SimplePay is the product we recommend most often in this category, and the reason is that it does the difficult things quietly. EMP201 declarations, the biannual EMP501 reconciliation, IRP5 and IT3(a) certificates, e@syFile exports, UIF declarations, SDL and ETI all work without a consultant. The company is South African, the support desk is in South Africa, and the people answering understand what you are asking.
Pricing is per employee per month with no minimum, which is the fairest structure in the category. A five person business pays for five people. A business that seasonally doubles pays for what it uses. There is no annual licence to negotiate and no per company base fee to swallow.
ETI, done properly
The Employment Tax Incentive is where payroll software separates itself. The sliding scale, the qualifying criteria, the twenty four month window and the monthly recalculation are all fiddly, and getting it wrong either costs you money you were entitled to or creates a liability on audit. SimplePay calculates it correctly and shows its working, which is what you want when SARS asks.
BCEA leave
Leave accrues the way the Act describes rather than the way an American payroll assumes. Annual leave at the statutory rate, sick leave on the three year cycle, family responsibility leave as its own entitlement. Imported systems consistently get this wrong and require a workaround. This one does not.
Where it is thin
It is a payroll, not an HR system. There is no performance management, no recruitment, no org chart. Leave requests and payslip self service exist and are adequate, but if you want an HR platform you are buying a second product. Reporting beyond the statutory pack is basic, and larger finance teams often export to a spreadsheet.
Who should buy it
Any South African business from one employee to a few hundred that wants payroll to be correct and boring. If your only requirement is compliant payroll at a fair price, this is the shortlist.
VW
South AfricaStellenbosch2 to 10 employees
