Can any of you give me your thoughts on what payroll software is best? Reliability, ease of use, and value for money?

For a practice running a few payrolls?

Ta
=============
Hi

Payroll Manager from Moneysoft is very easy to use and delivers great value for money!

Best Regards

Fixed Price Accountant
=============
For one of the cheapest options, try the HMRC CD-Rom. It doesn't do payslips, which is the only reason I'm not using it, but it's simple, and really straight-forward. It does your P11s, monthly reporting, and end-of-year.

I'm also just trialling 12Pay, which is also a free program. It too seems very straight-forward, and it does produce payslips, which I think you can customise to a degree. If you like it, you can upgrade to the paid version (12Pay Premium), which is just ?8 per year. It provides extra reporting than the free version, as far as I can see, but I can't be specific, because I haven't looked at that yet.

On 12Pay, you also have greater flexibility than with the HMRC CD-Rom regarding additional payments. With HMRC you can only enter a gross weekly or monthly pay. With 12Pay you can show additional payments, like overtime, extra allowances, etc.

The more expensive packages (Iris, Sage, and I should think most of the others) are far more involved, but also take a lot more getting used to. I suppose it depends on your requirements. For a simple payroll, I'd go for a simple package.

MoK
=============
Hi

I agree, Moneysofts Payroll Manager is great. I use it as well and have found it excellent value for money.

You can find more info on their website www.moneysoft.co.uk (http://www.moneysoft.co.uk)

Regards
Wayne
=============
The HMRC CR-Rom is excellent but as has been pointed out, can't print wage slips ..... I personally use Sage Payroll, because it intergrates with the Sage Line 50.

I'm sure plenty of people will have their preferences, but more variety = more choice :)
=============
Payroll is quite balck and white, you either get it right or you get it wrong, there is no quality factor involved. We use quickbooks but I would suggest you use the one that you personally feel most comfortable with. Remember cheap options do not have the functionality that you will require if you are preparing payrolls on behalf of clients. Even though you say you only have a few, you can bet sooner or later someone will go on maternity / paternity leave, work variable overtime rates / bank holidays etc etc. also best to make sure that you can file online as clients will get a bit racked off if they miss out on their incentives.

Regards
=============
I agree that the HMRC free of charge CD is great for small businesses and doing your end of year PAYE forms.
For a company with just a few employees you could easily design your own payslip on word/excel, save the template and amend each month.
It's just a record of what is paid - it doesn't have to be a design classic.
=============
The OP was asking about payroll software for their practice and running client payrolls, as good as the HMRC software is, it is not appropriate for running client payrolls.

Regards
=============
I have to disagree, Phil. It depends on the client, and the complexity of his pay.

I ran it for almost 3 years for a client with 11 (7 weekly paid, 4 monthly), and created the payslips myself.

MoK
=============
as good as the HMRC software is, it is not appropriate for running client payrolls.
Regards

Seems it's very appropriate for running client payrolls...and it's free of charge! :)
=============
Seems it's very appropriate for running client payrolls...and it's free of charge! :)

Trust me, its not appropriate :D
=============
Can any of you give me your thoughts on what payroll software is best? Reliability, ease of use, and value for money?

Ta

DIY Accounting payroll software is written on spreadsheets, easy to use, complete the paye administration, produce payslips with packages for up to 20 employees.
=============
Payroll Manager here too.

We trailed Sage Payroll but Sage are just too greedy and want far too much money per year for it. When I questioned the costs they said it was because it had to be updated every year, sometimes more. I pointed out that my antivirus was updated twice a day and only cost ?0 not close to ?00. Sage have good software but their prices are a rip off in my opinion.

Payroll Manager is excellent and so easy to use, it literally takes a minute to fill in our 6 employee's wage details and print out the payslips. Give it a try I think they have a 30 day download.
=============
Another vote for 12pay.co.uk from me = fab :)

excellent support
multi company
easy to change from weekly to monthly payroll
no need for special stationery
=============
Payroll is quite balck and white, you either get it right or you get it wrong, there is no quality factor involved. We use quickbooks but I would suggest you use the one that you personally feel most comfortable with. Remember cheap options do not have the functionality that you will require if you are preparing payrolls on behalf of clients. Even though you say you only have a few, you can bet sooner or later someone will go on maternity / paternity leave, work variable overtime rates / bank holidays etc etc. also best to make sure that you can file online as clients will get a bit racked off if they miss out on their incentives.

Regards

The HMRC CD may not do those things as well as it could, indeed it would fail HMRC's own accreditation tests due to its lack of functionality, but there are cheap/free accredited commercial alternatives which do them just as well as (better than?) the expensive packages like Sage and Iris.
=============
Reply to Phil...
Why? That is what I am using at the moment. I think that as long as you know what youa re doing (i.e. could calculate it manually) there is nothing wrong with it. As I am doing more payrolls now though I was just looking into some software to save time.
=============
The OP was asking about payroll software for their practice and running client payrolls, as good as the HMRC software is, it is not appropriate for running client payrolls.

Regards

I've used the HMRC CD Rom for 4 years with no complaints. I've not had to do huge payroll runs but for small ones it's just fine.
They failed to send me a CD in time, which is what led me to downloading 12Pay. I'm now a convert and highly recommend it.
I wouldn't bother with Sage - too expensive and there are other programs which will do what you need for a much more attractive price.
=============
Thanks Jenni. I too have used it for a while for a number of small payrolls just fine. I might download this 12 pay programme though and have a look. Thanks.
=============
Reply to Phil...
Why? That is what I am using at the moment. I think that as long as you know what youa re doing (i.e. could calculate it manually) there is nothing wrong with it. As I am doing more payrolls now though I was just looking into some software to save time.

You have answered your own question, if you are preparing payrolls as a commercial venture then time and ease of use is everything, if a competent staff memebr can run 80 payrolls a day using purchased software, but only 40 a day using the free HMRC software, then the small investment is very worthwhile. My comments were directed at the HMRC software which in my opinion is not very good for volume payrolls.

Regards
=============
I've posted in this thread before, but I've moved along a little since then ....... the more I'm trialling 12Pay, the more I like it.

It's so easy, so uncomplicated. Every now and again I pinch myself because I'm stunned at how such a simple-to-use package can actually do so much. As far as I can see, everything I might need.

Additionally, the on-line forum help is well beyond any I've had before. Post your question, and a response appears within minutes.

Previously I used MYOB, which was sort of ok, but whenever I've called the helpline, I've found the help 'patchy'. I didn't always have the sense I was talking to someone who really knew the product, and on more than one occasion actually had to sit and work a solution for myself.

I'm still trialling the free version of 12Pay, and am almsot sure I will go to the Premium shortly. I intend to use it for clients, but the free version, although slightly more restricted that the Premium, still delivers an incredibly good product.

And no, I'm not on commission. I just love it!

MoK
=============
*Clicks the 12pay.co.uk link that everyone is raving about :D

I need a payroll package that can cater for 30+ employees who will be paid on a weekly basis. I'm a new start up supplying seasonal workers to farms in Kent.
=============