Payroll software · New Zealand · Head-to-head
Crystal Payroll vs Thankyou Payroll
Two New Zealand payroll software options, compared side by side for New Zealand trades.
Which should you choose?
Crystal Payroll and Thankyou Payroll are both Tier S: our check found each one's prices published on its own website, so you can compare their costs before talking to sales. The tier is not a quality ranking: weigh the pros, cons, pricing and New Zealand-specific notes below against your trade and region.
Crystal Payroll
Tier S · Published pricesAuckland-made cloud payroll with automatic IRD payday filing, running since 2005
Crystal Payroll is a New Zealand cloud payroll and timesheet service based in Birkenhead, Auckland, which says it has been running since 2005 and serves thousands of Kiwi businesses. It says it is an IRD-accredited PAYE intermediary and files payday returns to IRD for you two working days after payday, from a Payday Filing Dashboard. It handles KiwiSaver and holiday pay calculations, including for variable-rate and shift workers, and connects to Xero, MYOB, Reckon and Farm Focus.
Pros
- + Automatic IRD payday filing from a Payday Filing Dashboard
- + Holiday pay and leave calculations for variable-rate and shift workers
- + Employee app for timesheets and leave requests
- + No minimum period, and money back within 30 days of your first pay run, Crystal says
Cons
- − Published price covers up to 5 employees; bigger teams use a calculator or ask sales
- − One-off $50 registration fee, and training costs $60 an hour
- − Data migration priced on request
New Zealand note
Crystal Payroll says it is an IRD-accredited PAYE intermediary and files payday returns automatically two working days after the pay date. It says it manages holiday pay and leave calculations under New Zealand law, including for staff on variable rates and shift workers, and employees can submit timesheets and leave requests through its app.
Thankyou Payroll
Tier S · Published pricesNZ payroll that files and pays PAYE to IRD for you, free for registered charities
Thankyou Payroll is a New Zealand cloud payroll service founded in Dunedin in 2009 and now based in Wellington; it says it is owned by Generous Ventures, which grew out of the Thankyou Charitable Trust, and puts its profits back into communities. It says it is an IRD-accredited PAYE intermediary: employers transfer the gross payroll to Thankyou, which pays staff, files payday information and pays deductions to IRD. It says over 7,000 organisations use it. RNZ reported on 10 September 2026 that Thankyou Payroll was caught up in a global breach of the Metabase reporting tool that exposed names, IRD numbers, addresses, bank account details and payment histories.
Pros
- + PAYE intermediary service (payday filing and IRD payments) on every plan
- + Published prices with a monthly cap; you pay only for pays you run
- + No setup fee or contract, and nothing to pay until your first pay
- + Free for registered charities
Cons
- − Per-pay fee makes weekly pay runs cost more, up to the monthly cap
- − Gross payroll must reach Thankyou before payday (2 days ahead on the 2 Day plan)
- − Hit by a September 2026 data breach via the Metabase reporting tool, per RNZ
New Zealand note
Thankyou Payroll says it files payday information and pays PAYE, KiwiSaver, student loan and child support deductions to IRD for you on every plan. It calculates ordinary and average weekly pay and relevant and average daily pay for Holidays Act leave, tracks annual and sick leave balances, and posts pay journals to Xero.
More New Zealand options
See all New Zealand payroll software vendors and the rest of the New Zealand directory.