Top Integrated HR and Payroll Software 2026

Integrated HR and payroll software mitigates risk in 2026. With employer costs rising (including higher Employer National Insurance Contributions, or NICs) and employment reform tightening expectations on contracts, dismissal processes, and workplace conduct, businesses of all sizes need systems that do two things well: keep payroll accurate and audit-ready, and create a clear paper trail for HR decisions.

Our top pick is OneAdvanced, because it’s the strongest all-in-one option for UK teams that want to consolidate HR and payroll workflows in one place, reduce manual errors and standardise employee records.

It won’t suit every business, though, especially if you pay overseas staff, run highly variable pay, or manage shift-heavy teams, which is why we’ve included four other picks below.

Top 5 Integrated HR and Payroll Software: Overview

Here’s a quick overview of the best integrated HR and payroll software providers:

1. OneAdvanced: Best All-in-One People Management Platform

OneAdvanced is the best HR and payroll software we researched and our top pick for UK businesses that want to reduce payroll risk and admin overhead by consolidating HR and payroll workflows.

In 2026, that matters more than ever: employers pay Class 1 secondary NICs at 15%, starting once an employee earns above the secondary threshold (equivalent to £5,000 per year in 2025/26), so even small payroll errors and manual workarounds get expensive fast.

OneAdvanced’s key features:

• Automatic payroll calculations
• Employee self-service portal
• Live training for HR and payroll teams
• Employee trend reporting
• Time and attendance software integration

What are the benefits of OneAdvanced?

Our research has found that OneAdvanced offers payroll software that seamlessly integrates with its suite of people management solutions. These include HR, time and attendance, and talent management software.

On the payroll front, we believe your payroll team will enjoy a high level of automation. The system calculates gross to net salaries and makes adjustments for holiday pay, back pay and pension auto-enrolment.

We found employees can also be paid early through a simple request via the employee portal. This is a useful feature if your employees have low wages or are very young and might have difficulty pacing out their expenses.

OneAdvanced’s integrated HR platform comes with some excellent reporting tools, giving you insight into gender and diversity metrics, as well as absence trends, among other things.

Employees also get access to a self-service portal, where they can request various types of leave. This portal can also be used for payroll functions, such as viewing and downloading payslips.

What are the disadvantages of OneAdvanced?

OneAdvanced can be a less natural fit if you need true multi-country payroll. Its payroll proposition is strongly UK-centred (HMRC/RTI framing), and businesses paying overseas employees will usually need a provider built for multi-jurisdiction payroll.

It’s also worth pressure-testing integration expectations. OneAdvanced does have API capability and integration services (including a developer portal and references to API-based integration in product/service materials), but the number of out-of-the-box connectors you get as standard can vary by package.

You’ll want to confirm exactly what’s included for your cost (accounting, expenses, ATS, etc.).

Finally, mobile experience can be module-dependent. OneAdvanced markets mobile capability for some workforce tools (for example Time & Attendance), so if mobile self-service is critical, confirm which parts of your bundle are available via native app versus mobile web.

What sort of business is OneAdvanced best suited to?

In our view, OneAdvanced is ideal for businesses that require a comprehensive solution to manage all aspects of HR and payroll under one platform. As discussed above, it has a wide range of functionality, such as time and attendance, talent management, and employee self-service, making it an excellent ‘one-stop shop’ HR platform for most businesses.

In addition, we found OneAdvanced is particularly suited to companies that deal with significant numbers of employees and require in-depth reporting tools, such as gender and diversity metrics.

Likewise, businesses that handle more complex payroll calculations, like gross to net salaries, holiday pay, and pension auto-enrolment, will benefit from OneAdvanced’s automation features. Plus, if you need early payment flexibility for employees, it has that too.

2. IRIS Cascade HRi: Best for Businesses With Overseas Employees

IRIS Cascade lets you pay workers in over 135 countries, via its international payroll services, giving it a huge leg up for businesses with global operations. You’ll also benefit from in-country experts who understand local laws to help you stay compliant.

IRIS Cascade HRi’s key features:

• International payroll
• MyCascade self-service app (holiday/absence actions, payslip viewing/downloading, approvals)
• Automatic payroll calculations
• IRIS HR API for connecting IRIS HR data with third-party applications (integration scope varies by setup)
• Customisable interface

What are the benefits of IRIS Cascade?

