Payroll is one of the most important technology platforms or functions any company runs. If your business wants a new payroll system, this blog lists all the key UK payroll providers to make your market assessment.
Viewpoint Analysis is a technology matchmaker. We help HR leaders to find and select new HR software. The following payroll systems are taken from our latest HR Technology Reference Guide - which provides the definitive list of HR software in the UK - over 90 HR systems (covering every sub-category).
What is Payroll Software?
Payroll software is a digital solution designed to automate, streamline, and manage the payroll processes of an organization. It handles tasks like calculating employee wages, managing taxes, tracking hours worked, and facilitating compliance with government regulations. These systems can be implemented in businesses of all sizes but are particularly valuable for larger enterprises that deal with more complex payroll structures.
What does Payroll Software do?
Payroll software performs a wide range of functions, automating the labor-intensive tasks traditionally handled by HR and accounting teams. The core features generally include:
Automated Salary Calculations: Payroll software automatically calculates employee wages based on inputs such as working hours, overtime, bonuses, and deductions. It ensures accuracy in both gross and net pay, reducing the risk of human error.
Tax Compliance and Filing: Payroll software typically comes equipped with tax tables and updated regulatory rules. It calculates and withholds the correct amount of taxes and helps organizations stay compliant with local, state, and federal tax requirements. Some systems even facilitate direct tax filing to government agencies.
Direct Deposits and Payments: Payroll software often integrates with banking systems to facilitate direct deposit of employee wages. This simplifies the payment process and ensures employees are paid on time.
Employee Self-Service Portals: Many systems offer a self-service portal where employees can view pay stubs, manage tax information, update personal details, and even track time and attendance. This reduces the administrative burden on HR departments.
Benefits Management: Payroll software can integrate benefits like health insurance, retirement plans, and other deductions into payroll calculations, ensuring all relevant contributions are accounted for.
Reporting and Analytics: Payroll systems generate detailed reports on payroll expenses, taxes, and employee compensation. These insights help HR and finance teams to make data-driven decisions.
Who are the key Payroll Software providers in the UK?
Here are the leading UK payroll providers for your read-up and research phase:
ActivPayoll
Activpayroll provides comprehensive global payroll services, helping businesses manage complex payroll operations across more than 150 countries. Their flagship platform, activ8, automates payroll processes, integrates with HRIS systems like Workday and UKG Pro, and ensures compliance with local tax and employment laws. The platform offers full visibility of payroll data, streamlining reporting and helping businesses maintain regulatory compliance.
ADP
ADP is one of the world’s leading HR technology names. They provide a comprehensive range of cloud-based human capital management (HCM) solutions, including payroll, HR management, time and attendance tracking, and benefits administration. The platform is designed to serve businesses of all sizes, from small companies to large enterprises, offering scalable solutions that automate payroll processing, tax compliance, and employee benefits management.
Advanced
Advanced provides a wide range of enterprise software solutions, specialising in HR, payroll, financial management, and IT services. Their HR and payroll solutions are designed to streamline processes such as employee records, time and attendance, payroll processing, and talent management. Advanced’s systems help businesses automate administrative tasks, ensure compliance with regulations, and improve reporting and analytics capabilities.
BrightPay
BrightPay is an award-winning payroll software provider catering to small and medium-sized businesses in the UK and Ireland. The software simplifies payroll tasks, offering features such as automatic enrolment for pensions, HMRC compliance.
Cezanne HR
Cezanne HR is a cloud-based Human Resource Management System (HRMS) tailored for small and mid-sized organisations. The platform offers a wide range of HR functionalities, including core HR, payroll, onboarding, absence management, performance reviews, and time tracking. Its modular structure allows businesses to select and configure the tools they need, offering flexibility as they grow.
