NZPPA 12th Payroll Leader’s Summit, 3 July 2026, Wellington. Summit Programme Released!

NZPPA Payroll Leaders Summit

  • Summit Final Programme released!
  • For this year’s summit, we are very lucky to have a packed programme with a range of exceptional payroll leaders and payroll SMEs to provide valuable insights into payroll leadership
  • We have 8 sponsors and exhibitors at this year’s summit. View the summit layout here.
  • NZPPA 12th Payroll Leaders Summit Programme Released, view it here.

Our annual Payroll Leaders’ Summit for payroll leaders and emerging leaders will be held in Wellington on 3 July 2026 at the James Cook Hotel Grand Chancellor Wellington.

This year’s one-day event will feature an impressive lineup of speakers focused on payroll leadership, alongside a full range of exhibitors showcasing products and services relevant to the payroll profession.

Attendance is limited, with places allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Early registration is recommended to avoid missing out (see below).

The full programme has been released.

This Year’s Summit Theme – Empowered Leadership, Resilient Payroll

Empowered Leadership and Resilient Payroll are critical because payroll sits at the intersection of trust, compliance, cash flow, and employee experience. When leadership is weak or systems are fragile, the consequences are immediate and highly visible.

Here’s why this combination matters:

  1. Payroll Is Mission-Critical

Payroll is not optional. Employees expect to be paid accurately and on time—every time.

If payroll fails:

  • Employee trust drops immediately
  • Legal and financial penalties increase
  • Brand reputation suffers
  • Leadership credibility erodes

Resilient payroll ensures operational stability. Empowered leadership ensures someone is accountable and proactive when challenges arise.

  1. Trust Is Built (or Broken) on Payday

Payroll is one of the most personal financial touchpoints in any organisation.

When leaders:

  • Communicate transparently
  • Address errors quickly
  • Take accountability
  • Implement preventive controls

They reinforce organisational trust.

Without empowered leadership, payroll teams may operate reactively, avoid difficult conversations, or lack the influence to fix systemic issues.

  1. Regulatory & Compliance Risk Is Growing

Multi-state taxation, global workforce expansion, classification laws, and pay transparency requirements create complexity.

Resilient payroll means:

  • Strong internal controls
  • Audit readiness
  • Data security safeguards
  • Continuity planning

Empowered leadership ensures:

  • Compliance is treated strategically, not administratively
  • Risks are escalated appropriately
  • Investments are made before crises occur
  1. Payroll Is Increasingly Strategic

Modern payroll data informs:

  • Workforce planning
  • Labour cost forecasting
  • Overtime trends
  • Turnover analysis
  • Equity and pay transparency reporting

Leaders who are empowered elevate payroll from a back-office function to a strategic business partner.

Without leadership empowerment, payroll remains transactional.

  1. Economic Uncertainty Demands Stability

In times of:

  • Budget constraints
  • Mergers or acquisitions
  • Workforce reductions
  • Rapid growth

Payroll becomes even more complex and high-risk.

Resilient systems prevent breakdowns. Empowered leaders guide teams calmly through pressure.

  1. Burnout Risk Is High in Payroll

Payroll operates on fixed deadlines with little margin for error.

Without empowered leadership:

  • Teams become reactive
  • Knowledge silos form
  • Stress compounds
  • Turnover increases

Resilient payroll includes:

  • Cross-training
  • Succession planning
  • Workload balancing
  • Backup coverage systems

Leadership drives these protections.

  1. Errors Are Expensive

A single payroll failure can lead to:

  • Financial penalties
  • Employee dissatisfaction
  • Litigation risk
  • Executive scrutiny

Proactive leadership reduces these risks by investing in systems, people, and controls before failures occur.

  1. Organisational Reputation Depends on It

Employees may forgive minor operational issues. They rarely forgive pay errors.

When payroll is resilient, and leaders are confident:

    • Confidence increases internally
  • Organisational professionalism strengthens
  • Executive leadership sees payroll as reliable and strategic

The Core Reality

Resilient payroll protects the organisation. Empowered leadership protects people and the systems that support them.

Together they create:

  • Operational stability
  • Regulatory confidence
  • Financial accuracy
  • Employee trust
  • Strategic value

This Year’s Summit MC

Gary Hollier, Payroll Manager and Summit MC, has more than 42 years of experience in the payroll industry. Starting his career as a basic grade clerk in the Government Printing Office in 1984, Gary spent the first 30 years of his career predominantly in the public sector before moving into private sector roles.

