The Best Payroll Solutions for Paying Contractors

Paying contractors can be a knotty process – and with payroll errors costing UK businesses up to £150,000 annually, we know how important it is for you to get it right.

A payroll provider can help you with that, as it makes calculating your payroll taxes, filing with the HMRC, and managing working hours easier.

According to our research, Iris Staffology is the best payroll solution for paying contractors. The company provides advice on payroll compliance, integrates with a native HR platform and – a rarity in this market – comes with transparent pricing.

That said, we also found four other solid providers in our analysis – one of which might serve you better depending on your needs.

The quickest way to find the best one for you is through our free comparison tool. However, if you’d like to know more about our top picks beforehand, just read on.

1. Iris Staffology – Best overall for paying contractors

Iris Staffology’s intuitive interface makes submitting the necessary forms online very straightforward. Like Moorepay, it packs very in-depth reporting so you can stay on top of your payroll at all times. Crucially, it crunches your contractor data, so you can ensure your contractors are being paid correctly. With it, you’re able to automatically change tax codes, manage multiple pensions schemes, and pay workers as “off-payroll” under the new IR35 regulations.

Iris Staffology helps you stay compliant with Automatic Enrolment legislation, and also deals with all deductions, such as NI and statutory tax. 

One of the difficulties of using a payroll solution can be the lack of control you have over it. Conveniently, Iris Staffology works both as a software-only solution and a fully-managed one. The former is great for business owners that would like more agency over their payroll processing while the latter is more geared towards those who would rather outsource it wholesale. On that front, it’s more flexible than ADP, which only works as a fully-managed service.

Iris Staffology has a great market advantage in its transparent pricing. Out of all the providers we researched, only Payescape also offers it. The fact that Iris Staffology advertises its prices make it easier for business owners to know from the get-go whether the provider fits their budget or not.

2. Payescape – Best for small businesses that pay contractors 

Payescape offers payroll, HR, and time management solutions all on one platform, giving you an efficient way to manage your business. You can approve and monitor holidays, record working hours, and calculate wages. 

When paying contractors, it’s important to ensure you’re tracking working hours correctly. Payescape’s time management solutions, which are built into the platform, make it easy for you to prevent under or over paying a contractor. They also mean you can manage compliance risks and projects more effectively. This puts the provider in the same league as MHR, which also packs a time management tool.

Of all the payroll service providers we researched, Payescape is unique in that it offers a flexible weekly and monthly contracts. This makes it suitable for small businesses that are finding their feet and don’t want to be tied to a long-term supplier commitment. Also, by advertising its pricing, it’s more transparent than competitors like Moorepay, which only work with quotes. 

3. Moorepay – Best for expertise

Moorepay offers an easy-to-use integrated payroll and HR platform. It gives you access to UK-based payroll specialists who are available to help you with any queries, making it easier for you to get started and avoid major problems when it comes to paying your contractors. 

For keeping tabs on contractors’ hours, Moorepay integrates with three third-party time and attendance platforms (Deputy , Bizimply, ProMark), but unlike ADP, it doesn’t come with a native one. This means you’ll have to shell out extra money to integrate this into your payroll service, which isn’t ideal.

Moorepay’s onboarding process is simple, which is great if you’re not super tech-savvy, or you want to avoid a steep learning curve. That said, Moorepay only works with bespoke pricing, which is not ideal for businesses owners that want to know if the provider fits their budget straight away. In comparison, Iris Staffology and Payescape are more transparent.

4. ADP – Best for security

ADP is great option if data security is high on your priority list, as it packs some of the most stringent data protection procedures we’ve seen in our research. This is illustrated by its UK-based data storage and its ISO:27001, a key data security compliance certification. If your business pays multiple contractors, this gives you extra security in knowing their data will be dutifully encrypted and protected. It also makes ADP more secure than Payescape, which lacks that certification.

For business owners keen on integrating administration and management processes into their payroll system, ADP offers plenty of integration options. Across accounting, HR, time and attendance, and benefits administration platforms, it integrates with 16 external programs – way more than Moorepay (which comes with only five ready-made integrations). This increases the chances that ADP will work alongside software you’re already using.

However, like Just Payroll Services, its non-transparent pricing is bad news for business owners who need to quickly find out if they can afford this payroll solution. For those, Iris Staffology will be a better option.

5. Just Payroll Services – Best for bespoke services

Just Payroll Services provides payroll solutions and accountancy services. This makes it a great fit if you’d like your contractors managed in one place. However, Just Payroll Services only works as an outsourced service. If you’d like to keep your payroll in-house, ADP will suit you better.

Like Moorepay, Just Payroll Services also gives you access to payroll experts who can calculate starter and leaver adjustments, as well as check and verify the payroll’s accuracy.

Our experts were satisfied with Just Payroll Services’ data security: it packs the ISO:27001 certification, which attests its compliance’s high standards. It beats Payescape, which doesn’t have it, on that front. However, like many competitors (such as ADP), it doesn’t have transparent pricing. You’ll need to request a quote to find out how much you’d pay – so if you’re in a hurry and on a budget, we recommend Iris Staffology.

We think Just Payroll Services works best for businesses in the construction industry as it can often have more complicated payroll set-ups due to contractors and freelancers. If yours fits this bill, the provider’s experts will help guide you and ensure you avoid payroll errors.

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.