Payroll software · New Zealand · Head-to-head
PayHero vs Thankyou Payroll
Two New Zealand payroll software options, compared side by side for New Zealand trades.
Which should you choose?
PayHero 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.
PayHero
Tier S · Published pricesNew Zealand payroll software from Wellington's FlexiTime, with automated payday filing and GPS timesheets for trades
PayHero is New Zealand payroll software from FlexiTime, a Wellington company that says it has run payroll for Kiwi businesses since 2008 and launched PayHero in 2019. It covers pay runs, automated payday filing with Inland Revenue, leave, and timesheets and leave requests through an employee app. Its trades page adds GPS time tracking, job-level timesheets, tool allowances and mileage reimbursements.
Pros
- + Published NZD prices, pay as you go with no lock-in contract
- + Automated payday filing of PAYE with Inland Revenue
- + Trades features: GPS time tracking, job-level timesheets, tool allowances and mileage reimbursements
- + Public holiday entitlements calculated from work patterns and timesheet history
Cons
- − Origin plan is capped at 10 employees
- − Base fee plus a per-employee charge each month, excluding GST
- − GPS clock-in, timesheet approvals and break calculations need Super or above
- − Leave rules change when the Employment Leave Act 2026 starts in August 2028
New Zealand note
PayHero says it handles leave in line with the Holidays Act 2003 and current government guidance, and calculates public holiday entitlements from work patterns and timesheet history. The Employment Leave Act 2026 replaces the Holidays Act from 6 August 2028; PayHero has said it plans to update the software and move existing leave balances across before then.
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.