Over the course of his career, Gary has progressed through all levels of payroll leadership, from team leadership positions through to Payroll Manager, managing teams ranging from one direct report to teams of 36 staff.

He has worked across numerous Government Departments and Agencies including IRD, ACC, MFAT, the Ministry of Education, NZ Police, and SSC, and more recently within the private sector at Reading Cinemas and The Todd Corporation, where he has worked since 2016.

Gary’s broad experience has provided him with significant insight into the skills, challenges, and leadership required across all levels of the payroll profession.

Outside of payroll, Gary has also been involved as an amateur and professional actor, theatre director, voice-over artist, photographer, motorcyclist, microlight pilot, model train builder, flight simmer, AFOL (Adult Fan of Lego), husband, and dad.

This Year’s Keynote Speaker

Right Honourable Brooke van Velden, Minister of Internal Affairs and Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety, was elected to Parliament as an ACT Party MP in 2020 and returned as the MP for Tāmaki in 2023.

Qualified in international trade and economics, Brooke has previously worked as both a factory worker and a corporate affairs consultant before entering Parliament.

As Minister of Internal Affairs and Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety, Brooke brings a strong focus on workplace policy, regulation, and organisational leadership.

Summit Programme

  • The final summit programme can be viewed here.

This Year’s Speakers

Cheryl O’Brien, Head of ANZ Payroll and Credit Management & Debt Recovery, Fletcher Building, New Zealand, is a finance and credit professional with over 30 years’ experience across New Zealand, Australia, and Europe. She holds a BA (Hons) in Business from the University of West London, CICM (Grad), and is a member of NZPPA, APA, and AICM, as well as a Board Member of NZCFI. Cheryl leads Fletcher Building’s Australia and New Zealand payroll functions alongside Credit Management and Debt Recovery and is passionate about building high-performing teams and driving transformation.

Claire Woodbury, Payroll Systems Lead, Fletcher Building, New Zealand, has over eight years’ payroll experience in New Zealand. She began her career in the UK implementing HR and payroll systems for large organisations before moving to New Zealand in 2017. Claire now leads payroll systems at Fletcher Building, focusing on system optimisation, integration, and continuous improvement.

Christine Stowers, Payroll Divisional Lead, Fletcher Building, New Zealand, has over 35 years’ payroll experience and nine years in senior leadership roles. She has worked across multiple Fletcher Building businesses and is passionate about building high-performing teams, service excellence, and payroll transformation initiatives. Christine is also a Level 5 NZPPA Certified Payroll Leader.

Melissa Tembo, Payroll Systems and Compliance Lead, Fletcher Building, New Zealand, is a payroll and finance professional with eight years’ experience across NZ and Australia. She holds degrees in Business (Accounting) and Law and is a Level 4 NZPPA Certified Payroll Consultant. Melissa recently led the Holidays Act Remediation Project and now manages payroll systems and compliance across NZ and Australia.

Abhinav Sinha, Country Sales Head, Ramco Systems ANZ, brings nearly 20 years’ experience in software and IT services. He specialises in SaaS solutions and is passionate about driving innovation in HR and payroll technology across the ANZ region.

Michael Ross, Payroll Technology Lead, Spark, is an experienced payroll and HR professional with expertise in payroll systems implementation, compliance, and operational delivery. He is focused on service excellence and improving stakeholder experience across payroll environments.

Gabriella Barbara, Account Director, Fusion5, brings over 25 years’ experience across HR, payroll, recruitment, procurement, and workforce technology. She works with organisations to simplify payroll and workforce systems and improve efficiency and operational outcomes.

Ganapathy Iyer, Transformation Advisor and Author, specialises in delivering and recovering complex technology-enabled projects across ERP, HCM, payroll, and CRM systems. He is also the author of REBOOT, focused on recovering troubled technology programmes.

Trina Jones, Co-CEO, Cultivate Co-Founder, has over 25 years’ recruitment experience and is a recognised industry leader and media contributor. She leads one of Auckland’s specialist recruitment teams and is passionate about diversity, inclusion, and leadership development.

She remains hands-on with clients and is focused on delivering strong candidate experiences while supporting Māori, Pasifika, and neurodiverse talent pathways.

John Rynearson, Practice Manager, Dayforce, Alxemy, leads workforce management and payroll delivery teams. Originally a high school teacher in the US, he transitioned into payroll consulting and has since built extensive experience in enterprise HR and payroll solutions across Japan and New Zealand.

Lili Welch, Payroll Manager, has over 25 years’ experience in NZ payroll. She began her career as a Payroll Administrator in 2000 and has since built a broad range of experience across payroll operations, systems, compliance, and leadership. She has led payroll teams and worked on complex multi-country payroll implementations and system improvements. Lili is passionate about improving processes, strengthening collaboration, and driving more efficient payroll practices through better systems and integration.