IRIS Cascade HRi is an integrated HR and Payroll system designed by IRIS. Like OneAdvanced’s software, it features high levels of payroll automation and can be integrated into IRIS’s wider suite of people management software, which includes time and attendance, recruitment and expenses management software.

If your business has employees all over the globe, having an integrated suite of people management software will make it much easier to manage teams.

This brings us to our second point. Where IRIS Cascade’s payroll software differs from OneAdvanced’s system is that it can support international payees, although this is a paid add-on. Since IRIS doesn’t publish its pricing online and will tailor quotes to individual businesses, we can’t tell you exactly how much this costs.

IRIS Cascade also has a mobile app, allowing employees to self-serve from anywhere, another feature not offered by OneAdvanced. This affords more flexibility to employees, allowing them to view payslips or log absences from wherever they are.

Another unique feature is that IRIS Cascade’s HR interface can be customised to match your business’s branding. This is a useful feature for companies looking to maintain a cohesive brand identity, and it will ensure your employees feel right at home.

Lastly, IRIS also publishes security guidance for Cascade, including references to ISO/IEC 27001:2013 and GDPR role clarity (IRIS as data processor with the client as controller).

What are the disadvantages of IRIS Cascade HRi?

IRIS Cascade HRi’s main shortcoming is that it doesn’t support customised reports. While the system does have a wide breadth of prebuilt payroll and HR reports on metrics, such as employee payroll history, or diversity and inclusion, you won’t be able to build your own, based on existing data. For data-hungry businesses, OneAdvanced is a better option, since it has a higher level of report customisation.

And, while IRIS Cascade does allow companies to customise their interface, the results can look a little dated. This is a minor flaw, which might not bother some businesses, but it’s something to note.

Lastly, a lot of IRIS Cascade’s more useful features come as paid add-ons. Some of these are vital functions, such as pension auto-enrolment, while others, such as international payroll or a mobile app, aren’t essential, but are highly sought after. If you want a system with functions like these included at no extra cost, we’d recommend ADP.

What sort of business is IRIS Cascade HRi best suited to?

IRIS Cascade HRi is a great choice for managing a global workforce. The system’s ability to handle payroll across multiple jurisdictions is a key advantage above other providers, albeit its international payroll feature is a paid add-on.

In addition to multinational businesses, IRIS Cascade HRi is also suitable for enterprises with complex HR needs, such as customisable interfaces to match company branding. Its mobile app is also a useful feature for companies with a remote or globally distributed workforce, unlike OneAdvanced.

3. Moorepay: Best for Businesses With Commission-Based Employees

Moorepay has been accredited by CIPP’s Payroll Assurance Scheme (PAS) since 2012 and is audited in partnership with HMRC, assuring you that you’ll be able to meet high compliance standards. Its payroll engine is built to handle complex pay models too, including commissions, incentives and overtime.

Moorepay’s key features:

• Excellent payroll reporting, including changes reports
• Mobile app
• Customisable automation
• People analytics reporting using customisable charts

What are the benefits of Moorepay?

With over half a century’s worth of experience (established in 1966), Moorepay is a safe payroll solution for small businesses as well as large ones. We found its interface to be easy to use, nice to look at and highly scalable, too, with solutions for businesses of all sizes.

Moorepay’s integrated payroll and HR software comes with a plethora of intelligent features, including predictive analytics that help you plan for employee retention and budget salaries.

As well as having a host of automated payroll calculations, Moorepay’s system also lets you set your own, as well as create customised reports. These are useful features for businesses with commission-based employees, who have variable salaries each month.

Moorepay also offers benefits management software, which, when integrated with HR software, can be managed from the same interface, saving you time and reducing complexity.

Its automated employee surveys are also great for measuring employee engagement/performance, as well as morale, and can help you predict and plan for turnover via 360° performance reviews.

These surveys can also help you gain insights into employee feelings on salaries and commission amounts, allowing you to adjust before you get hit with resignations.

And alongside its aforementioned CIPP PAS-approval, Moorepay’s security accreditations include ISO 27001/9001, Cyber Essentials Plus, HMRC-approved and the Bacs Approved Bureau scheme.

If you’d like to find out more about this provider, check out our Moorepay payroll review.

What are the disadvantages of Moorepay?

