Affinity vs Datacom Datapay – outsourced & managed payroll compared

Delivery footprint

Both providers deliver 100% onshore across both sides of the Tasman – a genuinely rare match among AU/NZ payroll providers.

Calculation depth

Datacom's NZ Holidays Act engine is a recognised market strength – an industry-standard engine automating FBAPS, OWP, and ADP dual-calculations. On the AU side, Datacom's advanced multi-award engine within Datapay handles mature Modern Award capability with strong multi-site and variable workforce handling.

Affinity's engine covers the same ground – complex automated rule handling for intricate shift penalties, multi-tier EBAs, and allowances on the AU side, and a native NZ engine tracking continuous gross earnings, OWP, ADP, and leave liabilities on the NZ side. Both providers lodge automatically: Datacom handles automated STP Phase 2 for AU and native IRD Payday Filing integration for NZ; Affinity lodges STP Phase 2, PAYG/SuperStream, and NZ IRD Payday Filing directly, and is Pay Day Super ready.

This is the one dimension where Affinity and Datacom are genuinely closest in depth. If NZ Holidays Act complexity is your organisation's single biggest risk area, Datacom's recognised market strength is worth testing directly against Affinity's engine on your actual pay conditions rather than assuming either is automatically deeper.

Audit, QA & who owns support

Datacom runs algorithmic audit exception rules, comprehensive variance reporting, and NZPPA-certified consultant reviews – a distinctly NZ-credentialed QA layer. Affinity pairs pre-payslip automated checking (Payroll IQ) with dedicated local payroll manager variance audits.

The key difference is support ownership. Datacom's Tier-1 employee support is configurable: it can provide an employee-level helpdesk, or instead maintain a Tier-2 operational liaison with your client HR team, backed by a dedicated payroll specialist team assigned to the account. Which model you get depends on how the contract is scoped – it is not a fixed inclusion either way. Affinity takes direct ownership of Tier-1 employee queries as standard, with a named local Payroll Manager as the primary escalation point, with no configuration decision required. If direct employee support matters to your outsourcing decision, get Datacom's specific commitment in writing rather than assuming the helpdesk option applies by default.

Banking & who carries the liability

Datacom operates a provider-managed model – direct settlement via bank clearing, direct debit processing, and clearing house lodgements. Affinity also operates a provider-managed trust and disbursal model, executing net pay, ATO, IRD, and super fund payments directly or via ABA files.

Regardless of which banking or disbursal model a provider uses – client-executed ABA files, or a provider-managed trust disbursal – statutory payroll compliance liability under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Australia) and New Zealand employment law is non-delegable to a third party. The employer remains accountable for correct payment of wages, superannuation and statutory deductions, even when a provider physically moves the money. The disbursal model changes who executes the payment; it does not change who is legally on the hook if it is wrong.

Retained resourcing & implementation

Retained FTE and implementation velocity are near-identical between the two providers: Datacom sits at 0.2–0.4 FTE per 1,000 employees with an 8–16 week implementation (data migration and parallel cycles); Affinity sits slightly lower at 0.15–0.3 FTE per 1,000 employees over the same 8–16 week window. Datacom's ideal profile skews specifically toward organisations with significant New Zealand operations; Affinity's is pitched at complex Modern Awards, EBAs, and trans-Tasman workforces more broadly.

Where Datacom excels

Where Affinity excels

Who's each provider best for?