Invercargill City Council, located near the southern tip of New Zealand’s South Island is the local authority responsible for delivering essential services to the Invercargill community, supported by a diverse workforce and a range of employment arrangements that make payroll and human resources a critical part of day-to-day operations. In July 2026, the Council completed the implementation and go-live of TechnologyOne Human Resources and Payroll, processing its first live payroll through the new cloud-based platform. The new system matters because it gives the Council a supported, integrated foundation for payroll and HR after years of relying on legacy systems, manual workarounds and separate applications. Invercargill engaged Atturra to help deliver the transition as part of its wider Our Council Programme.
Fast Facts
- First live payroll processed for approximately 550 employees in July 2026.
- TechnologyOne Human Resources and Payroll replaced legacy payroll and HR systems.
- The work forms part of the Council’s wider Our Council Programme.
- An early go-live at Invercargill Airport helped validate the phased rollout.
- Extensive testing, planning and collaboration protected payroll accuracy and continuity.
Business Opportunity
Councils rely on payroll to run accurately every pay cycle, but Invercargill City Council was managing that function through a mix of legacy systems, manual processes, workarounds and separate applications. As the systems aged, they became harder to support and limited the Council’s ability to improve business processes and reporting. That created pressure not only on payroll operations, but also on the wider HR function that depends on stable, integrated information.
The need for change was sharpened by the broader Our Council Programme, which was created to modernise core business systems after many years of limited investment in enterprise technology. For an organisation with a diverse workforce, multiple employment arrangements and complex payroll rules, continuing with disconnected platforms carried operational risk. Invercargill also needed to protect business continuity while moving to a new platform, which meant the transition had to be planned carefully and tested thoroughly.
External support mattered because this was not simply a system replacement. It was a multi-year change initiative that required coordination across the Council’s functions, careful sequencing and close attention to payroll accuracy. The timing was important because the old environment had reached the point where the cost of maintaining it was constraining progress, while the new platform needed to be in place to support the organisation’s wider digital roadmap.
Solution
Atturra worked with Invercargill City Council through the TechnologyOne payroll implementation as part of the wider Our Council Programme, supporting the project from initiation in early 2024 through to planning, design, configuration, testing, training and deployment before the July 2026 go-live. The work was delivered with a clear focus on maintaining payroll accuracy and business continuity throughout the transition.
A phased approach helped de-risk the move. One of the key milestones was the early go-live at Invercargill Airport in February 2026, which gave the team a smaller target user base to validate the approach and better understand the scale and complexity of the full organisation migration. From there, the project team continued to refine the implementation through additional testing and collaborative problem-solving as scope, integration and delivery complexity emerged.
Council staff played an important role throughout the journey. Payroll, Human Resources, Information Services, business representatives and subject matter experts invested significant time in design, testing, validation, training and change activities so the organisation would be ready for the transition. That collaboration was central to the project’s success, because payroll systems affect every employee and leave little room for error.
The work was supported by strengthened governance and a shared focus on getting the fundamentals right before go-live. By the time the first live payroll was processed, the Council had a modern cloud-based platform in place and a clearer path for ongoing optimisation and future improvements across payroll and HR.
Client Quote
“Successfully implementing a new payroll platform is one of the most significant technology milestones an organisation can achieve because every employee depends on it operating accurately and reliably. The achievement of our first live payroll reflects the commitment of our Payroll, People and Culture, Information Services and Project teams, together with the support of Atturra, our implementation partner.”
Michael Day, CEO Invercargill City Council
Outcomes Achieved
The most immediate outcome is that Invercargill City Council successfully processed its first live payroll on the new TechnologyOne platform, confirming that a critical business function could move off legacy systems and into a supported cloud environment. That change gives the Council a stronger operational foundation for payroll and human resources, while also improving integration between the two functions.
The project also reduced the Council’s dependence on manual processes, workarounds and disconnected applications that had become harder to sustain over time. With a modern platform in place, Invercargill is better positioned to improve reporting, streamline processes and continue embedding new ways of working as optimisation continues. The successful go-live also reflects a practical uplift in capability across the internal teams who contributed to design, testing, validation, training and change activities.
From a risk perspective, the careful planning, additional testing and phased rollout helped protect payroll accuracy and business continuity through a complex transition. That mattered because payroll is one of the Council’s most important business functions and every employee depends on it operating reliably. The result is a more stable environment today, with a clearer path for future enhancement as Council progresses its broader digital transformation programme.
Technology
- TechnologyOne Human Resources and Payroll
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