One of Moorepay’s main flaws is that, unlike its rivals, OneAdvanced and IRIS Cascade, it doesn’t offer live training for its payroll and HR software. It does provide video tutorials and a host of written guides, but live training can significantly speed up the onboarding process and allow your payroll and HR teams to hit the ground running.

Moorepay also doesn’t do international payroll, so you’ll have to look to IRIS Cascade or ADP if you employ personnel outside of the UK.

Lastly, while Moorepay has  excellent native benefits software, its system can’t integrate with third-party benefits software. So, if you already use a system and want to keep using it, we’d suggest IRIS Cascade or ADP. Both systems integrate with a host of third-party people management and accounting software.

What sort of business is Moorepay best suited to?

Moorepay is a good option for businesses with a commission-based pay structure, such as sales teams or marketing companies. It allows businesses to generate detailed reports on commission, overtime and bonuses for variable compensation models.

Moorepay is also excellent for businesses that need reliable and scalable payroll solutions. We found that its predictive HR analytics could help businesses with budgeting and planning over time, making it particularly useful for expanding businesses that need to forecast staff costs accurately.

4. ADP iHCM: Best for Paying Freelancers

ADP iHCM is a reliable payroll and HR provider, with particularly flexible payment features. It positions integrated human capital management (iHCM) for 50 to 999 employees and describes itself as a HR and payroll platform with modules like employee time, training, talent and recruitment management.

This makes the platform ideal for businesses that regularly hire freelance talent, as well as those managing full-time employees.

ADP’s key features:

• Automated payroll calculations
• International payroll
• Mobile app
• Customised reporting
• AI-powered tools

What are the benefits of ADP iHCM?

ADP iHCM is an integrated payroll and HR software system that offers global payroll services with expertise across more than 140 countries. Alternatively, multi-country payroll is typically delivered via ADP’s global payroll services alongside your core HR setup.

It also links up with the ADP Marketplace/API Central, to provide APIs and documentation to connect apps to iHCM and share employee data in real time.

Both these global payroll routes and the software’s integration capabilities make it particularly well-suited to companies hiring large numbers of freelancers. They’ll be able to pay them regardless of where the freelancers are located, and they’ll be able to integrate freelancer-finding platforms with their HR and payroll, and keep an eye on expenses.

ADP’s payroll and HR platform also comes with advanced tools, such as AI. The AI assistant can automate workflows based on previous recurring actions and issue notifications to HR and payroll teams when tasks have been left hanging.

Plus, handy people management functions such as a mobile app and performance management are included in the platform, instead of being available as add-ons. This makes ADP’s basic payroll and HR system more comprehensive than OneAdvanced or IRIS Cascade.

ADP’s materials also state GDPR compliance and SOC 1/2 and ISO 27001 (plus other related standards) in the context of its global payroll and security posture, so you have assurance that your finances are in safe hands.

What are the disadvantages of ADP iHCM?

ADP isn’t a perfect system. For one, it doesn’t support payroll change reports, which allow payroll teams to assess changes in expenses. You’ll have to look to OneAdvanced or Moorepay for that.

Additionally, ADP isn’t a viable option for very small businesses, since it has a 50-employee minimum for its integrated payroll and HR software. Moorepay doesn’t have this minimum requirement, as it is a great option for small businesses.

What sort of business is ADP iHCM best suited to?

ADP iHCM is well suited to businesses that employ freelancers or manage large numbers of contract workers, especially on a global scale. Its multi-country support, AI-powered notifications for compliance and automated workflows allow for easy payments, meeting regulations across countries and reducing administrative burden overall.

ADP is also a strong choice for large organisations that require high levels of integration with other business systems, like enterprise resource planning (ERP) or customer relationship management (CRM) platforms, as well as those requiring strong mobile capabilities.

5. Roubler: Best for Shift-Based Businesses

Roubler is an advanced HR platform with a raft of AI features and demand-based rostering capabilities for shift-based businesses.

Roubler’s key features:

• Mobile app with employee clock-in feature
• Customised pay conditions
• AI-powered shift scheduling
• Payroll syncs with time and attendance

What are the benefits of Roubler?

Roubler is designed specifically with shift-based businesses in mind. Its payroll and HR software includes several time and attendance management features, enabling easy scheduling and reporting on work hours.

