Free payroll software in the UK, and where payslips fit

What payroll software has to do

If you run payroll yourself, GOV.UK says you need software that reports PAYE information to HMRC online, unless you're exempt. It also lists features some software lacks, so check before you choose:

• producing payslips
• recording pension deductions and making pension payments
• paying people over different periods, such as weekly and monthly
• sending an Employer Payment Summary (EPS) or Earlier Year Update (EYU)

HMRC's Basic PAYE Tools

• Free, from HMRC, for businesses with fewer than 10 employees.
• Works out tax and National Insurance and sends payroll information to HMRC.
• You must be registered as an employer and have a PAYE Online login first.
• Not designed for agents or bookkeepers.

HMRC doesn't recommend one product over another; GOV.UK lists other HMRC-recognised payroll software, some free and some paid.

Where payslips fit

Each payday, GOV.UK says to produce payslips for each employee and adds: you can use different software if yours does not have this feature. That's the gap PayDocs fills: it makes the payslip from the figures your payroll software worked out, in one of six layouts, and it can calculate PAYE and National Insurance to cross-check them.

PayDocs doesn't send Full Payment Submissions or any other report to HMRC. Keep using your payroll software for that.

Questions