Compliance has always been at the heart of NZPPA’s work and is one of the most important responsibilities carried by payroll professionals. Payroll operates at the intersection of employment law, taxation, employee entitlements, organisational policy, technology and financial management. Even a small compliance error can have significant consequences, including employee underpayments or overpayments, financial penalties, remediation costs, damaged employee trust and reputational risk.

To bring the importance of payroll compliance to the forefront, NZPPA has launched a new annual event: the NZPPA Inaugural Payroll Compliance Congress. This dedicated event will provide a national forum for payroll practitioners, industry specialists, government representatives and compliance experts to examine the legislation, risks and practical challenges that affect payroll.

The Congress aims to bring together payroll and industry experts to share their knowledge, experience and practical insights. By learning from real-world situations, emerging compliance issues and proven approaches, attendees will gain information they can use to strengthen payroll processes, improve internal controls, identify risks and support accurate and lawful payroll outcomes.

Payroll compliance is not simply about meeting legislative requirements. It is about protecting employees, safeguarding organisations and maintaining confidence in the payroll function. Through this new annual Congress, NZPPA is reinforcing its commitment to supporting payroll professionals and helping organisations build a proactive, informed and sustainable approach to compliance.

As with the Payroll Leaders’ Summit, the Congress will move to a different city each year.

Theme Statement

• Payroll Compliance: Protecting People, Pay and the Organisation

Conference Tagline

Get it right. Reduce the risk. Protect every pay.

Theme Overview

Payroll compliance is about much more than calculating and paying wages. Every pay cycle brings together tax obligations, employment law, leave entitlements, employment agreements, deductions, record-keeping, privacy, systems, approvals and reporting.

When payroll compliance fails, the consequences can be significant: employees may be underpaid or overpaid, tax and statutory obligations may be breached, remediation costs can escalate, valuable time can be lost, and the organisation’s reputation and employee trust can be damaged.

The Payroll Compliance Conference will bring together the legislation, practical processes and professional knowledge payroll practitioners need to manage compliance confidently. It will focus on how payroll can identify risk early, strengthen controls, reduce errors and ensure employees are paid correctly, on time and in accordance with New Zealand law.

The Three Central Conference Pillars

Risk

Payroll practitioners must understand where compliance risks arise and how to manage them before they become costly problems.

This includes:

• incorrect interpretation of tax and employment legislation
• underpayments and overpayments
• incorrect leave and holiday pay calculations
• unlawful or incorrectly processed deductions
• payroll fraud and unauthorised changes
• privacy and security breaches
• poor system configuration
• inadequate checking and approval processes
• insufficient documentation and record-keeping
• reliance on key individuals without effective backup arrangements

Money

Payroll compliance failures can create substantial financial consequences for employees and employers.

These may include:

• employee arrears and remediation payments
• tax shortfalls, penalties and interest
• incorrect KiwiSaver, student loan and child support deductions
• backpay and holiday pay liabilities
• penalties for breaches of employment legislation
• professional, legal and consulting costs
• system correction and implementation costs
• duplicate or unauthorised payments
• damage to budgets, cash flow and financial reporting

Time

Compliance problems rarely remain confined to one pay cycle. Resolving historical errors can consume considerable payroll and organisational resources.

Time can be lost through:

• investigating historical payroll records
• recalculating employee entitlements
• correcting system settings and employee data
• responding to employee complaints and enquiries
• managing audits and regulator investigations
• completing remediation projects
• correcting payday filing and statutory reporting
• rebuilding processes, controls and documentation
• explaining issues to leadership, employees, unions and other stakeholders

Wider Areas Payroll Must Consider

Alongside risk, money and time, effective payroll compliance protects:

• Employees — ensuring people receive their correct pay and entitlements.
• Trust — maintaining employee confidence in payroll and the employer.
• Reputation — protecting the organisation from public and industry criticism.
• Governance — giving leaders confidence that payroll risks are understood and controlled.
• Privacy — protecting sensitive employee, pay, tax, banking and leave information.
• Business continuity — ensuring payroll can continue during staff absences, system failures or emergencies.
• Data integrity — ensuring payroll information is complete, accurate, authorised and secure.
• Professional accountability — recognising payroll as a specialist function requiring current knowledge and ongoing development.
• Employee wellbeing — understanding that incorrect or delayed pay can cause genuine financial and personal hardship.

NZPPA Inaugural Payroll Compliance Programme

• DRAFT programme will be released on 28 August 2026.
• Congress will run from 9 am to 4.30 pm.

Speakers

• Speaker details will be added to the Congress page as confirmed.

Conference Venue

The Parnell Hotel & Conference Centre

• 10-20 Gladstone Road, Parnell, Auckland

The Parnell Hotel & Conference Centre provides a professional and welcoming environment for the inaugural NZPPA Payroll Compliance Congress 2026, conveniently located in Parnell, Auckland.

Fitting with NZPPA’s support of charities, The Parnell Hotel & Conference Centre is unique in that it is a venue that gives back to the community. As a registered charity, the conference venue allows them to make significant contributions to community, health and research organisations throughout New Zealand.

Getting to the venue is easy, with free on-site parking available and Auckland public transport options nearby.

Exhibitors

Alxemy is a trusted New Zealand consultancy specialising in payroll, HRIS, workforce management, and payroll compliance. We help organisations across the public and private sectors strengthen compliance, improve payroll accuracy, and optimise their people systems, regardless of the platform they use.

Alxemy is an implementation partner for Dayforce, MYOB PayGlobal, and Employment Hero, with deep functional and technical capability across each platform. We also work directly for clients as a client-side project, compliance, and remediation partner, regardless of the system in use.  From payroll compliance health checks and remediation through to system optimisation, implementation, integrations, managed payroll services, project assurance, and strategic advisory, we deliver practical solutions that reduce risk and build long-term confidence.

With experienced payroll specialists, project leaders, functional consultants, and technical experts, we support organisations through legislative change, complex payroll challenges, and business transformation. Whether you’re preparing for upcoming Employment Leave Bill changes, addressing compliance risks, or looking to improve payroll operations, we work alongside your team to deliver accurate, sustainable outcomes.

At Alxemy, we help organisations turn payroll compliance from a business risk into a business strength.

More to be added soon…

Congress Cost

In-person Attendance

• Early Bird (until 4 September 2026)
  • NZPPA member: $475.00 + GST
  • NZPPA non-member: $675.00 + GST
• Standard Rates (from 5 September 2026)
  • NZPPA member: $575.00 + GST
  • NZPPA non-member: $775.00 + GST

If you are bringing a group of two or more attendees, a 15% group booking discount is available. For larger groups, contact us.

Email for bookings: training@nzppa.co.nz