Top 7 Cloud-Based Payroll Software Solutions

With several HMRC deadlines coming up in July, it pays to have solutions that help you meet them. Cloud-based payroll software allows you to securely manage your employees’ data and comply to current legislation – and since it runs online, you’re not dependent on a specific computer or location to do these.

For our money, Iris Staffology is the best cloud-based payroll system out there. Its hands-on training, convenient mobile app, and highly-secure data processing made it shine in our deep-dive research into this field. Its HR integration also allows for small businesses to combine these two services while saving money.

That said, we were also impressed with six other providers in our analysis – one of which might serve you better depending on your needs. To know more about Iris Staffology or any of our other top picks, just head to our list below.

Prices correct as of May 2023

1. Iris Staffology: Best cloud-based payroll software overall

Iris Staffology’s key features

• Comprehensive, feature-rich system
• Deep-dive reporting
• Unlimited users, employees and companies
• Mobile app

How does Iris Staffology compare to its competitors?

In an industry that largely operates on a quoted basis, Iris Staffology’s pricing is very straightforward, which is incredibly useful for small businesses with a limited budget and wanting to move forward fast, without going through a demo request (though the provider also offers this). This makes Iris Staffology more transparent than Frontier and Moorepay, which only provide pricing through a requested quote, and helped it shine brighter among the providers our experts tested.

It packs more accounting and HR integrations than any of the providers we researched (seven and five, respectively) – which allows it to work alongside more programs than ADP (three and three) or MHR (one and three). This benefits businesses owners who want to keep their current accounting or HR software and integrate them with Iris Staffology.

Iris Staffology’s pricing

• Base price: £10 per month
• Payslip fee for companies with up to 20 employees: £2 per month each
• Payslip fee for companies with 21 to 50 employees: £1.75 per month each
• Payslip fee for companies with 51 or more employees: quote-based

2. ADP: Best for security

ADP’s key features

• Sells HR, recruitment, benefits management and learning management solutions
• Provides CIPP-accredited expert payroll advice
• Mobile app
• Efficient time and attendance features

How does ADP compare to its competitors?

ADP is a payroll provider big on security, attested by its ISO 27001 certification (something Qualitas Payroll Service doesn’t have) and its efficient data encrypting. Also, unlike Advanced, it wasn’t hit by any data breaches in the last two years.

Like Iris Staffology, ADP can be combined with several other types of software so you can run many strands of your company together. However, unlike this competitor, it does so through natively-developed platforms, not third-party ones. This is crucial for businesses keen on keeping the number of their suppliers low, thereby saving money.

Finally, through its time and attendance feature, it’s particularly suited to companies with rotating shifts, which can use ADP as a clock-in system.

ADP’s pricing

Bespoke pricing.

3. MHR: Best for reporting

MHR’s key features

• Packs a highly-detailed reporting platform
• Offers educational material
• Provides CIPP-accredited expert payroll advice
• Mobile app

How does MHR compare to its competitors?

In iTrent, MHR has one of the most detailed report-generating on the market. In our testing, we used it to track KPIs, assess risks, establish costs, and produce legislative reports and it excelled in all those tasks, with the bonus that you can action them through the same platform. Due to its sheer breadth, this makes MHR more suited to large businesses, as such deep reporting prowess is likely to be lost in smaller organisations.

Unfortunately, MHR is very light on the accounting and HR integrations: it packs only one and three, respectively – way less than Iris Staffology (seven and five). This is bad news for business owners who want to coordinate payroll with these related activities. For its part, however, MHR makes it easy for payroll data to be shared with different systems, which mitigates the lack of integration to some degree.

MHR’s pricing

Bespoke pricing.

4. Frontier: Best for international businesses

Frontier’s key features

• Mobile app
• Native HR software
• Allows for payment of international employees
• Provides payroll changes report

How does Frontier compare to its competitors?

Frontier allows payment of international employees – a must if you have staff across different countries. Among the providers we tested, Frontier shares this feature with Iris Staffology and ADP and beats Advanced and Moorepay on that front, since they don’t have it.

On the other hand, like Advanced, Frontier doesn’t provide an open API, dealing a killer blow to business owners hoping to integrate with their own HR and accounting software. For those, ADP will be a better choice. Also, like MHR, it doesn’t offer advice on how to stay compliant with payroll laws.

