15 years helping Irish businesses
choose better software
About BrightPay
Payroll software package that supports weekly, fortnightly and monthly payroll.
Another benefit is that it emails PDF payslips all at once. Integrates with HMRC for RTI, and also for coding notices which is great.
I have been caught out a few times by alterations to the pay of an employee in one month/pay period which do not automatically revert to the stated basic pay the following month.
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Filter reviews (288)

Best way to do your pay!
Pros:
BrightPay makes payroll easy and has a really modern look. I can train clients to use this in no time at all.
Cons:
The windows and mac versions of the software differ in a few areas which is a real shame. It looks like this may be addressed soon though!
Alternatives Considered:
Wouldn't use anything else
Comments: It's been essential for me to build my payroll bureau
Pros:
I love that the software is user friendly and intuitive, with a pleasant looking interface. The customer support has also been fantastic.
Cons:
I would love it to be cloud based (which is in the pipeline), and also more batch processing features.
Thesaurus Software Response
10 months ago
Thank you for your review Sam. It's great to hear that you find the software so user-friendly and intuitive. Our fully cloud software is on the way! Thanks again.
An easy way to payroll, with BrightPay!
Comments: Overall, I've tested a lot of payroll software, and BrightPay is the most user-friendly and addresses practically all payroll-related issues.
Pros:
This program simplifies payroll processing. The UI is simple to use, and entering salary data is a breeze. The program automates regular payrolls by rolling over numbers month after month and generating variation indications.
Cons:
Until you learn how to enter all the necessary information, setting up an employer in the middle of the year might be a bit difficult. Otherwise, it is good.
Thesaurus Software Response
10 months ago
Hi Youssef, thank you for your review of BrightPay. It's great to hear that you find the software so user-friendly, especially compared to our competitors. Take care.
BrightPay brightens up the payroll process!
Comments: Overall I'm really pleased with the software and they are always brining out new functionality.
Pros:
The user interface is great and very intuitive, the help/support section is very good in helping you get up to speed with the software.
Cons:
The way you have to download and install a new version each year - other providers keep all of your data in one place.
Brightpay - employee portal winner
Pros:
That employees can access their own payroll portal
Cons:
Hasn't yet adapted for the recent ruling relating to holiday pay
Thesaurus Software Response
8 months ago
Hi Claire, thank you for your review and we are delighted to hear that you are using the BrightPay Connect employee portal. Please ensure you have ran the latest upgrade, which will be prompted on the main BrightPay screen.
Alternatives Considered:
Excellent Payroll Software
Comments: Using BrightPay has made running payrolls much easier.
Pros:
This software makes running a payroll easy. The interface is very user-friendly and inputting pay figures is a cinch. The software takes the legwork out of running regular payrolls by rolling over figures month-to-month and providing variance indicators
Cons:
Setting up employer mid-year can be a little challenging until you understand how to input all the relevant information.
Brightpay Payroll
Comments: I had been a Sage 50 Payroll customer for around 20 years but found it getting ever more expensive and difficult to get in touch with customer care when you needed them with lengthy waits on hold. I needed to renew my Sagecover and they wanted to put me onto a monthly subscription, the amount they wanted just did not represent good value for money to me so I started to look at other options which was a big decision after using the same software for so long and having to learn another product from scratch . I trialed Moneysoft which also gets good reviews but I didn't really like the very old fashioned 1980's looking interface very much although it did the job. Then I tried Brightpay and was immediately impressed, it covers all the features I need including RTI and Auto Enrollment at a fraction of the price of Sage for the amount of employees I have. Moving data from Sage and setting things up took a little bit of time but this was mostly double checking everything was correct. The user interface is great and I find it easy to use, it's not quite so in depth as Sage so maybe misses a few features but this makes it less cluttered and easy to learn and operate. Also there's no need for dedicated stationery everything can be produced on plain paper which is another cost saving. I had a couple of initial queries and customer care answered these promptly. I would highly recommend this product, it's fantastic value for money.
Pros:
Nice modern user interface. Easy to learn and operate. Covers RTI and Auto Enrollment. No need for dedicated stationery. Excellent value for money. Fixed yearly fee includes all legislation and feature updates and support.
Cons:
Would be nice to be able to attach documents to employee records i.e. contract of employment, disciplinary letters, etc.
