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Financial modelling calculation engine

What your staff are owed, shift by shift.

When an employer may have underpaid its staff, the first questions are how much, for whom and over what period. We reprice every shift against the modern award or enterprise agreement, compare it with what was paid, and calculate what each employee is owed, with superannuation and interest. The lawyer decides how the award applies, and we calculate.

You leave with a back pay schedule for every affected employee, reconciled to the payroll ledger. Each error is traced to its cause, and the lawyer, the auditor or the regulator can check the method line by line.

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Back pay by cause

Retail business, 240 staff. Underpayment review under the General Retail Industry Award, July 2020 to June 2026, A$.

Cause	Staff	Back pay	Super
Weekend and public holiday penaltiesRate not applied on some shifts	168	286,400	32,940
OvertimeHours past the daily limit paid at ordinary rates	74	141,900	16,320
Casual minimum engagementShort shifts paid for hours worked only	96	58,700	6,750
Junior ratesNot increased after a birthday	31	22,600	2,600
Total	203	509,600	58,610

Each shift recalculated from the rosters and payroll records. Some staff appear under more than one cause, so the total counts each person once. Interest is calculated on the basis the lawyer sets.

Illustrative figures.

We work out what a business owes its staff, employee by employee, and recheck later pay runs. It is a project, with rechecks on a retainer if you want them.

Payroll software can show a wrong rate from here on. Back pay is different: every past shift has to be repriced under the rules that applied at the time, with superannuation and interest, reconciled to the ledger and set out so that someone else can check it. We have quantified more than A$1.0bn of remediation, from Retail to SCHADS, for global law firms and national businesses. We calculate, and the lawyer advises.

When to bring us in

Employers and their lawyers bring us in at four points. Since 1 January 2025, intentionally underpaying staff has been a criminal offence, so the figure matters early, while the lawyer is deciding what to do next. A business that has to refund its customers brings us in to calculate each refund.

A pay error has been found

The payroll team, an internal review or an employee has found a rate, penalty or allowance paid wrongly, and the business needs to know how far back it goes and what it costs.

A claim has been made

An employee, a union or the Fair Work Ombudsman has raised a claim, and the lawyer needs the figures to respond.

A sale or a new agreement

A buyer is testing the payroll in due diligence, or a new enterprise agreement has to be priced against the award, roster by roster, through Enterprise Agreement Pricing.

After the back pay

Later pay runs are rechecked on the same basis, monthly or quarterly, and any new shortfall is listed by employee.

Customer remediation

A business has charged customers for a service they did not receive, and each refund has to be calculated with interest.

If this sounds like you, tell us what you need.

What you get

Back pay schedule

What each employee is owed, with superannuation and interest, reconciled to the payroll ledger and ready to pay through the business’s own payroll.

The cause of each error

Each shortfall is traced to its cause, such as a penalty rate not applied or a casual loading missed, so the payroll team knows what to fix.

Payroll workbook

Every shift is recalculated against the award and compared with what was paid, so the result can be checked line by line.

Methodology note

It sets out the method, the data and its limits, for the lawyer, the auditor or the regulator.

Questions answered

We answer questions on the numbers from the regulator or the employees’ representatives while the matter runs.

How it works

Timing depends on the number of employees and the state of the records, and we agree it in the written scope.

First
Confirm
The lawyer confirms which award or agreement applies, how it applies and the period. Where privilege may matter, the lawyer’s firm can engage us directly, and whether privilege applies is for the lawyer to advise.
Then
Calculate
The business exports its time, roster and payroll records against a list of fields we send, and we calculate what should have been paid for every shift.
Next
Compare
We compare it with what was paid and show each difference by employee and by cause.
Last
Back pay
The business and its lawyer receive the back pay schedule and the methodology note. The business makes the payments, and we can recheck later pay runs on a retainer.

What it looks like

This example follows the structure of work we have delivered. The names and figures are illustrative.

Payroll remediation summary

Mental health charity. Underpayment review under the SCHADS Award, July 2019 to June 2025, A$.

Classification	Staff	Back pay	Super
Mental health support workersLevel 3, permanent	486	412,380	47,420
Peer support workersLevel 2, casual	612	301,220	34,640
Residential support workersLevel 3, casual	338	266,510	30,650
Care coordinatorsLevel 4, permanent	214	228,940	26,330
Total	1,650	1,209,050	139,040

Each shift recalculated from the rosters and payroll records. Most of the shortfall came from sleepovers, minimum shift lengths and overtime. Prepared for the instructing lawyer.

Illustrative figures.

What it is not

We calculate, the lawyer advises, and the business decides.

Not legal advice

The lawyer decides how the award or agreement applies and advises on what to tell the staff and the regulator. Our work is a working paper for the lawyer.

Not a payroll provider

We check the pay runs. The business keeps running its own payroll.

Not a payment service

We calculate the amount owed to each employee. The business, or the provider it appoints, makes the payments.

“Professional, responsive, and genuinely invested in achieving the right outcome.”

Partner, commercial law firm

“The quality of work is institutional standard, consistent with large PE‑backed environments.”

Chief Financial Officer, managed IT services company

Tell us what you need

Tell us the decision in front of you. An acquisition, a development, a remediation process, a liquidation claim or a family office’s investment reporting.
We set out the work that answers it. The model or report we would build, and what we need from you.
The scope and fee are agreed in writing before work starts. Preparing them costs nothing and commits you to nothing.