cat.
What industry is Pay Cat in?
Pay Cat's product category is Payroll Compliance Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAMAKAA, Employer Payroll Processing (SMB & Enterprise), with a secondary code of BPACAIAB, Payroll Software & Payroll-as-a-Service (SaaS). Its NAICS code is 541214 and its SIC code is 8742.