Meet the Founder
Payroll specialist, business support, Sunshine Coast based, working with small businesses across Australia.
Hi, I’m Amanda
HOW IT ALL BEGAN.
I spent over fifteen years in payroll before I started this business. Government, aged care, healthcare, not-for-profit, hospitality and mining to name a few. Payrolls of a few dozen people, and payrolls of more than ten thousand.
My first role out of high school was with Telstra, typing as fast as I could talk and ranking in the top 3% of order issuers nationally. Medibank Private came next, which is where the customer service foundation really got built. I made the move into HR with a not for profit, doing mountains of dictaphone typing for the HR manager, mostly disciplinary files, before I heeded the SOS from their pay office and as the saying goes, “the rest is history”.
Travelling was my passion in my early 20’s, so I stepped into payroll contract roles, cleaned them up, left a set of procedure manuals behind, and went overseas. Europe, South East Asia, the Middle East, and a couple of years living and working across Canada.
By 2013, I was in my first senior payroll position, doing system configuration, award updates and helping to lead the team in the heavy duty world of not-for-profits. Still my favourite job, and my favourite manager. She taught me everything I know about Aurion and Kronos. Five years later I got poached and was a Payroll Specialist, sitting outside of the processing team altogether, working out why the HRIS systems weren't talking to each other properly. This spoke to my Virgo DNA. I love data analysis, there I said it.
Somewhere along the way, I figured out that the part most people find tedious is the part I am really good at. Setting the systems up properly. Finding the step that gets done four times when it only needs to be done once. Building the “thing” that stops the same error happening every fortnight.
I started Simply Secretarial in April 2025, to help small businesses that need payroll and administration done properly, but don't need someone five days a week. I’m remote, based at home, able to service businesses locally from the Sunshine Coast, as well as Australia wide. I built this business around my son, which is why I work school hours. What I do with those hours is help small businesses run better than they did before.
ABOUT ME
ABOUT ME
YOU SHOULD
PROBABLY KNOW
I work school hours, Monday to Friday, roughly 9:30 to 2:30. It's a smaller window than a full-time hire, but it's focused time, and you'll always know when things are getting done.
01
I handle the payroll itself, the award interpretation, the system setup and the checking. Your BAS, STP lodgement and tax stay with your accountant or registered agent, where they belong.
02
I'll probably suggest a better way of doing something. Most payrolls have a step in them that's only there because someone did it that way years ago. Happy to run things exactly as they are, but I'll usually have an idea or two.
03
I'm a proud member of the VA Lead Network — Australia's leading community connecting businesses with verified, professional virtual assistants and online business managers. It reflects my commitment to operating at a high professional standard within the Australian VA industry.
FUN FACTS
ABOUT ME
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I steal your admin nightmares so you can log off and pour a wine.
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Yes, I genuinely get a thrill from spotting broken links.
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I've talked my way through an Italian hospital with hand gestures. Your admin backlog doesn't stand a chance.
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I can't start my day without a cup of freshly brewed artisanal coffee.
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The absolute 'why' behind Simply Secretarial.
Sunshine Coast based, working Australia-wide
Most of what I do happens behind the scenes — invoices, payroll, emails, the systems that keep your business running. None of that needs me in the room.
But for new clients on the Sunshine Coast, I'm happy to meet in person to get started. A coffee somewhere, or at your practice if that's easier. Onboarding goes faster when you've sat across from the person you're handing your business to, and I'd rather spend an hour with you upfront than three weeks emailing back and forth.
Everywhere else in Australia, we'll do it over video. Same outcome, just different setting.