Ciphr
Ciphr’s integrated HR, payroll, learning and recruitment software, services and content provide useful insights to HR teams, from informing their people strategy to growing and developing their organisations. Their end-to-end people management solutions include areas such as Employee Record Management, Hiring, Onboarding, Payroll (both payroll and outsourced bureau), Learning Management, and Performance Management
Dayforce
Dayforce (formerly Ceridian) is a cloud-based solution designed to streamline payroll processes for businesses of all sizes. A key feature of Dayforce is its real-time payroll processing capabilities. Unlike traditional payroll systems that run in batches or require periodic processing, Dayforce continuously calculates payroll data as changes occur—whether that’s time worked, benefits deductions, or tax adjustments.
Deel
Deel provides a comprehensive platform for managing global payroll, compliance, and hiring for remote teams. It specialises in simplifying the process of hiring international employees or contractors by handling local legal requirements, contracts, taxes, and benefits across multiple countries. Deel's platform includes features for onboarding, payroll processing, expense management, and compliance tracking, offering legal and financial infrastructure in over 150 countries.
Employment Hero
Employment Hero offers a cloud-based platform designed to streamline HR, payroll, and employee benefits, primarily targeting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The platform provides tools for managing employee records, onboarding, compliance, leave requests, performance reviews, and payroll processing. It also integrates employee benefits such as wellness programmes and financial services
Fourth
Fourth is a comprehensive software provider tailored to the hospitality, retail, and restaurant industries. Their platform offers an all-in-one solution for managing workforce scheduling, HR, payroll, and inventory. Fourth’s HR and payroll services automate essential processes like tax administration and compliance, allowing businesses to focus on operations.
Frontier Software
Frontier Software provides a comprehensive HR and payroll management system known as chris21, designed to support a wide range of HR functions. Its platform covers payroll processing, employee records, recruitment, time and attendance, and performance management. The system is highly configurable, enabling businesses to tailor it to their specific HR and payroll needs, including multi-country payroll management. Frontier Software aims to automate payroll and HR processes to improve accuracy, compliance, and reporting capabilities.
IRIS
IRIS Software Group provides a range of software solutions focused on payroll, HR management, and accounting, particularly for small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs). Their payroll software automates tax calculations, compliance, and reporting, ensuring businesses remain up to date with UK legislation. IRIS also offers HR solutions that cover employee records, performance management, and recruitment. Designed to streamline HR and payroll processes, the platform integrates with various third-party systems to offer flexibility and scalability.
MHR
MHR provides cloud-based solutions for HR, payroll, and talent management, designed to streamline workforce processes and improve operational efficiency. Its platform, iTrent, covers a wide range of functionalities, including payroll processing, employee records, recruitment, onboarding, performance management, and learning and development. MHR's solutions are particularly focused on automating HR tasks, ensuring compliance, and delivering accurate payroll services.
Natural HR (Moorepay)
Natural HR offers an all-in-one cloud-based HR and payroll platform designed for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The platform covers key HR functions such as employee records, performance management, recruitment, onboarding, and absence management. Natural HR also provides integrated payroll services, automating calculations, compliance, and payslip distribution.
Oracle / Peoplesoft
Oracle / Peoplesoft is a comprehensive human capital management platform designed to streamline HR processes across the entire employee lifecycle. The platform offers solutions for global HR, payroll, talent acquisition, learning, performance management, and workforce planning.
Papaya
Papaya Global offers a cloud-based platform focused on global payroll, workforce management, and compliance. It simplifies the complexities of managing international payroll across multiple countries by automating payroll processing, tax compliance, and benefits administration. The platform also supports hiring, onboarding, and managing both full-time employees and contractors globally.
Personio
Personio offers a cloud-based HR management and payroll platform tailored for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The platform covers a range of HR functions, including recruitment, onboarding, employee records, absence management, and performance tracking. Personio also automates payroll processing, ensuring compliance with local regulations.
Remote
Remote is an all-in-one HR platform designed to support businesses managing global teams. It offers services such as payroll, contractor management, and full HR management, ensuring compliance with local laws across more than 200 countries. The platform centralises employee data, legal documents, and contracts, streamlining HR processes for distributed teams.
