Is Deputy profitable in 2024?

Yes but declining. Deputy's FY24 statutory profit fell 68% to A$2.7M from A$8.5M in FY23, as the company ramped hiring of senior executives and engineers, according to AFR reporting dated 2024-11-06.

Who owns Deputy the scheduling company?

Deputy is privately held, controlled by founders and VCs including OpenView and IVP, with minority strategic stakes from Xero (US$25M, April 2024) and Express Employment Professionals (A$37M, March 2024), which pushed its valuation past US$1.1B.

Could AI replace Deputy's scheduling software?

Unlikely outright. Deputy owns 18 years of proprietary shift and compliance data, deep payroll integrations with Xero and Paycor, and jurisdiction-specific labor-law logic; it is instead layering AI (Deputy AI on AWS Bedrock, launched 2025-11-28) onto that moat rather than being replaced by it.

Yes. Deputy became Australia's first new tech unicorn in two years after an A$37M corporate investment from Express Employment Professionals in March 2024 pushed its valuation to just over US$1.1 billion, per AFR reporting dated 2024-03-18.

Who is Deputy's biggest competitor?

In shift-scheduling SMB software, rivals include When I Work, 7shifts, Homebase, and Toast-owned Sling; the bigger long-term threat is Rippling, a well-funded HR platform expanding into adjacent HR categories, though it has not yet shipped a dedicated hourly shift-worker product as of 2026-07-22.

What is Deputy's US payroll strategy?

Deputy launched U.S. Payroll enabled by Paycor on 2026-03-02, unifying time tracking, compliance, and payroll for shift-based businesses and claiming up to 50% faster processing time, gaining distribution through Paycor's SMB employer network.

Job boards and HR platforms · Australia

Deputy

deputy.com ↗

Deputy makes shift scheduling and workforce management software for hourly and shift-based workers.

Defensible for now

Assessed 22 July 2026 · Evidence as of 22 July 2026

Real protection, with named pressure against it.

On the recordSince 22 July 2026 · Checkable from through Q1 2027 · Every call on the record Checkpoint: First four quarters of US payroll adoption via Paycor partnership

The call

Deputy holds a strong SMB scheduling position built on years of compliance data and payroll ties, now testing whether that holds up as it pushes into the more crowded, higher stakes payroll business.

Deputy sells shift-scheduling and workforce management software to small businesses and restaurants. It is hard to copy because it has built up 18 years of rules for different countries and regions, locks customers in through integrations with payroll systems like Xero and Paycor, and reaches customers through partnerships that bigger software makers have not built. The big risk is that Deputy is now moving into payroll starting in 2025 and 2026, which is a much more crowded and competitive market where companies like Gusto and ADP already dominate and where Deputy's advantage in shift-scheduling does not protect it as much.

Why

AI pressure: Generic AI scheduling tools. Rule based roster building is automatable, but Deputy is folding AI into its own product rather than being replaced by it, so far. Could AI do the core job? Only partly.

Bigger players: Rippling. Rippling has not shipped a workforce management product for hourly shift workers, but its HR platform reach makes it the most plausible future entrant. Could a giant copy it? Probably.

What protects it. 18 years of shift and compliance data plus deep payroll integrations with Xero and Paycor that competitors cannot easily replicate.

What would change this call

Rippling launches a scheduling/workforce-management product aimed at hourly SMB shift workers. Would turn a hypothetical threat into a real competitor for Deputy's core niche.
Deputy's FY26 Australian financial filing (usually released around November) shows profit or loss trend. Reveals whether AI and payroll investment is paying off or still eroding margins.
Reports on US Payroll adoption via the Paycor partnership in the quarters after its March 2026 launch. Shows whether Deputy's move into the higher-stakes payroll market is gaining traction or stalling.

