Employment Hero vs Power Automate

Employment Hero vs Power Automate - An Honest Breakdown for mid-market Australian businesses

Stop researching and start deciding. Our feature-by-feature comparison of Employment Hero and Power Automate gives mid-market Australian businesses the clarity they need - in minutes, not hours.

Features compared

50+

Clients advised

98%

Client retention

12+

Years experience

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Feature Comparison

Side-by-side feature analysis for Employment Hero and Power Automate.

Invoicing

Employment Hero

Employment Hero provides invoicing functionality, popular with Retail & E-commerce businesses

Power Automate

Power Automate provides invoicing functionality, popular with Professional Services businesses

On paper invoicing looks similar across Employment Hero and Power Automate, but the admin experience, reporting, and permission model tend to be the real differentiators.

Expense tracking

Employment Hero

Employment Hero provides expense tracking functionality, popular with Retail & E-commerce businesses

Power Automate

Power Automate provides expense tracking functionality, popular with Professional Services businesses

If expense tracking is a daily-use area for your team, the onboarding curve and keyboard ergonomics matter more than feature counts - trial both with a real operator, not an evaluator.

Bank reconciliation

Employment Hero

Employment Hero provides bank reconciliation functionality, popular with Retail & E-commerce businesses

Power Automate

Power Automate provides bank reconciliation functionality, popular with Professional Services businesses

Employment Hero and Power Automate take different philosophical approaches to bank reconciliation; the better fit is usually the one that matches how your team already thinks about the problem.

Payroll

Employment Hero

Combines HR, payroll, and employee benefits in a single Australian-built platform, reducing the need for separate systems

Power Automate

Power Automate provides payroll functionality, popular with Professional Services businesses

Employment Hero highlights payroll as a core strength. Power Automate offers the capability but does not position it as a primary differentiator.

Tax reporting and BAS

Employment Hero

Limitation: Customer support response times can vary, with some users reporting delays during peak payroll periods

Power Automate

Power Automate includes tax reporting and bas capabilities. Feature depth varies by plan tier

Edge cases in tax reporting and bas (bulk edits, exports, undo, permissions) are where Employment Hero and Power Automate diverge; map your five toughest scenarios and reproduce them in each trial.

Multi-currency support

Employment Hero

Limitation: Customer support response times can vary, with some users reporting delays during peak payroll periods

Power Automate

Power Automate offers multi-currency support capabilities. Support depth and SLA commitments vary by plan

On paper multi-currency support looks similar across Employment Hero and Power Automate, but the admin experience, reporting, and permission model tend to be the real differentiators.

Workflow complexity

Employment Hero

Limitation: Customisation of workflows and approval chains is less flexible than dedicated HRIS platforms like BambooHR or Rippling

Power Automate

Approval workflows with multi-stage approvals, parallel approvals, and mobile notifications streamline business decision-making processes

Power Automate highlights workflow complexity as a core strength. Employment Hero offers the capability but does not position it as a primary differentiator.

Available integrations

Employment Hero

Employment Hero connects with 41+ tools natively, offering one of the broadest integration ecosystems in its category

Power Automate

Power Automate connects with 55+ tools natively, offering one of the broadest integration ecosystems in its category

Power Automate has a broader native ecosystem (55+ integrations) compared to Employment Hero (41+). Both connect via automation platforms like Zapier and Make.

Error handling

Employment Hero

Employment Hero provides error handling functionality, popular with Retail & E-commerce businesses

Power Automate

Limitation: Flow debugging is less intuitive than Zapier or Make, with error messages that can be cryptic and troubleshooting that requires patience

error handling capabilities vary by plan tier on both platforms. Confirm the specific features you need are available at your target price point before committing.

Scheduling options

Employment Hero

Employment Hero provides scheduling options functionality, popular with Retail & E-commerce businesses

Power Automate

Power Automate provides scheduling options functionality, popular with Professional Services businesses

On paper scheduling options looks similar across Employment Hero and Power Automate, but the admin experience, reporting, and permission model tend to be the real differentiators.

