Best Payroll Software/Company for Small Business

[Paige_M]

Good Morning,

We are currently starting a new business, at the moment it is only 2 of us who needs to go on the books with the hope of that number growing. I was just wondering, what would be the best Payroll Software for something this small? And if it could be easy to use, that would be amazing haha

Thank You,

Paige

 

[Newchodge]

Moneysoft Payroll Manager is pretty good.

 

[Paige_M]

Moneysoft Payroll Manager is pretty good.

I did look at that, but then the reviews weren't great so it concerned me. Have you used it yourself? If so, what were your thoughts?

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

Good Morning,

We are currently starting a new business, at the moment it is only 2 of us who needs to go on the books with the hope of that number growing. I was just wondering, what would be the best Payroll Software for something this small? And if it could be easy to use, that would be amazing haha

Thank You,

Paige

Hi Paige

I've used MoneySoft for many years and am a very happy user of the software. It works well. I use it for my firms payroll and clients payroll. In fact just renewed the licence yesterday.

With 2 employees you may find it's cheaper to ask your accountant to run your payroll for you rather than buy the software, learn to use it and have to spend time processing the payroll.

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

I did look at that, but then the reviews weren't great so it concerned me. Have you used it yourself? If so, what were your thoughts?

I really would take absolutely no notice of TrustPilot reviews if that was the reviews you were refering to.

I freely accept I have a slightly tainted view of TrustPilot.

I have no connection to MoneySoft by the way apart from being a very happy customer.

 

[Newchodge]

I did look at that, but then the reviews weren't great so it concerned me. Have you used it yourself? If so, what were your thoughts?

I used it for many years to provide payrill for my clients. I decided to move to Brightpay 2 years ago, but I am actually considering moving back to Moneysoft.

As has been suggested, you may find it more straightforward to outsource this - I would get more than 1 quote though, from your own accountant and from payroll providers.

 

[LPB 123]

HMRC's Basic Tools is free and easy to use.

 

[Newchodge]

HMRC's Basic Tools is free and easy to use.

But, as the name implies, Basic.

 

[PCD]

HMRC's Basic PAYE Tools is ok for a simple payroll paying basic salaries to directors (and their spouses) but I would not use it for a payroll with other employees. I have used it in the past but now use Moneysoft Payroll Manager for the few payrolls I do.

 

[LPB 123]

HMRC's Basic PAYE Tools is ok for a simple payroll paying basic salaries to directors (and their spouses) but I would not use it for a payroll with other employees. I have used it in the past but now use Moneysoft Payroll Manager for the few payrolls I do.

This is our setup, Director and spouse only. We're looking at hiring our first other employee in the near future, I was just going to continue to use HMRC free software as I thought the only limitation was that you could only have 10 employees.

What are the issues with basic tools and what are the limitations other than the employee limit?

 

[PCD]

I only used it for the basic monthly payrolls for directors (apart for when an Earlier Year Update was required for a client whose software did not allow EYUs) so am not aware of the full limitations, other than its reputation. It is however slower to use than other payroll software and it didn't produce payslips for employees until 3 or 4 years ago and even then they didn't look good. I believe that a lot of the issues with Basic PAYE Tools arise when you need to apply auto enrolment and report the figures to the pension company, or if you need to pay SSP or SMP. I expect there is also more effort required on Basic PAYE Tools if paying an hourly rate rather than a monthly salary.

 

[LPB 123]

I only used it for the basic monthly payrolls for directors (apart for when an Earlier Year Update was required for a client whose software did not allow EYUs) so am not aware of the full limitations, other than its reputation. It is however slower to use than other payroll software and it didn't produce payslips for employees until 3 or 4 years ago and even then they didn't look good. I believe that a lot of the issues with Basic PAYE Tools arise when you need to apply auto enrolment and report the figures to the pension company, or if you need to pay SSP or SMP. I expect there is also more effort required on Basic PAYE Tools if paying an hourly rate rather than a monthly salary.

Thanks I appreciate your feedback, looks like we should move over to a new system before we start hiring externally to make things easier.

 

[scstock]

HMRC's Basic Tools is free and easy to use.

Does it support Automatic Enrolment Pensions yet?

 

[MrGerbil]

I am a sole practitioner chartered accountant. I, like many accountants, use Brightpay, which is by far the best payroll software I have ever used.

 

[scstock]

I am a sole practitioner chartered accountant. I, like many accountants, use Brightpay, which is by far the best payroll software I have ever used.

That looks really good, and same price for me as Payroo.

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

I am a sole practitioner chartered accountant. I, like many accountants, use Brightpay, which is by far the best payroll software I have ever used.

I've looked at Brightpay a few times but like and use MoneySoft which is also very well respected and used by many accountants.

Genuinely interested what makes you feel Brightpay is better than Moneysoft?

 

[MrGerbil]

I've looked at Brightpay a few times but like and use MoneySoft which is also very well respected and used by many accountants.

Genuinely interested what makes you feel Brightpay is better than Moneysoft?

I've never used Moneysoft, so I can't judge it.

 

[Rob-Ed]

+1 for Basic PAYE Tools. It's free and does pretty much everything you'd need to do for a 'two man band'. You're going to have a lot of unavoidable expenses so start small and upgrade if you NEED to.

As an aside; your life will be far easier if you don't take on employees. Keep it in the family as long as you can.
Just my 2p's worth..

 

[Rob-Ed]

Does it support Automatic Enrolment Pensions yet?

You can manually enter employee pension contribs when adding an employee payment and BPT will work out Tax/NI and net wages but you'd have to get the employee contribs figures from your pension scheme provider, they'll no doubt have a mechanism to assess employees and work out monthly contribs. I've done it this way for several years without any difficulty.

 

[scstock]

You can manually enter employee pension contribs when adding an employee payment and BPT will work out Tax/NI and net wages but you'd have to get the employee contribs figures from your pension scheme provider, they'll no doubt have a mechanism to assess employees and work out monthly contribs. I've done it this way for several years without any difficulty.

Ah - this is why I had to switch to Payroo.

 

[Nicola78]

I recommend you top 5 payroll software you can choose anyone from these five.

1. Gusto.
2. Workful.
3. OnPay.
4. ADP.
5. Payroll4Free.

 

[Stuart2022]

I would certainly recommend MONEYSOFT, and agree with other comments below. It is much cheaper, more flexible, very simple to use and they are ultra quick with updates as required to keep up with tax legislation. The programme is foolproof and you cannot go wrong unlike the bloatware produced by sage.

The only one downside that I can see is you cannot export data directly into any general accounting programme, but that is no real hardship.

 

[baskus64]

Moonworkers is pretty good when dealing with casual workers' payroll as it automates rota scheduling and holiday pay.

 

[carleys]

For small businesses, we'd recommend FreeAgent - but HMRC's basic tools are also a good alternative if you want to keep everything in-house.

 

[Newchodge]

Given that the query was raised well over a year ago, I expect they have a fix by now.