Case Study

Shetland Payroll

Shetland Payroll was founded in Shetland in 2013. We have grown to provide payroll support to a large and growing number of small businesses and community owned enterprises. Based in Ayrshire, the company continues to expand with the intention of helping small business owners to understand that payroll isn’t complex and can be done by anyone. We offer free training on BrightPay and discounted rates to community owned businesses.

What challenges in your business influenced you to look at BrightPay?

Entering the world of being an employer in 2012 meant that we were facing a whole unknown world of payroll legislation and red tape. Initially we started our search for payroll software by choosing one of the world’s most recognised accounting and payroll software systems. However, this turned out to be a monumentally silly decision!! We found that the software was too complex, significantly overpriced and the support was at best dire and at worst utterly shambolic.

We decided to look for a better and simpler solution. We tried HMRC’s own software Basic PAYE Tools (BPT) which left us with a limited employee base. As BPT had no payslip facility we also had to use other software to produce payslips which meant spending hours processing our payroll each week for around 10 employees. We needed to find something better and something reliable.

We spent many hours trying out demo versions of most payroll software that were available on the market. One day we found BrightPay. The website certainly made the software look the part but we wanted to make sure it would do everything we wanted it to. We decided to download the 60 day free trial and off we went.

Why did you choose BrightPay over other payroll solutions?

We needed a payroll software package that catered specifically for the needs of an SME. BrightPay suited our needs perfectly. We tried everything we could think of to make BrightPay struggle but we found nothing. BrightPay had the ability to do everything that an SME could need.

We also noticed that there was a bureau version available to process payroll for multiple employers and employees. The bureau licence meant that we could offer payroll services to retailers and businesses nearby. BrightPay was not only our in-house software, it additionally allowed us to add a new service to our business and gave us a new revenue stream with minimal added software expense.

Nothing on the market compared up to BrightPay. The interface is clean, crisp and modern. Every other solution we looked at on the market is failing miserably. How could we resist? Once we decided to buy BrightPay. We called the support telephone number and were greeted with an Irish accent – as my wife will tell you I’m a sucker for an Irish Girl. We were sold and the rest as they say is history!

What are the key benefits of BrightPay?

BrightPay offers a simple, affordable and well thought out payroll solution. It is backed up with professional support that provides honest and friendly advice. A real plus for any small business is the fact that BrightPay offers a free package to micro-employers with three or less employees. What's more is the support is free for all users, even for those customers on the free package! In this day and age that kind of moral approach to business is so often overlooked and that alone should be reason to buy into the software. BrightPay has regular updates which are also free. The software is easy to use with tutorials available for the infrequent actions any employer might need to carry out.

What specific results have you seen from implementing BrightPay?

As a payroll bureau, my income and revenue is reliant and dependant on the features and functionality of BrightPay. I can honestly say the software is highly intuitive and consistently performs at a level that would generally command a much higher price point. BrightPay remains affordable to even the smallest business in the UK.

What do you particularly like about BrightPay?

I particularly love the fact the software can make submissions to a large (and growing number) of pension providers, making Auto Enrolment duties a breeze. I also like that BrightPay can be used in conjunction with their other HR product, Bright Contracts which is similarly useful.

The extensive ‘help’ files and database of links/advice is unparalleled on the market and I have yet to find a single payroll software provider who consistently meets the growing demands and needs of the market so brilliantly. I was asked by someone recently why BrightPay was better than anything else, my response could only be:

"I can process a payroll in under five minutes, why would I want to spend any of the time I’ve saved looking at other packages?”

Find out more about what customers think about BrightPay - Read our customer testimonials.