FMI Building Streamlines Australian Payroll & Onboarding With Xemplo

FMI Building Innovation is a leading New Zealand manufacturer and supplier of innovative business solutions operating across Australasia.

The challenge

When FMI Building Innovation expanded its operations from New Zealand into Australia, the team quickly found that payroll, onboarding, and compliance were significantly more complex than expected.

Australia’s payroll rules, superannuation obligations, bank data formats, and onboarding requirements differed from New Zealand at every step. FMI needed a partner who could:

• Guide them through the unfamiliar Australian legislation
• Remove manual processes and eliminate spreadsheets
• Deliver a seamless onboarding experience across sites and regions
• Centralise payroll data, documentation and communication
• Provide confidence that employees were paid correctly and on time

After comparing multiple outsourced payroll providers, FMI chose Xemplo for its modern workforce platform and Managed Payroll Services for expert execution and support.

“We were managing Australian payroll from New Zealand without the visibility or understanding we needed. Every step felt like guesswork.”

– Sarah Harding, FMI Building Innovation Head of Human Resources

The solution

FMI implemented Xemplo as their single source of truth for onboarding, worker data, document management and payroll inputs, supported by our Managed Payroll team who process, validate and run the pay cycle end to end. Together, this delivered a fast rollout, a unified platform, and a consistent payroll experience across Victoria and NSW.

Onboarding that removed days of manual work

Before Xemplo, FMI relied on printing, scanning and emailing contracts. With Xemplo, all onboarding is now fully digital. Agreements are issued and signed online, worker information flows directly into payroll, and documents are stored automatically in the system. This removed days of admin and gave FMI a consistent, scalable process across regions.

Payroll inputs centralised in the Xemplo portal

All payroll changes, approvals and communication now happen within Xemplo, eliminating the need for spreadsheets or emailed instructions. The portal provides one secure place for FMI to log amendments, submit queries and review information, which has significantly reduced duplicate work, improved accuracy and streamlined each pay cycle.

Expert payroll support and management

Behind the scenes, Xemplo’s Managed Payroll team handles FMI’s end-to-end payroll, applying deep knowledge of Australian legislation and proactively advising on compliance. FMI’s dedicated payroll manager understands their workforce in detail and feels like part of their internal team, ensuring confident, accurate payroll execution every cycle and providing trusted guidance whenever questions arise.

Worker self-service that reduces HR workload

Xemplo empowers FMI’s employees to manage their own details, from updating bank accounts to maintaining personal information. This removes a major admin burden from HR, eliminates manual forms, and reduces the risk of errors caused by re-entering data. Updates flow directly into payroll, keeping information clean and current without additional HR involvement.

Reporting and visibility across multiple regions

With Xemplo, FMI can access all the workforce and payroll insights they need in one place. Secure, region-based permissions allow clear separation, while still giving leadership full visibility across the organisation. FMI can generate reports seamlessly, helping them maintain control of operations even while managing teams in another country.

“We got 80 people set up and ran our first live payroll within three days – that’s how seamless it was.”

– Sarah Harding, FMI Building Innovation Head of Human Resources