Facility Management ERP, Australia

Award-based labor and the true cost of a roster

In Australian cleaning and security, labor cost is driven by rules as much as by hours. Industry awards and enterprise agreements set minimum rates, penalty rates for evening, weekend and public holiday work, allowances and minimum engagement periods, and the applicable rules can change from one site or employee group to the next. A contract priced on a simple hourly rate can quietly lose money once night cleans and holiday coverage are paid.

For ERP design, the roster must carry enough information for cost to be predicted: shift times, the classification of the worker and the instrument that applies. I map how rosters are built and changed, how attendance is confirmed and how the payroll result returns to the ERP as cost by site and contract. I also compare forecast roster cost with actual payroll cost each period, because that comparison exposes underpriced contracts early. I do not interpret awards or agreements; that belongs to your payroll specialists and employment advisors. I then check that the systems hold and apply their decisions, and that finance sees the outcome contract by contract. Requirement work of this kind falls under ERP requirements gathering.

Licensing, inductions and subcontractor chains

Security work in Australia requires individual licensing administered at state and territory level, and many clients add their own conditions: police checks, site inductions, working with children checks for schools and specific training for hospitals or airports. Rostering someone whose license has lapsed is a contract risk as well as a regulatory one. I write requirements so these records sit with each worker, expiry dates trigger alerts and the rostering tool will not assign staff who lack the documents a site demands.

Subcontracting adds another layer. Cleaning and security contracts are sometimes delivered partly through subcontractors, who may in turn use their own staff. Clients and head contractors increasingly ask providers to show that the people working on their sites are paid correctly and properly engaged. The ERP cannot answer that alone, but it can hold subcontractor agreements, insurance and compliance evidence, and link subcontractor invoices to the shifts and services they cover. That record makes supply chain questions far easier to answer and keeps payment tied to what was delivered.

GST, BAS and contract billing

Most FM contracts in Australia are billed as a fixed periodic fee, with additional shifts, periodic services such as carpet cleaning or window washing, and reactive maintenance billed separately. Each line needs the correct GST code, and invoices should carry the purchase order or work order reference the client requires. Large clients often consolidate many sites onto one invoice, with a site-level breakdown attached.

When billing and tax codes are clean, preparing the BAS becomes a review of reports rather than a reconciliation exercise. I define the invoice structures with your finance team, test edge cases such as credit notes for missed services and cross-period adjustments, and ask your accountant to confirm the tax treatment. On the payroll side, Single Touch Payroll reporting runs through whichever payroll product you choose, so the ERP integration must keep employee and cost data consistent with it. For wider Australian context, see the Australia hub and the Australia ERP consultant page.

Regional sites, current systems and how I help

Australian FM providers often service sites far from their main office: regional hospitals, mine site accommodation villages, schools across a state and government buildings in several capital cities. Supervision is thin, so mobile attendance, photo evidence and offline-capable field apps matter more than polished dashboards. Time zones and the daylight saving split also affect rostering and payroll cut-offs, which I account for in the design.

Many providers start from Xero or MYOB, a separate rostering and payroll tool, a CAFM or work order system for maintenance and spreadsheets for contract profitability. Moving to an ERP does not always mean replacing the rostering platform; sometimes integrating it is the better path. I compare those options on your contracts, migrate live sites, contracts, open work and balances, and run a parallel pay period before cutover. No vendor pays me, so the advice follows your contracts. The broader method is set out on the ERP for facility management page and the ERP for service management page.