We offer Free Payroll Software for Small Business South Africa to create high quality payroll for your business, It can be used by sole proprietors and small businesses that want to keep an accurate record of their employees’ paychecks.
Small Business South Africa offers you a Free payroll service. We offer small business with FREE payroll software that can benefit every little entrepreneur. Many of us dread the thought of having to do our own payroll as it is a very time-consuming process and we did not finish our accounting training because of this!
Payroll4Free: Best overall
Best overall free payroll softwarePayroll4Free
3.9
- How it’s free: In-software ads, paid plan options
Employee self-service portal and payslip access
Pre-filled end-of-year tax forms
Direct deposit and paycheck printing
PTO and vacation time tracking
Payroll4Free is a master in the free payroll software genre. For one thing, it’s chock-full of functions that are often enjoyed only in premium, top-tier platforms. Some of these perks include:
- Paycheck calculations
- 1099 contract and W-2 employee payments
- Direct deposit and paper check options
- Federal, state, and local payroll tax calculations
- Pre-filled tax form access
- Reports on taxes, benefits, payroll statistics, and more
- Employee self-service portal
- Paid time off, vacation, and sick time accruals
- Accounting software integration, including QuickBooks
Payroll4Free’s reporting and paid time off (PTO) tracking features are particularly impressive. (Even many paid providers don’t include those features with their cheapest plans.) And while Payroll4Free can’t file your payroll taxes for free, it calculates payroll tax deductions and autofills the tax forms. You have to do the actual filing, but form filling is easily the most time-intensive part of the process.
Don’t worry though if you’d prefer to let someone else handle taxes: the company offers full-service tax filing for a below-average $15 monthly fee.
Now that you know the good stuff, here’s the catch. The platform is barebones, so most of the features mentioned above require patience and some basic administrative knowledge. Afterall, the title’s made for getting the job done at no cost, so you get what you pay for when it comes to user-friendliness and visual allure.
That leads to our next point. Payroll4Free is only gratis because it’s loaded with advertisements. This might feel distracting and cumbersome, although this marathon of marketing doesn’t fundamentally alter your payroll process.
True to its name, Payroll4Free is a handy tool for completing payroll for free. If you are paying 25 or fewer people, your small business is eligible to access its basic services for free.
Even at its most stripped-down level, Payroll4Free still packs a comprehensive array of features that can take the hassle out of completing payroll. For starters, it allows users to pay both W2 and 1099 employees. The software also can print checks and calculate federal, state, and local taxes. Furthermore, users can export their payroll data to be integrated with accounting and banking software like QuickBooks.
Payroll4Free’s portal and reporting features let employers and employees alike keep track of sick days, vacation, and other PTO. Additionally, employees can print out their pay stubs and W2 forms off the platform, saving small business owners time and resources.
The platform is able to offer free service through paid advertising, which users will encounter periodically while using the software.
Pros
- Direct deposit and tax calculations are available as free basic services
- Basic service includes unlimited customer support by phone, email, and online chat if you hit any roadblocks.
- Customer data and information is encrypted.
- Provides preset tax forms for submission.
Cons
- Mac users will need to use Windows operating software since iOS isn’t compatible.
- Direct deposit through Payroll4Free’s own bank is not free
Payroll4Free Features & Pricing
Payroll4Free offers all of its basic services free of charge, which it achieves by hosting advertisements within its software for companies who pay them for their exposure. The free version of Payroll4Free places no limits on payroll or direct deposit processing and doesn’t require that you upgrade to a higher-tier plan to enjoy its basic features. Features that Payroll4Free offers at no additional cost include:
- Direct deposits and paper checks
- Tax calculations and required forms
- Time tracking for vacation and time off
- Employee dashboard portal
- Customer service
- Employee enrollment
The above basic services are for free for clients who staff 25 or fewer employees, although not all of Payroll4Free’s benefits are free.
