Payroll Online

Payroll Online occupies the space just below SimplePay: small employers who need the statutory work done correctly and do not want to think about payroll for more than an hour a month.

The product is deliberately narrow. You capture employees, you set up earnings and deductions, you run the period, you download the payslips and the payment file. The statutory outputs are generated. That is the whole product, and for a fifteen person business it is enough.

Compliance

EMP201, EMP501, IRP5 and IT3(a), e@syFile export, UIF and SDL are all handled. ETI is supported. BCEA leave accrues correctly. The gaps are at the edges: no bargaining council support, no COIDA return of earnings, limited handling of complex earnings structures like commission on a sliding scale.

Where it falls short

Reporting is minimal. Beyond the statutory pack and a payroll summary there is not much, and finance teams that want to analyse cost by department or cost centre will be exporting to a spreadsheet. Employee self service is basic. Integration with accounting systems is by CSV rather than a live connection.

Support is email first with a small team, which is fine most of the month and can be frustrating on the twenty fifth.

Who should buy it

Small employers with simple, salaried payrolls and no bargaining council exposure. If you have hourly staff, multiple cost centres, or plans to pass fifty employees within a year, start with SimplePay instead and save yourself a migration.