Conditional logic

Employment Hero

Employment Hero provides conditional logic functionality, popular with Retail & E-commerce businesses

Power Automate

Power Automate provides conditional logic functionality, popular with Professional Services businesses

On paper conditional logic looks similar across Employment Hero and Power Automate, but the admin experience, reporting, and permission model tend to be the real differentiators.

Data transformation

Employment Hero

Employment Hero manages employees, payroll, leave, onboarding and 4 more object types

Power Automate

AI Builder integrates form processing, text classification, object detection, and prediction models into flows without data science expertise

Power Automate highlights data transformation as a core strength. Employment Hero offers the capability but does not position it as a primary differentiator.

Pricing Comparison

General pricing information for each platform.

Employment Hero

HR Standard from approximately $8/employee/month, HR Premium from approximately $12/employee/month, Payroll from approximately $6/employee/month (AUD). HR and Payroll billed separately. Onboarding and benefits modules included at Premium level.

Prices shown are approximate and may differ based on your plan, team size, and billing cycle. Verify directly with the vendor for current AUD rates.

Power Automate

Included in Microsoft 365 Business Standard/Premium (limited connectors). Power Automate Premium from approximately $22/user/month, Power Automate Process from approximately $225/month per flow (AUD). Desktop RPA requires separate licence.

Pricing may vary based on team size, features, and region. Contact the vendor for the latest Australian pricing.

Pros & Cons

An honest look at the strengths and limitations of each platform.

Employment Hero

Pros

Combines HR, payroll, and employee benefits in a single Australian-built platform, reducing the need for separate systems
Employee self-service portal handles onboarding paperwork, leave requests, and personal detail updates without HR intervention
Built-in employee benefits marketplace (Swag) offers discounts on everyday purchases, which can help with retention and employee satisfaction
Compliance management tracks certifications, licences, and mandatory training with automatic expiry reminders
Performance review tools with goal setting, 1-on-1 templates, and 360-degree feedback are included on higher plans without needing a separate tool

Cons

Payroll module pricing is separate from the HR platform, so the all-in cost can be higher than expected when both are needed
The platform has grown rapidly through acquisition and feature addition, which sometimes shows in inconsistent UX between modules
Customisation of workflows and approval chains is less flexible than dedicated HRIS platforms like BambooHR or Rippling
Customer support response times can vary, with some users reporting delays during peak payroll periods

Power Automate

Pros

Deep integration with Microsoft 365 means automating Outlook, SharePoint, Teams, Excel, and Dynamics flows with native connectors
Desktop flows (RPA) automate legacy desktop applications and manual processes by recording and replaying mouse and keyboard actions
AI Builder integrates form processing, text classification, object detection, and prediction models into flows without data science expertise
Approval workflows with multi-stage approvals, parallel approvals, and mobile notifications streamline business decision-making processes
Included in many Microsoft 365 business plans at no additional cost, making it the most accessible automation tool for Microsoft-centric businesses

Cons

Non-Microsoft connectors (known as premium connectors) require a separate Power Automate licence, which can be an unexpected cost
Flow debugging is less intuitive than Zapier or Make, with error messages that can be cryptic and troubleshooting that requires patience
Desktop flows (RPA) require a dedicated Windows machine running in the background, adding infrastructure requirements
Performance can be slow for complex flows with many steps, and execution history retention is limited on lower-tier plans

Best For

Which tool suits which use case.

Choose Employment Hero if you need

✓ Retail & E-commerce businesses
✓ Teams needing extensive third-party integrations
✓ Complex data models (employees, payroll, leave and more)
✓ Hospitality & Tourism organisations
✓ Tax compliance

Choose Power Automate if you need

✓ Moderate data needs (flows, connections)
✓ App integration
✓ Data synchronisation
✓ Financial Services organisations
✓ Professional Services businesses

Expert Verdict

Our Harvard-educated consultants' take on this comparison.