Ana-Mari Gates Bowey, Bowey is a senior growth and revenue leader specialising in scaling SaaS businesses through integrated go-to-market strategy, data-driven commercial execution, and strong cross-functional leadership. She currently leads the Growth and Revenue function for Datacom’s SaaS portfolio, including Datapay and Datascape, where she is responsible for driving market expansion, revenue performance, and customer growth across product marketing, demand generation, partnerships, and sales enablement.

Ana-Mari is known for building high-performing teams and aligning brand, product, and commercial strategy to deliver sustainable growth. With a strong focus on operational discipline, customer outcomes, and innovation, she brings a pragmatic leadership style that combines strategic thinking with the ability to execute at pace in complex technology environments.

Matt Belesky, LLB, BCOM, has a broad range of experience in employment law, including providing advice on disciplinary and performance issues, bullying and harassment, workplace investigations, organisational change processes, health and safety, restraint of trade issues, 90-day trial periods and confidentiality and privacy issues. With a background in commerce and finance, Matt’s approach to employment law is to provide the most practical and commercially focused advice possible.

Matt represents clients in mediation, the Employment Relations Authority and the Employment Court. Matt is a proud Wellingtonian and enjoys exercise, film, music, drumming and relaxing with mates.

Phil Fisher specialises in employment taxes and payroll governance at PwC New Zealand, supporting organisations with PAYE, FBT, employee benefits, contractor arrangements, and Inland Revenue review preparedness. He works closely with payroll, HR, finance, and tax teams to identify compliance risks, strengthen payroll controls, and support payroll system projects from implementation through to post-go-live review and testing.

Annabel Duncan is an employment tax and tax governance specialist at PwC New Zealand, advising corporate clients on PAYE, FBT, employee benefits, contractor arrangements, and Inland Revenue review readiness. She works closely with finance, payroll, HR, and tax teams to identify employment tax risks, strengthen controls, and support payroll system changes through the design, implementation, and post-go-live review phases.

More to be added…

This Year’s Conference Venue – James Cook Hotel Grand Chancellor, Wellington

This year’s Payroll Leaders’ Summit will be held at the James Cook Hotel, one of the largest hotels in Wellington with a dedicated conference centre.

Address:
147 The Terrace
Wellington 6011
New Zealand
Tel. +64 0800 666 716

Sponsors and exhibitors at this year’s summit

NZPPA is always fortunate to have the support of some of the top payroll and service providers in New Zealand. Without their support, we could not provide the range of events available to members throughout the year. At this year’s summit, we will have an exhibitors’ area with sponsors and exhibitors supporting the event.

Platinum sponsor

Datapay powered by Datacom

Datacom is Australasia’s largest homegrown tech company, bringing together a broad range of technology, insight and expertise to deliver innovative and sustainable technology solutions to corporate and government customers throughout New Zealand and Australia.

Datapay, powered by Datacom, is a modern cloud-based payroll solution developed specifically for medium to large enterprises. Tailored to meet the unique needs of payroll leaders, Datapay empowers them to modernise payroll through precise configuration, seamless system integration, and ongoing high-touch support from local payroll experts.

Datapay has a track record of success, and 1 out of 6 employees in New Zealand has their pay processed by Datacom.

Link to website: https://datacom.com/nz/en/products/datapay

Gold sponsor

Ramco

Overview & Company Background

  • Established presence: Ramco Systems Australia Pty Ltd was incorporated on 20 August 2012, with its registered office located in Victoria (Southbank, Melbourne), and operates as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ramco Systems Limited, India.
  • New Zealand branch: A branch has been operational in New Zealand since 1 April 2020, registered in November 2015, and is consolidated under the Australian entity.

Core Services & Product Suite

Ramco offers a comprehensive cloud and mobile enterprise software suite tailored to the ANZ market:

  • Global Payroll & HR – Advanced payroll software featuring innovations such as voice interactions, facial recognition, AI-driven chatbots, and compliance with Single Touch Payroll (Australia).
  • Logistics Software – Integrated TMS, WMS, fleet, rating and billing systems for 3PL, express parcel, and freight organisations, including AI-enabled insights, route optimisation, and extensive third-party API integrations.
  • ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) – A cloud, mobile, bot, and AI-powered platform covering finance, HR, payroll, supply chain, project management, and more.

