PAYROLL BY HEADCOUNT
Payroll for 1-9 Employees
Your first employee brings the same core PAYE responsibilities as your ninth. You need the employer registration, the right employee details, the latest Revenue Payroll Notification (RPN), accurate deductions, a payroll submission to Revenue and a payslip for each payment.
Payrollcompany.ie gives small Irish employers a repeatable payroll process from the start, whether you are making your first hire, paying a director, moving away from spreadsheets or handing payroll over from another provider.
Payroll pricing snapshot
Monthly · 1–9 employees
€30 / employee
Monthly · 10–20 employees
€25 / employee
21+ employees
Custom quote
Payroll services
Who this service is for
- A business hiring its first employee.
- Startups making their first hires.
- Employers using spreadsheets or a largely manual payroll process.
- Companies that need director payroll alongside ordinary employee payroll.
- Owner-managed companies with 1 to 9 employees.
- Businesses currently processing payroll themselves.
- Companies switching from an accountant or another payroll provider.
Want to compare this service with our other routes by headcount or industry? Visit our Payroll Services for Irish Businesses hub.
GETTING STARTED
Your First Payroll Starts Before Payday
If you are becoming an employer, the useful work happens before the first salary or wage is transferred. Revenue says an employer should register for PAYE before paying an employee, and a company must also register and operate PAYE on directors’ income even where there are no other employees.
The current Revenue employer-registration guidance sets out the registration obligation, while we handle the payroll setup included in your agreed service.
A straightforward first-payroll sequence is
- Confirm the employer PAYE registration and the payroll frequency.
- Collect the employee's core payroll information, including their PPSN where available, start date, rate of pay and payment details.
- Make sure Revenue has the employment record it needs so an RPN can be requested.
- Retrieve the latest RPN before calculating the payroll.
- Calculate gross pay and the applicable Income Tax, USC, PRSI, LPT and other agreed deductions.
- Report the payroll information to Revenue on or before the pay date.
- Pay the employee and provide the required payslip.
- Retain the payroll records and carry any approved changes into the next pay cycle.
REVENUE REGISTRATION
Who Registers a New Employment With Revenue?
The answer depends on whether this is the employee’s first job in the State.
| Situation | Who Registers the Employment? | What Happens Next? |
|---|---|---|
| First job in the State | The employee registers the job through Revenue's Jobs and Pensions service in myAccount. | Once Revenue has the employment, the employer can request the RPN. |
| Employee has worked in the State before | The employer registers the new employment by requesting an RPN with the correct start date. | Revenue creates or updates the employment record and makes the relevant RPN available. |
| No RPN available yet | Payroll follows Revenue's emergency-basis rules until a valid RPN can be retrieved. | The current RPN should be used as soon as Revenue makes it available. |
For the detailed tax treatment when an RPN is missing or Revenue issues Week 1 or Month 1 basis, check out our Revenue Payroll Notification guide.
DIRECTOR PAYROLL
If You Are Paying Yourself as a Director
A company can have payroll obligations even where the director is the only person being paid. Revenue requires a company to register as an employer and operate PAYE on directors’ income.
Director payroll can also raise PRSI, proprietary-director tax, benefit-in-kind and remuneration-timing questions that do not always follow the same analysis as ordinary employee payroll.
Those specialist issues are covered in our Director Payroll in Ireland guide, while the 1 to 9 employee service can include director payroll within the agreed processing scope.
REPORTING ROUTES
You Can Use ROS Without Payroll Software
Commercial payroll software is not the only way to report payroll. Revenue allows employers without a ROS-compatible payroll package to request RPNs and enter payroll information manually through ROS.
A spreadsheet, on its own
- Can be useful for internal records
- Does not itself satisfy the real-time reporting obligation
- Still needs a valid route to Revenue for the actual submission
Manual ROS entry
- Available where you don't have a compatible payroll package
- Lets you request RPNs and enter payroll information directly
- Outsourcing is a service choice, not a legal requirement to buy software
SERVICE SCOPE
What Our 1-9 Employee Payroll Service Can Include
- Employer PAYE registration and payroll setup where required.
- Employee onboarding for payroll.
- Latest RPN retrieval before each pay run.
- Weekly, fortnightly or monthly payroll processing within the agreed package.
- PAYE, USC and PRSI calculations.
- Revenue payroll submissions on or before the pay date.
- Digital payslips.
- Starters and leavers.
- Holiday and sick-pay payroll calculations where applicable.
- Director payroll where included in the agreed scope.
- Benefit-in-kind payroll calculations where applicable.
- Enhanced Reporting Requirements administration where applicable.
- MyFutureFund payroll administration using the official enrolment information.
- Standard payroll reports and records.
- Payroll corrections.
- A dedicated payroll manager.
DON’T ASSUME SIMPLICITY
Small Headcount Does Not Remove Other Payroll Inputs
Some payroll issues depend on the employee or payment rather than the number of people you employ.
- A director on payroll
- A taxable benefit
- An employee on emergency basis
- A reportable ERR payment
- An employee enrolled in MyFutureFund
A business with two employees can still have any of the above. Payrollcompany.ie administers those items where they are within the agreed service, but the legal responsibility remains with the employer. Where an authority makes a statutory determination, the payroll process follows that official position rather than replacing it.
For MyFutureFund, for example, the National Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings Authority (NAERSA) identifies and enrols eligible employees. Payroll applies the official enrolment information and processes the contribution workflow where it is relevant to your payroll.
