Top Integrated HR and Payroll Software 2024

Combining HR and payroll software functions into a single solution is an appealing way to streamline your business operations and improve efficiency.

We’ve found a unified platform can allow your HR/payroll team to easily track pay changes, manage leave history, process HMRC tax submissions, and facilitate employee self-service to keep personal information up to date.

Based on our research, Advanced has one of the best payroll software solutions with integrated HR. Advanced comes with a high level of automation and in-depth reporting tools, plus people management features from time and attendance to recruiting. It won’t suit every business, however, which is why we’ve included four other picks in our comparison below.

Top 5 Integrated HR and Payroll Software: Overview

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

1. Advanced: Best All-in-one People Management Platform

Advanced’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

Our research has found that Advanced 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.

Advanced’s integrated HR platform comes with some excellent reporting tools, giving you insight into gender and diversity metrics, and 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 sort of business is Advanced best suited to?

In our view, Advanced 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 Advanced 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 Advanced’s automation features. Plus, if you need early payment flexibility for employees, it has that too.

Potential drawbacks of using Advanced

Advanced does have a few shortcomings, however. It’s one of the few providers on our list that doesn’t offer an app version of its software. This means your employees won’t be able to log absences or manage their payslips on the go.

The platform also doesn’t have a function for paying international employees (one who works overseas). While this isn’t unusual for payroll software, it does make Advanced a poor fit for businesses that’ve expanded or are looking to expand overseas. If that’s you, you’re better off with IRIS Cascade or ADP.

Consequently, companies that need mobile app functionality or international payroll may not find Advanced as suitable, making it a better fit for businesses with UK-based employees who can access their payroll functions via desktop.

In addition, Advanced can’t be easily integrated with third-party software, since it doesn’t offer open API, or have any other ready-made integrations. For a payroll and HR system that does support integrations, we’d recommend ADP.

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

IRIS Cascade HRi’s Key features:

• International payroll
• Mobile app
• Automatic payroll calculations
• Integrations with third-party software
• Customisable interface

IRIS Cascade HRi is an integrated HR and Payroll system designed by IRIS. Like Advanced’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 Advanced’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 how much exactly this costs.

IRIS Cascade also has a mobile app, allowing employees to self-serve from anywhere, another feature not offered by Advanced. 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 will ensure your employees feel right at home.

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

We believe 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 in our view, 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 Advanced.

Potential drawbacks of using 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, Advanced 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 highly sought after. If you want a system with functions like these included at no extra cost, we’d recommend ADP.

3. Moorepay: Best for Businesses with Commission-based Employees

Moorepay’s key features:

• Excellent payroll reporting, including changes reports
• Mobile app
• Customisable automation
• Predictive HR analytics

With over half a century’s worth of experience, 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 morale, and can help you predict and plan for turnover.

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.

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

What sort of business is Moorepay best suited to?

For businesses with a commission-based pay structure, such as sales teams or marketing companies, we believe Moorepay is a solution geared towards your needs. You can 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 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.

Potential drawbacks of using Moorepay

One of Moorepay’s main flaws is that, unlike its rivals Advanced 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 an 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.

4. ADP iHCM: Best for Paying Freelancers

ADP’s key features:

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

ADP is an award-winning people management software provider and was named Global Payroll Supplier of the Year by the Global Payroll Association in 2023 (albeit, missed out on the crown in 2024 to UKG).

The system supports international payroll across 140 countries and allows for endless integrations thanks to its API developer tools.

This makes 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, expenses management, 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 Advanced or IRIS Cascade.

What sort of business is ADP best suited to?

We believe ADP is well suited to businesses that employ freelancers or manage large numbers of contract workers, especially if 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 organizations that require high levels of integration with other business systems, like ERP or CRM platforms, as well as those requiring strong mobile capabilities.

Potential drawbacks of using ADP

ADP isn’t a perfect system. Although it has quite advanced reporting tools, it doesn’t support payroll change reports, which allow payroll teams to assess changes in expenses. You’ll have to look to Advanced 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 is a great option for small businesses.

5. Roubler: Best 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

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.

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.

Potential drawbacks of using 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 Advanced or Moorepay. There’s no payroll change reporting for example.

On the HR front, reporting is also heavily focused on shifts, to ensure accurate pay is allocated. While you’ll be able to see leaving trends, 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 9-5 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.

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, so here’s what you should consider when choosing a system:

• 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.
• 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.
• What level of HR oversight do you want? Different HR systems give you varying levels or oversight over your employees. Some just do the basics just a logging absences, new hires, and leavers, while others can be used to track performance, employee satisfaction, and diversity and equity.
• 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.
• How scalable is the system? Chances are your company will see some changes in employee numbers, whether that’s an increase or 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 is 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 getting 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.

Our Methodology: How Did We Decide on the Best Payroll/HR Software?

We carried out in-depth research into payroll and HR software providers, using an in-house comparison framework to assess each platform. For each provider, we’ve asked these questions:

• How much control does it give you over your payroll process?
• What level of oversight do you gain with its HR features?
• Does the provider offer other types of people management software, and can it integrate with third-party software?
• 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.

Verdict

Integrated HR and payroll software can simplify your business processes, by consolidating people management tasks into one platform. It’s an essential tool for staying on top of the long list of demands facing your payroll and HR department. 

According to our research, Advanced is the leading HR and payroll software provider on the UK market, offering the most comprehensive solution for tools ranging from automatic payroll calculations and trend reporting, to live training and integrated time/attendance software.

However, it isn’t perfect. Advanced can’t help with paying employees overseas like IRIS Cascade, which lacks the number of integrations offered by ADP, or all the providers with a mobile app. Each of the options listed on this page is a worthy contender, depending on your specific business needs.

And if you’ve read this far, you might also be ready to look at pricing plans from each of the different providers. To get an accurate quote, you can enquire directly with a provider, or you can fill out our free quote-finding form. It takes just under a minute to complete, and you’ll receive quotes from top HR and payroll software suppliers.