Canada Payroll has a payroll software solution that can meet your business needs and still remain affordable. Whether you are looking to find best free payroll software canada, payroll programs for small business free canada or want to try a trial of the software for no cost – we
Our Canadian payroll software is designed to be self-explanatory, yet user friendly and customizable. We provide free payroll software in canada services to businesses including salaried and hourly paid employees, directors and volunteers. Packed with features and compatible with your tax requirements in Canada, our payroll system will help ease bookkeeping work and Tax preparation with one of the most advanced payroll software packages available.
Ceridian: Best overall
4.2
- Contact for quote
Automatic tax calculation, withholding, and filing
Extensive HR tools
Time and attendance tracking
If you want a payroll plan that handles just about every aspect of human resources, we recommend Ceridian Dayforce. Why? Because Ceridian offers much more than just payroll deductions and payroll tax remittance. This total HCM solution covers payroll, benefits, workforce management, and most other HR-related tasks. Ceridian payroll services are also packed with unique features that many providers neglect, including the following:
- Multi-jurisdictional tax calculation, withholding, and filing
- Real-time payroll register (no need to wait until the end of the pay period to make revisions)
- Talent management, including recruiting and onboarding
- Workforce management, including a labour management system
Not quite big enough for an enterprise-level payroll solution? Ceridian Powerpay offers HR and payroll software for companies with fewer than 100 employees.
Per the customer review site Trustradius, most Ceridian payroll services customers are satisfied with their product. They do, however, wish for better customer service, more customized reporting features, and better employee time tracking.1ProsExtensive employee self-service features
Thorough HR solutions
Highly rated mobile appCons
Software learning curve required
Middling customer service reputation
ADP Workforce Now: Best HR add-ons
3.9
- Contact for quote
Extensive HR add-ons
Time and attendance tracking
Employee- and employer-facing mobile apps
ADP’s most popular software, ADP Workforce Now, is an HR-rich payroll program for Canadian small businesses. Its built-in time and attendance tracking simplifies paying hourly employees. Unlike many other payroll options, ADP Workforce Now includes an employer-facing mobile payroll app so small-business owners can run payroll on the go. Its business and HR bundles include access to key HR forms and new hire paperwork. Pricier bundles include additional HR compliance assistance plus help creating employee handbooks.
Bear in mind, though, that ADP’s fully featured plans are geared towards larger companies. Small businesses with one or two employees likely won’t need the company’s heftier payroll and HR packages (which are also more expensive than basic payroll software). ADP also has a shaky customer service reputation. Per the consumer review site Trustpilot, glitchy software and dropped customer service calls have been a problem this tax season.2ProsMultiple plans for scalability
Outstanding app for on-the-go payroll
Employee self-service optionsCons
Software learning curve required
Poor customer service reputation
Wagepoint: Best for basics
3.9
- Starting at $10.00/wk. + $2.00/payee
Straightforward pricing
Automatic payroll runs
Thorough employee self-service portal
Data as of 12/18/21. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
Don’t need ADP or Ceridian’s large-scale HR solutions? Wagepoint’s payroll software offers straightforward automatic payroll processing and little else—which is good news for Canadian small businesses with few employees. If you have hourly employees, Wagepoint integrates easily with popular time-tracking software like TSheets, Deputy, and 7Shifts. Or, if you pay your salaried employees the same amount at regular intervals, you can set Wagepoint to pay them automatically without having to lift a finger.
Wagepoint’s pricing structure is based on how often you pay your employees and how many employees you have. For instance, paying one employee weekly costs $12 per payroll run. Each additional employee paid costs an extra two dollars per run. Paying one employee bi-weekly, semi-monthly, or monthly costs $22 per payroll run (plus $2 per additional employee).
However, Wagepoint isn’t a good choice if you need on-the-go payroll. While the small-business payroll program has a (poorly reviewed) time-tracking app for employees, it still lacks a mobile payroll app. And, like we said, it’s not suited to small businesses that want an all-in-one payroll and HR company.ProsAffordable full-service payroll
Good customer service reputation
User-friendly software with low learning curveCons
No mobile app
No built-in HR features
Best for Office 360 users: ExcelPayroll
Best for Microsoft Office usersExcelPayroll
3.0
- How it’s free: Integrates with paid Excel software
Payslip printing (no employee self-service access)
Paycheck printing (no direct deposit)
Pre-filled end-of-year tax forms
Limited PTO or vacation time tracking
ExcelPayroll is a free third-party payroll software and pay stub creator that integrates directly with Microsoft Excel’s spreadsheet software. Along with calculating paycheck amounts and payroll tax withholdings, ExcelPayroll lets you tackle these tasks in Excel:
- Creating pre-filled tax forms, including W-2s
- Printing checks
- Generating workers compensation reports
- Logging bookkeeping journal entries
Keep in mind that although ExcelPayroll is free, Excel itself isn’t. The Microsoft Office suite (known as Office 365) now operates largely as a cloud-based service instead of desktop software. This means you’ll have to pay a monthly fee to use it, instead of a one-time upfront charge.