Brightpay Auto Enrolment and RTI Ready Payroll software
Comments: I have never come accross such a user friendly software product. Every box and heading is self explanatory. Transfer from Basic PAYE Tools, set up and running has been so easy. The software is completely free for up to 3 employees. This suited us initially. Any small queries I have had have been dealt with in a timely and efficient manner demonstrating how utterly professional and committed to excellent customer service Brightpay are. Although Brightpay were already linked to about 10 Pension providers (including NEST, Peoples and NOW), we decided to use an Auto enrolment pension scheme which wasnt yet linked to the software but Brightpay developers worked like trojans to get it up and running in time for our staging date. There were a few teething problems with online pension contribution filing, but I just had to send a copy of my files by email so the developers could see what was going wrong. It was a simple password error. By the end of the day it was all sorted and has been running smoothly ever since. This was Excellent service above and beyond the call of duty, and considering we had not paid a penny for use of the software.
Pros:
If an employee has a fixed salary each month this is shown automatically on each payroll day so no further entries need to be done. The HMRC and Pension Scheme id and passwords need to be entered only once in the set up. Then a simple click on the send button is done for all future submissions. Massive time savings. Each employee has a holiday and sick day calendar which recalculates holidays remaining or if SSP is entitled to automatically. Transferring mid year from another payroll product is simple.
Fantastic payroll software that has thought of everything
Comments: Great software and functionality. Very feature rich as well as being easy to use. Good value for money and the support is efficient and thorough, both telephone customer service and support bank of self-help tools.
Pros:
The auto-enrolment functionality is a dream, making light of the entire process from identifying staging dates, right through to generating enrolment letters for staff. The user interface is simple yet detailed and easy to navigate and customise.
Cons:
I have been caught out a few times by alterations to the pay of an employee in one month/pay period which do not automatically revert to the stated basic pay the following month. It would be better if it did automatically revert or the system prompted you to choose how many periods/months should reflect that change.

Great value easy to use payroll package
Comments: Very happy to use and recommend the package
Pros:
Good value and very easy to use software that meets all the requirements of a payroll bureau and standalone payroll
Cons:
Not much that we can criticise on the package
Thesaurus Software Response
10 months ago
Hi John, thank you for taking the time to review BrightPay. It's great to hear that BrightPay meets all the requirements for your payroll bureau. Thanks for the 5-star ratings!
Decent technology, customer-focused
Pros:
I've used this software over two years and while parts of it are clunky, I love the annual updates and ways they continually change the platform to make it user friendly. It really feels like they listen to customer suggestions and make changes. Our employees love the self-serve model whereby they can access all their pay information on their own without going to HR.
Cons:
User customization could use some upgrades. I'd like to be able to change the formatting and most-used columns and set up my dashboard more to my liking. This doesn't mean the software is not usable, it's just a bit clunky and means I do not work as quickly as I'd like.
Best payroll software
Comments: I love working with Bright pay. It is so simple and easy to use and is the best payroll software i have used in 5 years.
Pros:
Is easy to use, the best payroll software i have used. I have been doing payroll for 5 years and this is by far my favourite.
Cons:
Sometimes it freezes and it disconnects from the cloud.
Brightpay Review
Comments: We've been using BrightPay for over 2 years now for our 30+ employee payroll, having switched from Sage Payroll which we'd been using for 10-15 years. We have had no reason whatsoever to rethink that decision and have been really impressed with BrightPay.
Pros:
- pensions included as standard - cost - look and feel - multiple users included - online employee portal add-on
Very Easy to Follow
Pros:
We have loved brightpay because of it's simplicity but very well organized and realiable product to have!
Cons:
It constantly reminds you to never miss a deadline and helps you keep track of all the small stuff that usually gets you. A must have!
Small business feedback using free version
Pros:
It is free for small business users with only a couple of employees It is easy to use and conforms to the HMRC requirements, providing exactly the submissions that they require
Cons:
You need to download a new program each year rather than be able to continue using the same program and just close out the tax year.
very good payroll program for small companies
Pros:
very easy to use, no experience needed. I've got only one sometimes two employees at any one time but the customer service is out of this world. They reply to emails are very quickly, although I am using the free version. Very good company/software.
Cons:
not available, there is nothing I like the least.