Despite its name, Payroll4Free places two optional services behind a paywall. Employers that don’t want to deal with depositing and filling out payroll taxes themselves need to pay a $15/month fee for Payroll4Free to take care of it for them. However, Payroll4Free does offer free tools as a basic service that you can use to make this process easier.
If you don’t want to rely on your own bank to transfer direct deposit funds to your employees, you will need to pay another $15 dollars per month for Payroll4Free to complete these transfers using their bank. So, if you decide to opt-in for all paid services that Payroll4Free offers, you’ll be paying $30 every month at the very most.
Payroll4Free Summary
Payroll4Free is the best choice for small businesses with fewer than 25 employees that want an easy-to-use payroll application that gives them the tools they need to succeed. Free features like direct deposit and a self-service portal are absolute must-haves for small companies that need to invest in other areas of their business. Payroll4Free is the best overall payroll software choice for businesses that need basic features with a simple, easy-to-use interface.
TimeTrex: Best time tracking
Best time tracking softwareTimeTrex
3.4
- How it’s free: Open-source software
Employee self-service portal and payslip access
Pre-filled end-of-year tax forms
Direct deposit and paycheck printing
PTO and vacation time tracking
Developers in 50 countries volunteer their time and expertise to keep the open-source TimeTrex Community Edition up and running. Thanks to this global effort, you can score these nifty perks at no charge:
- Paycheck calculations, including taxes, wage garnishments, and other deductions
- Direct deposit and paper checks
- Easy-to-generate tax forms, including forms W-2, W-3, 940, 941, and 1099
- Employee access to electronic pay stubs
- Integration with other payroll software, including QuickBooks, Paychex, ADP, and SurePayroll
The suite’s parent company, TimeTrex, offers time-tracking software that’s also included free on the Community Edition. But employees can clock in only online, and they can’t use the mobile app that comes with TimeTrex’s paid plans. Still, the time and attendance tracking syncs automatically with your payroll software, which makes paycheck calculation a breeze.
What We Like
- Has automatic pay runs with free direct deposits
- Offers a feature-rich free plan (comes with payroll, time tracking, scheduling, and HR management tools)
- Integrates with other payroll tools like QuickBooks, ADP, and Paychex
- Dashboard looks somewhat dated
- Details about the free option and paid plans are difficult to find on its website; pricing isn’t transparent
- Doesn’t handle payroll tax filings
TimeTrex Pricing
- Free version: Payroll software free forever with no employee minimums
- Paid options: Three custom-priced product editions (Professional, Corporate, and Enterprise) that include basic HR, recruiting, time tracking, scheduling, payroll, invoicing, and expense tracking functionalities
Read Full ReviewVisit TimeTrex
TimeTrex is our top-recommended free payroll software for small businesses because it does more than Payroll4Free and HR.my. Aside from pay processing, it has time tracking, scheduling, paid time off (PTO) monitoring, and HR management solutions that you can access at no cost. You even get an online time clock that lets your employees clock-in/out through web browsers.
Scoring an overall 4.7 out of 5, with perfect marks in nearly all our criteria, TimeTrex would have gotten a 5 out 5 in our evaluation if not for its limited payroll tax services. While it calculates federal, state, and local taxes in addition to generating tax forms (like W-2s and 1099s), TimeTrex doesn’t remit and file taxes for you. However, users still appreciate its user-friendly platform that makes pay processing easy. If you need tax filing services, you may want to consider Payroll4Free.com, but it isn’t free—you have to pay $15 per month.
TimeTrex has a payroll wizard to help guide you through the process.
TimeTrex Pricing
You can access TimeTrex’s free payroll software through its Community Edition solution, which is a downloadable open-source workforce management platform. What’s great about it is that there are no employee limits, and you get basic HR and payroll tools for free.
TimeTrex offers three paid product editions (Professional, Corporate, and Enterprise) with additional features like facial recognition tablet time clocks, document management, applicant tracking, invoicing, and expense monitoring. However, pricing isn’t transparent—you have to call the provider to request a quote.