Its standout features include AI-powered rota scheduling, which builds work schedules based on employee availability and hours worked, and its real-time rota reports, which provide live data on your company’s total hours, wage costs and sales, meaning you can optimise your workforce more efficiently.

Roubler also has an app that employees can use to clock in and out of work. The system logs their worked hours and automatically syncs this data with payroll to ensure accurate salaries. And you can set customised pay conditions in the payroll system and ask it to take into account split shifts, lunch breaks and overtime when creating payslips.

Roubler also describes GDPR adherence and positions its infrastructure around AWS standards, such as ISO 27001, so you have security to match the tools.

What are the disadvantages of Roubler?

Since Roubler’s payroll and HR system is heavily focused on shift management, you won’t get access to as in-depth payroll reporting as you would with OneAdvanced or Moorepay. There’s no payroll change reporting, for example.

On the HR front, you’ll still be able to see leaving trends, but you won’t be able to use this software to gain insights into the business’s diversity or gender pay gaps.

Lastly, as Roubler’s software is so focused on shift-based work, it’s not the best option for businesses that employ regular nine-to-five workers. It’s not that you can’t use Roubler if that’s the case, but you’ll be paying for a lot of features you won’t use. If your employees have a more regular schedule, we’d recommend Moorepay.

What sort of business is Roubler best suited to?

Specifically designed for businesses that manage shift-based workforces, such as those in retail, hospitality or healthcare, Roubler makes sense in a lot of different industries.

Its AI-powered shift scheduling tool, discussed above, as well as its real-time reports on hours worked and wage costs, means it can be leveraged to alter staffing levels based on demand and have that reflected in payroll.

In this sense, we believe it is also a good candidate for high-turnover businesses or those with seasonal staff, as it simplifies employee clock-ins and attendance tracking (and via a mobile app if required). Businesses with staff on part-time or zero-hour contracts, perhaps in service or hospitality, where employee schedules may be less predictable, will also find this appealing.

Buying Guide: How To Choose an Integrated HR and Payroll Platform

There are a lot of options out there when it comes to payroll and HR software. For instance, HR software tools for startups can differ greatly from platforms suitable for large businesses. Here’s what you should consider when choosing a system:

What type of payroll do you run?

Think about how and when you pay your employees. Do they have irregular work patterns? Or are they paid monthly or weekly? Do benefits or commission pay need to be factored into their pay?

Make sure your chosen software can carry out and automate your payroll runs and, if you rely on rotas/time sheets, check the time and attendance link is strong enough to reduce manual corrections.

What level of HR oversight do you want?

Different HR systems give you varying levels of oversight over your employees. Some just do the basics, such as logging absences, new hires and leavers, while others can be used to track performance, employee satisfaction, and diversity and equity.

In 2026, it’s also worth prioritising systems that make it easy to keep a clear paper trail (for probation, performance conversations and policy acknowledgements), because employment rights changes are being phased in across 2026 and 2027.

How long does it take to switch or implement these systems?

For many UK SMEs, switching to a new integrated HR and payroll platform takes around one to three months, depending on payroll complexity (multiple pay groups, variable pay, pensions, time and attendance feeds, and integrations).

Some providers claim they can migrate straightforward setups in as little as four weeks, but it’s common to plan extra time for configuration and testing.

A good implementation plan usually includes parallel payroll testing (running the new system alongside the old one) before you fully switch over, to spot discrepancies early and avoid pay-day surprises.

What’s the onboarding process?

You’ll most likely be switching from one system to another (or from two if your current payroll and HR software are separate), so it’s important to choose a provider that can guide you through the switch, and confirm whether they’ll support data migration and at least one parallel pay run before you go live.

How customisable is the system?

It could be that a system doesn’t have all the functions you need pre-made, but that you can customise it to fit your needs. Generally, the more customisable a system is, the better it will be for running payroll and HR, but confirm what’s configurable in-product rather than needing paid implementation services.

How scalable is the system?

Chances are your company will see some changes in employee numbers, whether that’s an increase or a decrease. It’s important to choose a system that can adapt to your changing numbers. After all, switching systems is a lot of work and will be something you want to avoid, especially if you’re happy with your current software.

Does the provider abide by compliance and security standards?

The last thing you want is to get fined by HMRC for inaccurate reporting, labour law breaches or having your private data leaked.