Clever Ops Recommendation

Employment Hero and Power Automate solve different problems: Employment Hero handles accounting & finance, while Power Automate covers automation. Most mid-market Australian businesses benefit from running both with a proper integration layer. Employment Hero is the right pick when Australian SMBs that want HR, payroll, and employee engagement tools in a single locally built platform, particularly businesses managing onboarding, compliance, and leave at scale. Power Automate fits when businesses deeply invested in the Microsoft ecosystem that want to automate workflows across Outlook, SharePoint, Teams, and Dynamics without adding a third-party automation tool. Clever Ops can design the integration architecture and implement both, typically within 4-8 weeks.

Migration Notes

What to know about switching between Employment Hero and Power Automate.

Migrating Between Employment Hero and Power Automate

Both Employment Hero and Power Automate offer REST APIs, which simplifies the migration process. Clever Ops builds custom migration scripts that extract data from one platform and import it into the other with full field mapping. We validate every record, run parallel systems during the switch, and provide 3 months of post-migration support.

Employment Hero vs Power Automate FAQ

For Professional Services, the answer depends on your operational model. Employment Hero is best for Australian SMBs that want HR, payroll, and employee engagement tools in a single locally built platform, particularly businesses managing onboarding, compliance, and leave at scale. Power Automate is best for businesses deeply invested in the Microsoft ecosystem that want to automate workflows across Outlook, SharePoint, Teams, and Dynamics without adding a third-party automation tool. Clever Ops has helped businesses across Professional Services choose the right stack. Book a free assessment for advice specific to your situation.

Employment Hero: HR Standard from approximately $8/employee/month, HR Premium from approximately $12/employee/month, Payroll from approximately $6/employee/month (AUD). HR and Payroll billed separately. Onboarding and benefits modules included at Premium level.. Power Automate: Included in Microsoft 365 Business Standard/Premium (limited connectors). Power Automate Premium from approximately $22/user/month, Power Automate Process from approximately $225/month per flow (AUD). Desktop RPA requires separate licence.. When comparing costs, factor in per-user charges, add-on modules, and implementation costs, not just the headline price. Clever Ops can model the total cost of ownership for your team size during a free assessment.

Both platforms have their own setup considerations. Employment Hero manages 8 data object types and Power Automate manages 6, so configuration complexity scales with your data requirements. Clever Ops provides implementation support for both, typically completing setup within 2 weeks.

Both Employment Hero and Power Automate serve Healthcare & Allied Health businesses. Employment Hero is also popular with Retail & E-commerce organisations, while Power Automate is widely used in Professional Services. Clever Ops can advise based on what we have seen work for businesses like yours.

Employment Hero handles accounting & finance (employees, payroll, leave), while Power Automate covers automation (flows, connections, approvals). The key is connecting them so data flows automatically between both systems. Clever Ops builds these integrations, eliminating manual data entry and reducing errors across your operations.

Since Employment Hero (accounting & finance) and Power Automate (automation) serve different functions, many businesses run both. The key is connecting them so data flows automatically. Clever Ops builds these integrations, keeping your core records in sync across both platforms.

We audit your current workflows, team size, budget, and growth plans, then recommend the platform that fits. Our advice is vendor-neutral: we do not earn commissions from Employment Hero, Power Automate, or any vendor. Our Harvard-educated consultants have helped 50+ businesses make informed technology decisions over 12+. Book a free assessment to get started.

Yes, both platforms are used by Australian businesses. Employment Hero is popular with Retail & E-commerce and Hospitality & Tourism in Australia. Power Automate is widely used by Professional Services and Financial Services. Key Australian considerations include AUD pricing, local support hours, GST handling, and data residency. Employment Hero offers Australian-specific pricing. Clever Ops, based in Gippsland, Victoria, factors these nuances into every recommendation.