Still, Microsoft Office 365 is worth considering since it starts at an affordable $5 monthly fee and includes PowerPoint and Word, as well.
Free payroll software makes it easier to run paychecks without adding to your budget. The best options can calculate pay for hourly and salary workers, handle tax calculations and deductions, and print checks and pay stubs. Some of the software even file taxes and offer direct deposits. In this guide, we reviewed six free payroll services and then narrowed it down to our top three recommendations.
If you’re looking for a paid payroll solution that automatically updates payroll tax rates and files taxes (most free payroll software don’t), is easy to use and affordable, and offers a free trial, consider Gusto. It’s an all-in-one payroll and HR solution for small businesses that helps save you time and money by calculating, filing, and paying your payroll taxes automatically. It’s free for up to 30 days.
- TimeTrex: Best overall free payroll software for small businesses
- Payroll4Free.com: Best for companies with 25 or fewer employees looking for a free platform
- HR.my: Best for startups needing basic HR and payroll tools at zero cost
If you need software with more functionality but aren’t ready to spend money, you should consider affordable payroll software that comes with a free trial so you can make sure it’s worth it, risk-free.
- Gusto: 30-day free trial
- Paychex: Three-month free trial
- QuickBooks Payroll: 30-day free trial
HR.my: Best for Startups Needing Basic HR & Payroll Tools
Overall Score: 3.53 OUT OF 5
What We Like
- Feature-rich free HR solution
- Multilingual platform with free access to payroll, time clocks, and basic HR tools
- Additional paid features are only $5 per month
- Dashboard is basic and looks outdated
- User guide isn’t robust
- Limited customer support
HR.my Pricing
- Free version: Payroll software free for unlimited employees; includes free online storage
- Add-on: $5 monthly sponsorship that includes ad-free web accounts, early access to new features, additional online storage, and advanced email notifications
HR.my is a free multilingual HR software that is crowdfunded. The company works with those interested in translating the software into additional languages. It has basic payroll and HR features (such as employee information management, time tracking, and expense claims) that you can use for free.
Overall, it earned 3.53 out of 5 in our evaluation, with high marks for pricing and popularity. What pulled its score down is the lack of custom reporting and payroll tax filings. It also doesn’t offer phone support, nor does it have a support team. If you need help with a feature, you can visit its community forum and access its online user guide, which is more of an FAQ page but with limited information.
This is HR.my’s dashboard for adding new employees.
HR.my Pricing
HR.my is completely free, plus you get unlimited storage and can add unlimited employees. Unlike TimeTrex that collects fees through its paid tiers, HR.my has a crowdfunding campaign that you can opt to join. For a $5 monthly sponsorship, you get the following additional features:
- Early access to newly developed features
- Ad-free employer and employee web accounts
- Additional 3,500MB of file storage (or 6,000MB for an annual sponsorship) for employer accounts with every $5 unit of sponsorship
- Email notifications for HR.my managers in addition to those sent to the HR.my administrator
- More advanced email notifications, including for expense claims, leave requests, and announcements
HR.my Features
- Cloud-based software: If you’re always on the go, HR.my has a cloud-based system that you can access 24/7 and from any device (such as Windows and Mac computers, Android tablets, and the iPad). There’s no software installation needed—unlike TimeTrex’s free Community Edition that you need to download.
- Multilingual platform: Of the three free payroll software that we reviewed, only HR.my has a platform that is multilingual. While its default language is English, you can change it directly from the system and choose from 65 options that include Chinese, Korean, French, Spanish, Japanese, and Vietnamese.
- Feature-rich free HR solution: HR.my doesn’t only provide free payroll tools—you also get time tracking, PTO management, expense claim management, and self-service solutions for employees. However, it doesn’t have the scheduling and performance review tools that TimeTrex offers for free.
- Robust time clocks: Compared to TimeTrex’s free time clock, HR.my’s free time tracking solution offers more features, such as geolocation tracking, facial verifications of clocking in employees, and mobile time-ins/outs for field staff.
- Efficient pay processing: HR.my’s payroll tools are designed to simplify and automate employee pay processing. It has automatic pay runs and pay slips, and you can remit employee salaries through direct deposits or print paychecks. What it doesn’t support are payroll tax filings and year-end reporting—you have to fill out W-2 forms yourself.
HR.my’s Drawbacks
- Lacks phone support: HR.my doesn’t have a support team that you can contact via phone if you have questions or need assistance. You can access its user guide (but the content isn’t robust) and post queries on its community forum and then wait for other HR.my users or the system administrator to respond.
- Doesn’t file payroll taxes: Similar to TimeTrex, HR.my won’t pay and file payroll taxes on your behalf. Payroll4Free also doesn’t include this in its free services but can handle it for you if you pay $15 monthly.
Conclusion
The payroll software for small businesses in Canada is designed to provide your business with a time and payroll management of your employees, which can help you focus on managing your business’s operations. Save time and money that you can devote to other business functions by purchasing a small payroll software package for your business.