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Small business accounting, payroll and HR solutions

Make running your small business easier with powerful software solutions for small business accounting, payroll and HR.

Sage Accounting

Manage income and expenses with ease, master your cashflow. From £12+VAT/mo.
Get 3 months free

Sage Payroll

Pay your people securely, accurately and compliantly every time. From £7+VAT/mo.
Get 3 months free

Sage HR

Onboard employees, automate your HR process. From: £4+VAT per employee/mo.
Get 3 months free

Why small business accounting, payroll, and HR software from Sage?

Sage has more than 40 years experience perfecting accounting, payroll and HR software, and makes running a small business easier for over 2 million customers.

Get paid faster, get organised, and get your taxes right first time with Sage Accounting. Calculate employee pay and deductions quickly and accurately with Sage Payroll. Get your people management processes streamlined and compliant with Sage HR.

Quotes & Estimates 08.08.2022 From Today To Calculate Refresh summary DUE £3,561.10 £15,100.50 50% £7,550.25 25% £4,228.14 14% £3,322.11 11% 44% OVERDUE £4,211.29 56% Outstanding Sales Invoices

Sage Accounting

Perfect for freelancers, sole traders, and small businesses. Get 3 months free, then from £12.00+VAT/month.

  • Customise, send and track invoices
  • Store and manage digital records
  • Forecast your cash flow
  • Connect seamlessly with your bank
  • Be MTD for VAT compliant
Discover Accounting
Back Complete pay run Confirm your pay information before completing the pay run. This also sets the next pay run. Employee Pay Breakdown Deductions Net Pay Employer Pension Contribution Employee Pension Contribution Jan 2022 £0.00 £4,000.00 £2,000.00 Mar 2022 May 2022 Jul 2022 For a breakdown of how these amounts were calculated, . open the detailed report 4£3,420.80 You are paying employees, at a total cost to you of Process Weekly Pay: 3rd January 2023 (Month 3) Start Absences Pay Confirm

Sage Payroll

Pay your people securely, accurately, and compliantly every time. Get 3 months free, then from £7.00+VAT/month.

  • Manage payroll for up to 100 employees
  • Complete pay runs in 4 simple steps
  • Stay compliant with a fully HMRC recognised solution
  • Self-serve payslips and P60s in-app
  • Report on and analyse your payroll for informed decisions
Discover Payroll
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Sage HR

Onboard your employees, automate your HR process, and get meaningful insights. Get 3 months free, then from £4.00+VAT/month.

  • Manage core HR tasks in one place
  • Run performance and leave management
  • Schedule and manage shifts
  • Collate and manage timesheets
  • Review and approve expenses
Discover HR

Sage Employee Benefits

Keep your people happy and healthy and give back to your employees beyond a payslip. Now free for 3 months.

  • Online GP appointments
  • Health and wellbeing
  • Retail discounts
  • Cycle to work scheme
Sage Employee Benefits

FAQs

Although it's possible to run a small business without accounting software, this approach is more time-intensive and error-prone. For example, spreadsheets typically don't update in real-time and can't be used to automatically reconcile lots of payments across multiple bank accounts. Modern accounting software enables business owners to submit accurate, compliant tax returns to HMRC. It can also save businesses up to five hours of week typically spent on admin. Accounting software also enables effective collaboration with other people in the business or with an accountant.

If you're running a small business, you may need a variety of software for marketing, sales and managing the books. For example, MailChimp is useful for creating and tracking marketing campaigns.

A basic CRM system can keep track of customer details. If you're running online business, you may use software like Google Analytics and Google Suite to manage a company web presence and business email.

You may also need software specific to the nature of your business. For example, a graphic designer running a small agency may require software like Adobe Creative Cloud.

Accounting software is also popular with many British small businesses. It enables you to get paid faster, spend less time on admin and submit accurate tax returns to HMRC.

The software needs of a business vary depending on its size, industry and requirements.

For example, a micro-business may need project management software, like Trello or Asana, for managing projects with contractors. They may also use file storage software like Dropbox and Google Drive to manage and store files securely.

A business that accepts payments from customers may use a payments portal like Paypal or Stripe.

Similarly, a business with several dozen employees may use HR software, like Sage HR, to manage people across the business. They may also use software like Sage Payroll to pay employees quickly and accurately. Most growing businesses use some form of accounting software, like Sage Accounting, so they can manage the books more efficiently and submit accurate, compliant tax returns.

Ideally, online financial software for small businesses should solve a particular problem.

For example, if Jane struggles to keep track of all the items on her to-do list, she should consider investing in project management software to keep track of multiple projects. Similarly, time-tracking software is sometimes useful for billing.

If Jane works with people remotely, she may find software like Slack and Dropbox useful for collaboration.

Similarly, if Jane spends several hours a week examining profit and loss spreadsheets and reconciling bank transactions, she may be spending her time ineffectively.

Although understanding profit and loss is important for business owners, Jane's time is probably better spent growing the business by serving customers or creating better products. In this case, accounting software, such as Sage Accounting, should free up several hours in Jane's week that she can spend on higher-value activities.

Accountants use software that can help them collaborate with clients and or submit tax returns on their behalf. Sage Accounting is an example of accounting software popular with British accountants who work with small businesses. It's a more modern solution than Sage 50cloud, which is also popular.

Accountants also use accounts production software for running their practice and payroll software, such as Sage Payroll, for paying people they employ.

If a practice supports a larger business, they may use an advanced financial management solution like Sage Intacct.