Excellent piece of software, and free for micro businessness
Comments: When I started my company 2 years ago, I had a long list of things to get to grips with, many of which I knew eff-all about. Running payroll was high up there. I chose BrightPay because of its good reviews and fact that it was free for micro businesses. Despite knowing literally nothing about what I was supposed to be doing with regards to payroll (back when I had a 'proper' job I basically didn't know why I was getting payslips) the software was ridiculously easy to use and I wasted no time at all in getting up and going. On the few occasions I've used customer support, I've got straight through to a real person who solved my problems instantly. I highly recommend this product for small businesses.
Pros:
Ease of use Cost Customer service
Cons:
For, I suspect, very sensible reasons, BrightPay doesn't offer advice regarding stuff that should be given by a trained accountant. Consequently I went through time time without checking the box that gives you "Employment Allowance" - money back off your employer's NI. Most companies that don't really directly or indirectly on public sector funding are eligible for this, but if you don't know about it you're unlikely to tick the box. This isn't BrightPay's fault - it's not their job to be giving accountancy advice, but it's worth to bare in mind that though the software is easy to use you may still need a few extra pointers from a professional when you start out.
I have used this software for about 9 years it is very good.
Pros:
The software updates are very good as i am just one person who does wages weekly for a small company and if i get confused at all any time the people at BrightPay are just so helpful.
Cons:
I dont think there is anything i dont like about BrightPay
Best value Payroll Software we have had in 20 years of practice
Comments: Simple and straightforward to install and use [unlike many of the larger competitors] it contains the majority of functions required by most payroll departments. It is so easy to add extra payments or deductions without lots of messing and links. There are so many facilities It would take a week to list them all. A brilliant top value pack.
Pros:
Everything is built in - it is so easy to use There is no charge for charities and super small businesses that wish to run their own payroll.
Cons:
I can't think of any problems - they have all been ironed out over the past few years.
Simple but fully-featured payroll
Pros:
Full featured payroll software that is completely free for small companies. Easy to learn. Good support from the company, though I've only had to contact them for advice with one problem.
Cons:
Nothing - I like it!
Outstanding !
Pros:
Simple, easy, friendly voice if help is needed and for someone with a small business with tight finances its FOC !
Cons:
Nothing - everything about BrightPay for me is all I need
Escape from Sage/ Tas
Comments: I now have more time to get one with my work thanks to Brightpay.
Pros:
At last a payroll system that doesn't require a lot of extended time, just gets on with what is required. Having changed from Sage/ Tas to this I can say it is like escaping from a maze of confusion into the bright sunshine! I changed initially as we are a small company and needed to sort out pension provision that could be easily done via our payroll. Sage/Tas were unhelpful and it looked to be very expensive. Thank goodness I found Brightpay. Pensions has still been a bit of a challenge, but with the assistance of Brightpay we are there now!
Cons:
No major issues, and there was an update that fixed an alignment issue if weekly pension pay didn't match with one that had been set up. All good.
Amazing product for employees
Pros:
I have never been so impressed before by a POS system, especially the thought put into employee care as well as making it easier for employers to organize their workforce’s savings, pensions, benefits etc. Very HR friendly.
Cons:
My only issue was that I am a US business and I believe this is meant more for UK businesses. It was very compatible with windows and not so much for macs.
Best payroll package on the market
Pros:
Easy to use and help at the end of a phone if you get in trouble
Cons:
nothing to criticize any faults have been my own making
Never used any payroll software previously but enjoyed using Brightpay
Pros:
Ease of use, layout and inclusion possibilities of payslips. We operate minibuses and private hire vehicles where the employee hours vary from week to week. Brightpay's ability to accrue holiday pay based on hours worked and to show this on the payslips is very useful saving independent spreadsheets.
Cons:
Really impressed with the fact that payslips can be translated into so many languages some of which I've never heard of. And yet translation into Welsh not available - Please show some respect and recognize the continued existence and use of one of the oldest languages in Europe. Consider also the existence of the Gaelic and Cornish languages. Offer these translations and market the availability. The Welsh language also has official status in Wales. This means that public organisations should give information and provide services in Welsh, as well as in English. The ability to provide Welsh payslips would be advantageous to companies seeking to show support or actively running their companies in and with Welsh as the main language.