Rippling
Rippling provides a unified platform that combines HR, IT, and payroll management, automating key administrative processes for businesses. The platform allows companies to manage employee data, onboard new hires, run payroll, and administer benefits, all from a single system.
Sage
Sage offers a suite of cloud-based solutions focusing on accounting, payroll, and human resource management, particularly aimed at small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Its HR and payroll platform automates key tasks such as employee record management, payroll processing, tax compliance, and benefits administration
SAP SuccessFactors
SAP SuccessFactors is a cloud-based human capital management (HCM) suite designed to manage the entire employee lifecycle. The platform offers solutions for core HR processes, including employee records, payroll, benefits, talent acquisition, onboarding, performance management, learning, and succession planning. SuccessFactors provides advanced analytics and AI-driven insights to help organisations make data-informed decisions regarding workforce planning, talent development, and employee engagement. It supports multi-country payroll and compliance needs, making it suitable for large global enterprises.
SD Worx
SD Worx offers a comprehensive suite of cloud-based HR and payroll solutions for businesses of all sizes, ranging from small enterprises to global corporations. Their platform covers essential HR functions such as payroll, workforce management, recruitment, and talent management. SD Worx specialises in providing scalable, integrated solutions that streamline the employee lifecycle—from onboarding to time management and payroll processing.
UKG
UKG provides comprehensive human capital management (HCM) and workforce management solutions, combining the expertise of Kronos and Ultimate Software. Its cloud-based platform supports core HR functions such as payroll, talent management, workforce scheduling, time and attendance tracking, and employee engagement.
Workday
Workday offers a cloud-based platform that integrates human capital management (HCM), financial management, and enterprise resource planning (ERP). The platform provides a comprehensive suite of tools for HR functions such as payroll, recruitment, performance management, time tracking, talent management, and employee engagement.
Zellis
Zellis provides HR and payroll software solutions, focusing on large organisations and businesses across the UK and Ireland. The platform offers a comprehensive suite of services, including payroll processing, HR administration, time and attendance management, and talent management. Zellis is designed to help organisations manage complex payroll needs, ensure compliance with local labour laws, and streamline HR operations.
How does Payroll Software work with other company applications?
Payroll software rarely operates in isolation within an enterprise environment. It typically integrates with several other systems to ensure seamless operation across various functions. Key integrations include:
Human Resource Management Systems (HRMS): Payroll software is often part of a broader HRMS suite, which handles employee data, benefits administration, and performance management. This integration ensures a smooth flow of employee information between systems, reducing duplicate data entry and errors.
Accounting and ERP Systems: For accurate financial reporting, payroll software integrates with accounting and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. This allows payroll data to be included in financial statements and audits, ensuring accurate tracking of expenses and budgeting.
Time and Attendance Systems: Many payroll solutions integrate with time-tracking software to automate wage calculations based on the hours employees worked. This is especially useful for industries that require hourly wage calculations and overtime tracking.
Compliance Management Systems: Integration with compliance tools helps ensure that payroll software remains up-to-date with the latest labor laws and tax regulations, minimizing the risk of penalties for non-compliance.
How to find and select a new payroll provider
As the list above demonstrates, there are several payroll providers working in the UK market. The best way to find and select a new payroll provider is to break the process into two specific parts.
First is the initial market assessment - also known as a 'long list'. The key thing here is to quickly write up the requirements and take this to the suppliers. If you have not done this before, take a look at our HR Technology Matchmaker Service for a great starting point. The Matchmaker Service is all about quickly going from a long list of payroll providers to a shortlist, and doing this through a 'problem statement' approach.
Second is the RFP - or as we prefer, a RAPID RFP. This is where we go from a shortlist of options to the preferred vendor. Companies spend too much time on this and tend to overcomplicate the process. Take a look at our Rapid RFP template or our Rapid RFP service for more information about how to go through this stage as quickly as possible.
Are we missing any payroll options?
We update this blog on a regular basis so please let us know if we are missing any key payroll vendors that you think really should be on this list.
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