Frontier’s pricing

Bespoke pricing.

5. Advanced: Best for training

Advanced’s key features

• Pensions auto enrolment software as standard
• In-depth reporting
• Easy integration with other Advanced business software products
• Dedicated support centre with 300 staff

How does Advanced compares to its competitors?

Advanced’s training prowess makes it great if you’re running a small accounting team. In that regard, it beats Moorepay by having a live training feature. However,  in our deep analysis, we found Iris Staffology also offers this.

Advanced provides integrations with its native suite of other applications, like ADP does. However, it lacks the free trial that Iris Staffology offers, which, combined with the fact that its pricing is bespoke, can delay knowing if it’s right for you. Similarly to MHR, however, Advanced offer in-depth reporting which can especially benefit larger companies.

Crucially, it lacks the mobile app that many of its competitors (such as Iris Staffology and Moorepay) offer. And as far as data security goes, it could be better: of all the providers we researched, it’s the only one that had a data breach in the last two years, being a victim of a ransomware attack in 2022.

Advanced’s pricing

Bespoke pricing.

6. Moorepay: Best for expertise

Moorepay’s key features

• Extensive advice offering
• Offers large suite of HR/people management solutions
• Mobile app
• Offers tax-related educational resources

How does Moorepay compare to its competitors?

Winner of The Rewards Payroll & HR Software Product of the Year Award 2022, Moorepay boasts an array of consultants ready to give insightful information to its customers, making it ideal for businesses that require hands-on guidance. Like ADP, Moorepay provides CIPP-accredited expert payroll advice and offers tax-related educational resources.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t allow for payment of international employees nor does it offer live training – features that Frontier offers. Also, it lacks the transparent pricing that Iris Staffology packs, although for its part, this fact does align it with most of the providers we analysed and tested in our in-depth expert research.

Moorepay’s pricing

Bespoke pricing.

7. 12 Cloud: Best free payroll software

12 Cloud’s key features

• Free for small businesses
• Competitive pricing for larger businesses
• Free phone support within working hours
• “Rollback facility” for easily amending errors in pay

How does 12 Cloud compare to its competitors?

Unlike MHR (and in fact, most competitors), 12 Cloud is an HMRC-approved free payroll software provider for businesses with fewer than 10 employees. It boasts an intuitive dashboard layout, like ADP. On the flip side, 12 Cloud doesn’t pack a lot of integrations: it only syncs up with Sage on the accounting front. As far as accounting integration goes, this is the same offer as Moorepay’s, but that competitor also allows for HR and time and attendance integration (which 12 Cloud doesn’t).

12 Cloud’s pricing

• Free for up to 9 employees
• £15/year per employee for 10+ employees

Important payroll dates recap

With nearly 15 years of covering the payroll industry, we know how crucial keeping HRMC’s deadlines is. When one approaches, you have to be extra careful with your reporting and make sure everything is kosher to withstand the government’s scrutiny.

Cloud-based payroll systems can certainly help you meet the relevant deadlines, but in any case, you need to be on the ball when it comes to them. As a refresher, here’s a brief recap of the most important payroll dates.

• 5 April

– The 2022/2023 tax year ends.

– Deadline for payroll software update.

• 6 April

– The 2023/2024 tax year begins.

• 19 April

– Deadline for final 2022/2023 tax year reports submission.

• 22 April

– Deadline for the month 12 Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) payment.

• 31 May

– Deadline for your employees to receive their P60s (earning statements).

• 6 July

– Deadline for expenses and benefits report to the HRMC.

– Deadline for P11D and P11D(b) forms submission.

• 19 July

– Deadline for Class 1A National Insurance contributions on benefits in kind payment (if you’re not using digital systems to do so).

• 22 July

– Deadline for Class 1A National Insurance contributions on benefits in kind payment (if you’re using digital systems to do so).

Our Methodology: How Did We Decide on the Best Payroll Software?

Five researchers carried out in-depth research into payroll software platforms according to a comparison framework designed by our research team leader. For each provider we’ve asked these questions:

• How much control does it give you over your payroll process?
• How secure is it? What security measures does it take to protect your data?
• How much help and expertise does it offer when it comes to taxes and compliance?
• How scalable is the product? Can it grow alongside your company?
• How helpful is its customer support offering?

We’ve factored all these questions into our rating system and come out with a ranking of the best payroll software platforms.