To avoid this, choose software that stays up to date with the latest legislation and has a high standard of data protection, and ask vendors to confirm their security posture (for example, ISO 27001) and how access controls/audit logs work in practice.

What happens if something goes wrong on payroll?

Ask what support you get during go-live, what the escalation route is and whether you’ll have a named contact for urgent pay-run issues.

What will employees actually use?

If you need self-service (payslips, leave requests, updating details), check whether it’s fully functional on mobile and what approvals look like, because adoption and ease of use will make a big difference to how well these systems function in practice.

What Payroll and HR Legislation Changes Affect UK Businesses in 2026?

The government has announced several legislative changes that will affect how businesses run HR and payroll in 2026, with many arriving from the start of the next financial year.

New legislation

Below are the main payroll/HR changes UK businesses need to stay on top of in 2026. Where relevant, I’ve included the rates that apply from April 2026, so you know exactly what the upcoming changes are.

National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage rates (from 1 April 2026)

The UK’s statutory hourly pay floors increase again from 1 April 2026. The headline rate is the National Living Wage (NLW), which applies to workers aged 21 and over.

• NLW (21+): £12.75 per hour
• 18-20: £10.60 per hour
• 16-17: £8.25 per hour
• Apprentice rate: £8.25 per hour

What this means in practice is that payroll teams should update pay rules (especially for age-band changes) and re-check any salary sacrifice arrangements to ensure take-home pay doesn’t drop below the legal minimum.

Employer National Insurance (NICs): rate, threshold, and Employment Allowance (2026)

Employer NICs remain a major cost line for SMEs in 2026 because the employer (secondary) Class 1 NIC rate increased to 15% from 6 April 2025.

Two additional points matter operationally:

• Secondary threshold: (When employer NICs start) £5,000 per year and this £5,000 level was set to apply from 6 April 2025 until 5 April 2028, so it still bites through 2026.
• Employment allowance: Eligible employers can claim up to £10,500 off their employer NIC bill and the prior £100,000 eligibility limit was removed (so more employers can qualify).

What this means in practice is that an integrated HR/payroll system matters more because small payroll errors (missed leavers, wrong NI category letters, incorrect threshold handling) now compound into higher employer-NIC costs.

Statutory pay rates (from 6 April 2026)

Statutory payment caps typically refresh each April. For 2026/27, the government’s published proposed rates show the following weekly caps:

• Statutory sick pay (SSP): £123.25 per week (up from £118.75 in 2025/26)
• Statutory maternity pay (SMP): £194.32 per week (up from £187.18) for standard rate cap after the first six weeks.
  • The same £194.32 weekly cap (and £129 earnings threshold) also applies to statutory paternity pay, shared parental pay, adoption pay, neonatal care pay and parental bereavement pay (based on the published proposed rates).

What this means in practice is that payroll teams should schedule an April 2026 rules update (caps and thresholds) and HR teams should ensure leave workflows and policies match the updated amounts.

Employment Rights Act 2025: “Day 1” and shift-work changes landing in 2026

The Employment Rights Act 2025 is being implemented in phases over two years and it explicitly states that April 2026 is a key milestone. Here are the key parts that directly affect HR and payroll operations:

• Shift work and zero-hours protections: The Act introduces rights to guaranteed hours, reasonable notice of shifts, and payments for short-notice shift cancellations (with corresponding rights for agency workers).
• Unfair dismissal qualifying period: Reduced from two years to six months (so dismissal risk arrives much earlier than many SMEs are used to).
• Statutory sick pay becomes “Day 1” in April 2026: The Act states it will deliver day one rights to SSP, including removing the lower earnings limit and the waiting period.
• Paternity leave “Day 1” in April 2026: The Act states day one rights to paternity leave will be delivered in April 2026.
• Stronger anti-harassment duties: It strengthens the duty to prevent sexual harassment by requiring employers to take “all reasonable steps” (not just “reasonable steps”), and adds an obligation relating to third-party harassment.

What this means, in practice, is that in 2026, businesses need cleaner documentation and workflows (probation/performance, absence, rotas, leave) because rights attach sooner and enforcement is being strengthened (the Act also references launching a Fair Work Agency in April 2026).

Methodology: How Did We Find the Best HR and Payroll Software?