The representative we contacted said that pricing is based on the number of employees you have and the system deployment option selected (cloud-hosted or on-site). For a cloud-based version of its Professional Edition, you have to pay $3 per employee monthly for 10 employees. There’s also an account activation fee of $99.
TimeTrex Features
- Feature-rich free tier: Even at its free level, TimeTrex grants you access to several integrated solutions designed to help you manage your workforce. You get online tools to create schedules, capture clock-ins/outs, track attendance, monitor PTO, pay employees, conduct performance reviews, and record staff information in a centralized database. This is more than what Payroll4Free.com offers (it doesn’t have free HR tools) and what HR.my provides as part of its forever-free solution (which doesn’t have performance reviews).
- Online time tracking: TimeTrex has robust time tracking capabilities—making it one of our leading time and attendance software for small businesses. Its web browser-based time clock allows you to turn computers into employee time tracking devices. However, geofencing capabilities, facial recognition time clocks, and mobile time tracking apps aren’t included in its free Community Edition. If you require geolocation and face verification tools to prevent buddy punching, we recommend HR.my as it offers those functionalities for free.
- Efficient pay processing: With TimeTrex’s efficient payroll tools, you don’t have to worry about doing payroll yourself. In addition to automatic payroll runs, it automatically calculates taxes and custom deductions like garnishments, PTO accruals, and benefits. It also offers electronic pay stubs, free direct deposits, and pay checks that you can print in several formats.
- Third-party software integrations: TimeTrex seamlessly integrates with other payroll software like QuickBooks, ADP, Paychex, Ceridian, and Sage. Note that HR.my doesn’t have this functionality, while Payroll4Free.com has limited options and connects with other software through payroll data exports and time data imports.
- Custom reporting: Aside from standard payroll, HR, and employee reports, TimeTrex has built-in templates that you can customize.
TimeTrex’s Drawback
- Basic payroll tax services: With TimeTrex’s free payroll software, you have to handle tax payments and filings yourself. If you don’t want do-it-yourself (DIY) taxes and you’re willing to pay extra, consider Payroll4Free as it offers automated tax filing services for $15 monthly.
Best for international businesses: HR.my
2.9
- How it’s free: Crowdfunding, in-app ads
Employee self-service portal and payslip access
Paycheck printing (no direct deposit)
PTO and vacation time tracking
No pre-filled end-of-year tax forms
Unlike the majority of payroll software—both free and paid—HR.my’s payroll software is available in 65 different languages. Beyond its multiple tongues, the title serves up comprehensive payroll-processing features that compare to both TimeTrex’s and Payroll4Free’s. Some noteworthy perks include:
- PTO management
- Attendance management and time clock integration
- Automatically generated payslips
- Multiple pay schedules, including weekly, biweekly, semi-monthly, and monthly
- Leave approval
- Unlimited users, including employees and managers
- Unlimited employee web accounts for pay stub access and PTO requests
- Mobile payroll app (Android and iOS) for employers and employees
There are some downsides, though. First, every language translation except for English and Chinese relies entirely on Google Translate with no human oversight. This makes the translation quality hit or miss.
Also, HR.my is based in Malaysia, which could be a problem for US-based customers who need customer service support during regular business hours. Plus, HR.my’s site is the sparsest we’ve reviewed. It lists a lot of features and includes a handy user guide for getting started, but we’re a little wary of its lack of product details.
Conclusion
With Free Payroll Software for Small Business South Africa you can create professional payroll for your business and keep records of your employees’ salaries. This software does not require any installation, it is entirely online and can be used with almost any device (PC or Mac). You will get instant access to the application right after registration. You just need to enter the data of your employees, select which deductions you would like to make, and click on “Priority System” button. The system will show you the withholding tax that should be transferred to the government. The system will also take into account the number of social-insurance funds and their rates. The main advantage is that you have an option to print checks instead of transferring money electronically.