STATUTORY BASICS
Payslips, Leave and Sick Pay Still Apply to Small Teams
Every payment needs a payslip
The Workplace Relations Commission confirms that every employee must receive a written statement of wages with each payment, showing gross wages and the nature and amount of each deduction. Its payslip guidance applies whether you employ one person or a much larger team.
Leave accrues from day one
Annual leave also accrues from the start of employment for full-time, part-time, temporary and casual employees. Statutory sick leave can apply once the employee meets the current legal conditions. The payroll calculation needs the correct employee and leave information, but payroll processing does not replace the employer’s wider employment-law responsibilities.
GETTING READY
A Practical First-Payroll Checklist
- Employer PAYE registration confirmed.
- Correct employment start date.
- Salary, hourly rate or other approved pay basis confirmed.
- Bank and payment details confirmed through your agreed process.
- Benefits and recurring deductions identified.
- Payroll reporting route ready before the pay date.
- Annual leave and statutory sick-leave records started.
- Employee name and PPSN recorded where available.
- Pay frequency agreed.
- Normal hours or variable-pay information available where relevant.
- Latest RPN available, or emergency basis identified where it is not.
- Pension and MyFutureFund information reviewed where relevant.
- Payslip process ready.
- Named person responsible for approving the pay run.
Common pitfalls
Common Payroll Problems in a 1-9 Employee Business
Waiting too long to register as an employer
Revenue says registration should be dealt with before the employee is paid. The same principle applies where a company is paying a director and has no other staff.
Paying before the RPN position is clear
If a valid RPN cannot be retrieved, Revenue’s emergency-basis rules apply. Payroll should not invent credits or use an old assumption about the employee’s tax position.
Treating director payroll as ordinary employee payroll
Director PRSI and personal tax obligations can depend on ownership, control and other facts, so specialist director treatment should be checked rather than assumed.
Keeping the payroll process in one person's head
Even a small team benefits from a simple cut-off, approval route and clear record of what changed before each pay run.
Treating every new starter the same with Revenue
A person’s first job in the State is registered by the employee. Subsequent employments are registered by the employer through the RPN process.
Assuming a spreadsheet completes the Revenue process
A spreadsheet can support your records, but payroll information still has to reach Revenue through an approved reporting route.
Assuming ERR or MyFutureFund only apply to larger employers
Those processes depend on the relevant payment, benefit or employee position, not simply on whether the business has fewer than ten staff.
MAKING THE CALL
When Does Outsourcing Payroll Make Sense?
You do not need to reach a particular headcount before outsourcing becomes useful. For a small employer, the decision is often about time, confidence and continuity rather than payroll volume.
It can be useful when
- You are hiring your first employee and do not want to build the Revenue payroll process yourself.
- Payroll is taking time away from running the business.
- You are not comfortable managing RPNs, payroll submissions or payroll corrections.
- A director needs to be paid through payroll.
- You have variable pay, benefits or changing employee circumstances.
- You want a consistent payroll process if the person currently handling it is unavailable.
- You are switching from a manual process, an accountant or another payroll provider.
If you are moving an existing payroll rather than starting from scratch, our payroll migration service explains how employee records, year-to-date figures and Revenue access are carried into the new process.
PRICING
Payroll Pricing for 1-9 Employees
€30 per employee / mo
The published rate for standard monthly payroll with 1 to 9 employees, exclusive of VAT. Weekly, fortnightly and low-frequency payroll use separate per-payslip pricing.
Frequently asked questions
Questions about Payroll for 1-9 Employees
Do I Need Payroll If I Only Have One Employee?
Yes. The core employer payroll obligations start with the first employee. A company must also register as an employer and operate PAYE on directors’ income even if there are no other employees.
When Should I Register as an Employer?
Revenue says you should register as an employer before paying your employee. The payroll setup should therefore be completed before the first pay date rather than after the payment has already been made.
Who Registers My Employee With Revenue?
If it is the person’s first job in the State, the employee registers the job through Revenue’s Jobs and Pensions service. For a subsequent employment, the employer registers it by requesting an RPN with the correct start date.
What Happens If I Cannot Get an RPN?
Revenue requires the employer to use emergency basis when a valid RPN cannot be retrieved. Payroll should move to the current RPN as soon as Revenue makes it available.
Can I Run Payroll Without Buying Payroll Software?
Yes. Revenue provides a manual ROS payroll route for employers without a ROS-compatible payroll package. You still need to calculate and report the payroll correctly, so some small employers choose a payroll provider rather than managing that process themselves.
Does a Director Need to Be Paid Through Payroll?
A company must operate PAYE on directors’ income even where there are no other employees. Director PRSI and personal tax treatment can require additional analysis depending on the circumstances.
Do MyFutureFund and ERR Apply to Small Employers?
They can. ERR depends on the payment or benefit being provided, while MyFutureFund enrolment is determined through the official NAERSA process for the individual employee. Neither is switched off simply because the employer has fewer than ten employees.
How Much Does Payroll Cost for 1-9 Employees?
The published monthly rate is €30 per employee per month, exclusive of VAT. Other pay frequencies use the rates shown on the Payroll Pricing page.
Can You Take Over Payroll If I Have Been Doing It Myself?
Yes. The handover reviews the employer setup, employee records, year-to-date information and Revenue position, then moves payroll to an agreed cutover date.