Sage launches cloud payroll for small business

Sage

Sage has announced a new member of its cloud product family in the shape of Sage One Payroll.

The cloud-based Software as a Service (SaaS) is targeted specifically at small businesses, with 15 or fewer employees, which might not have the skills in-house to run an efficient payroll system.

The key to the software is automation, making it easier for a non-payroll specialist to use. As well as recording and updating P11 records, it also ensures it is up-to-date with any regulatory changes and works out for the business what statutory payments need to be made.

At the end of the financial year, a tool comes into play for producing reports to send directly to HMRC, removing the need to duplicate the info for the tax office.

All of this can then be accessed by your accountant and any corrections that need to be made can be easily adjusted in the system.

"Sage has a fantastic pedigree within the payroll software space and this expertise has helped shape and inform our first SaaS payroll product," said Chris Stonehouse, head of Sage Online.

"We also spent a lot of time consulting with small businesses and their insights fed into every element from the design to the language used, enabling us to create what we believe is one of the industry's most user-friendly pieces of software for processing the pay run."

The price point is appealing too. Sticking to a pay per seat philosophy, Sage One Payroll comes in at 5 for up to five users, 10 for 10 and 15 for 15. But, even better, businesses can use the service for free up until July 2012.

There is also support around the product, with 24 hour phone lines open for 365 of the year.

Jennifer Scott

Jennifer Scott is a former freelance journalist and currently political reporter for Sky News. She has a varied writing history, having started her career at Dennis Publishing, working in various roles across its business technology titles, including ITPro. Jennifer has specialised in a number of areas over the years and has produced a wealth of content for ITPro, focusing largely on data storage, networking, cloud computing, and telecommunications.

Most recently Jennifer has turned her skills to the political sphere and broadcast journalism, where she has worked for the BBC as a political reporter, before moving to Sky News.