Key numbers

FY24 profit fell 68% to A$2.7M (2024)
Valued at US$1.1B after March 2024 raise (2024-03-18)
330,000 workplaces, 1.3M shift workers served (2023-02)

Named risks

US Payroll expansion (March 2026) enters a crowded, higher-stakes category where SMB moat is weaker. Severity: high
Profit volatility, FY24 profit fell 68% to A$2.7M amid aggressive hiring. Severity: medium
Rippling or another well-funded HR platform could ship a competing shift-worker product. Severity: medium
Deputy AI still in beta with functional limits, capped at ~150 shifts per request as of mid-2026. Severity: low
No disclosed litigation or breach history found, but this is a research gap not a clean-record confirmation. Severity: low

Rivals, as read in July 2026

Rival	Direction	Evidence
Rippling	contesting	Well-funded HR platform expanding into adjacencies but no dedicated hourly/shift-worker product shipped as of 2026-07-22
Toast / Sling	contesting	Restaurant-vertical scheduling competitor, materialized threat limited to hospitality niche
UKG / Workday / ADP	gaining on	Larger HCM suites cited alongside Deputy in buyer guides but structurally weaker at SMB shift-work economics, 2026
Xero (Planday)	gaining on	Xero retired its own Planday rostering product in Australia in favor of Deputy, 2024-04-29
Gusto / ADP (US payroll)	contesting	Deputy entered crowded US payroll market via Paycor partnership, launched 2026-03-02, adoption unproven

Questions people ask

Is Deputy profitable in 2024?: Yes but declining. Deputy's FY24 statutory profit fell 68% to A$2.7M from A$8.5M in FY23, as the company ramped hiring of senior executives and engineers, according to AFR reporting dated 2024-11-06.
Who owns Deputy the scheduling company?: Deputy is privately held, controlled by founders and VCs including OpenView and IVP, with minority strategic stakes from Xero (US$25M, April 2024) and Express Employment Professionals (A$37M, March 2024), which pushed its valuation past US$1.1B.
Could AI replace Deputy's scheduling software?: Unlikely outright. Deputy owns 18 years of proprietary shift and compliance data, deep payroll integrations with Xero and Paycor, and jurisdiction-specific labor-law logic; it is instead layering AI (Deputy AI on AWS Bedrock, launched 2025-11-28) onto that moat rather than being replaced by it.
Is Deputy a unicorn?: Yes. Deputy became Australia's first new tech unicorn in two years after an A$37M corporate investment from Express Employment Professionals in March 2024 pushed its valuation to just over US$1.1 billion, per AFR reporting dated 2024-03-18.
Who is Deputy's biggest competitor?: In shift-scheduling SMB software, rivals include When I Work, 7shifts, Homebase, and Toast-owned Sling; the bigger long-term threat is Rippling, a well-funded HR platform expanding into adjacent HR categories, though it has not yet shipped a dedicated hourly shift-worker product as of 2026-07-22.
What is Deputy's US payroll strategy?: Deputy launched U.S. Payroll enabled by Paycor on 2026-03-02, unifying time tracking, compliance, and payroll for shift-based businesses and claiming up to 50% faster processing time, gaining distribution through Paycor's SMB employer network.

Timeline

2026-03-02Deputy launches U.S. Payroll with Paycor, claims up to 50% faster processing
2025-11-28Deputy AI agentic assistant launches in beta on AWS Bedrock
2025-06-24Deputy announces exclusive global AI partnership with Predelo
2025-06-02Deputy launches Payroll in Australia, claims up to 80% faster processing
2024-04-29Xero invests US$25M in Deputy, retires own Planday product in Australia
2024-03-18A$37M investment from Express Employment Professionals values Deputy at US$1.1B
2023-02-10Deputy announces it passed US$100M in annual recurring revenue
2023-02-07Silvija Martincevic appointed CEO, Ashik Ahmed moves to Board
2018-11Deputy closes ~US$81M Series B led by IVP and OpenView
2008Deputy founded in Sydney by Ashik Ahmed and Steve Shelley

Revision history

22 July 2026

First assessed. Defensible for now. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.

In the same band

freee K.K.UKG (Ultimate Kronos Group)The Predictive Index