Business Contact Details:

  • Company: Ramco Systems Australia Pty Ltd
  • Address: Level 17/60 City Rd, Southbank VIC 3006
  • Phone: 0407 474 906

Link to website: https://www.ramco.com/en-au/

Silver sponsor

Frontier Software

Frontier Software, established in 1983, is a leading provider of human capital management and payroll solutions. Our flagship product, ichris (International Comprehensive Human Resource Integrated Solution), offers a modular and flexible approach to HR and payroll management, catering to diverse business requirements. With a presence in multiple countries, including New Zealand, we serve a wide range of industries, ensuring compliance with local regulations and delivering exceptional customer support.

Contact details:

  • New Zealand office:

Link to website: https://nz.frontiersoftware.com/

Bronze sponsor

Fusion5

At Fusion5, we empower organisations across New Zealand and Australia to transform their people operations through smart, scalable, and locally supported HCM solutions. Our Human Capital Management practice brings together deep domain expertise, innovative technology, and a commitment to customer success.

We offer a comprehensive suite of Payroll and HR solutions, including our flagship platform Jemini, as well as Jade Star, EmpowerHR, Timecloud, TimeFiler, MyWorkplace, and Org Chart. These tools are designed to streamline everything from payroll and time tracking to organisational planning and workforce planning.

What sets us apart? Our people. With a dedicated team of consultants, account managers, and support specialists based right here in New Zealand, we understand the unique compliance, cultural, and operational needs of Kiwi businesses. Whether it’s navigating the Holidays Act, implementing Fair Pay Agreements (Australia), operating an Australian business or subsidiary, integrating across your solutions, or optimising workforce planning, we’re with you every step of the way.

Fusion5 is more than a technology provider—we’re your strategic partner in building a future-ready workforce.

Link to website: https://www.fusion5.co.nz/

Summit exhibitors

Paytools is a payroll operations platform designed to turn payroll complexity into a repeatable science. It provides a high-performance framework to manage all payroll work, track ad-hoc employee events, & strengthen your governance practices.

Contact details:

Alxemy is a trusted New Zealand–based consultancy specialising in HRIS, Payroll, and Workforce Management solutions. We support organisations across the public and private sectors to strengthen payroll accuracy, enhance compliance, and optimise workforce systems, regardless of the platform they use.

Our team brings deep expertise across Dayforce, MYOB PayGlobal, and a broad spectrum of payroll and HR systems, enabling us to support organisations regardless of their current platform. From system selection and implementation to remediation, optimisation, and integration, we deliver practical, future-focused solutions tailored to each organisation’s environment.

Our PMP-certified project leaders, functional consultants, and technical specialists work alongside your team to ensure seamless transitions and sustainable outcomes. Through our Managed Payroll Services, we also provide reliable, compliant payroll delivery, giving organisations confidence, continuity, and peace of mind.

At Alxemy, we transform complexity into clarity, enabling organisations to focus on what matters most: their people.

Contact details:

Our advanced payroll technology is specifically designed to address the complex legislative requirements faced by businesses in Australia and New Zealand. By leveraging cutting-edge software, we open up a world of possibilities to our customers, simplifying and automating payroll like never before.



At Cultivate, we help people and organisations grow by connecting potential with opportunity. We’re proudly purpose-driven, award-winning (SEEK medium agency of the year 2023 & 2024, Progress in DE&I 2025), and committed to doing recruitment differently – with a focus on lasting results and genuine relationships. Across Aotearoa, we work across multiple sectors, with deep expertise in accounting, finance, and payroll, placing professionals at every level and supporting organisations to build high-performing teams.

Cultivate also proudly hosts Aotearoa’s largest Payroll Leaders Network, a senior community we’ve grown and supported for more than seven years. This network connects leaders from the country’s biggest payrolls with expert guest speakers across legal, technology, and AI, equipping them to navigate the complex payroll landscape and drive meaningful change across their teams. Additionally, we have Shared Services and Senior Women in Finance networks, hosting professional development events throughout the year, showing our breadth and depth of impact and passion.

For us, great recruitment is about more than filling roles – it’s about helping people and organisations thrive. If you’re looking to strengthen your payroll function or explore what’s possible, we’d love to connect.

Event cost

In-person attendance – Standard Rates

  • NZPPA member: $585.00 + GST
  • NZPPA non-member: $725.00 + GST

Group bookings

  • If you are bringing a group of two or more attendees, a 25% group booking discount is available. To access this special rate, please email: training@nzppa.co.nz
Member Price: NZ$585.00 + GST
Non-member Price: NZ$725.00 + GST

If you are an NZPPA Member, logon to get member pricing