Payroll Software for Small Business Singapore: The 1-10 Employee Guide (2026)

Quick answer: For Singapore small businesses with 1-10 employees, the best payroll software is one that handles CPF, SDL, SHG, IRAS AIS, and payslips without per-employee pricing. AIMM Payroll is free for 3 employees and S$9.90/month flat for 10.

If you run a Singapore small business with one to ten employees, you face the same statutory obligations as a 200-person company — CPF, Skills Development Levy (SDL), Self-Help Group (SHG) deductions, itemised payslips, and IRAS Auto-Inclusion Scheme (AIS) filing — without an HR team to handle them. This guide covers what payroll software small business Singapore employers need and how options compare on price at the 1-10 employee range that defines a micro-SME.

Why small businesses need payroll software (not Excel)

Most Singapore small businesses start payroll on a spreadsheet. It feels free — until a compliance error triggers a real penalty.

CPF calculation errors

CPF is the most error-prone part of Singapore payroll. The total rate is 37% (17% employer + 20% employee) for employees under 55, with the Ordinary Wage (OW) ceiling at S$8,000/month and an annual ceiling of S$102,000. Source: CPF Board. Rates shift by age band — 55-60, 60-65, and 65+ all pay different rates — and PRs in their first two years pay graduated rates. A spreadsheet formula that hard-codes 37% will silently miscalculate CPF for any employee over 55, any PR, and anyone crossing the S$8,000 ceiling.

CPF is due on the last day of the calendar month. Late payment accrues 1.5% per month simple interest, and CPF Board can recover unpaid contributions plus penalties. Source: CPF Board. A spreadsheet does not remind you of the due date. Payroll software does.

Missed AIS deadlines

Since YA2022, the IRAS Auto-Inclusion Scheme (AIS) has been mandatory for employers with five or more employees, and once enrolled, enrollment is permanent — you cannot opt out even if headcount later drops below five. Source: IRAS. The annual deadline is 1 March. Missing it triggers a non-submission penalty of S$5,000, and under-declaration can cost up to 200% of the tax undercharged for negligence, or 400% for wilful evasion. Source: IRAS. A spreadsheet cannot generate a valid IR8A file in the IRAS-specified format — building and validating that file manually is exactly the kind of error-prone step that leads to missed deadlines.

MOM itemised payslip requirements

Under the Employment Act, employers must issue itemised payslips within three working days of payment, containing 12 mandatory items — basic salary, itemised deductions (CPF, SDL, SHG), overtime pay, pay period dates, start and end dates, and net salary paid. Source: MOM. Non-compliant payslips are an offence under the Employment Act. A spreadsheet payslip is a manual formatting exercise every pay cycle; payroll software generates compliant payslips automatically.

Manual statutory filing is error-prone

Every pay cycle involves at least four statutory computations — CPF, SDL, SHG, and eventual IR8A filing — each with its own rate table, threshold, and due date. One transposed digit, one missed SDL computation, one payslip issued a day late — each is a compliance failure. The statutory obligations do not scale down with headcount: a two-employee employer uses the same CPF rate tables as a thousand-employee employer. Software automates that; a spreadsheet requires manual maintenance, and the cost of error is measured in penalties.

What to look for in payroll software for small business Singapore

Not every payroll tool is built for the Singapore micro-SME. Global HR platforms often bolt Singapore compliance on as an afterthought. Here is what a 1-10 employee business should require.

CPF, SDL, and SHG auto-calculation

The software must calculate CPF by age band, apply the OW ceiling (S$8,000/month) and annual ceiling (S$102,000), and handle PR graduated rates automatically. Source: CPF Board. It must compute SDL at 0.25% of monthly remuneration, minimum S$2, maximum S$11.25, employer-paid. Source: CPF Board / SSG. And it must apply SHG deductions — CDAC, MBMF, SINDA, ECF — by ethnicity and income band. Source: CPF Board. See our how to calculate SDL guide and CPF contribution rates guide.

IRAS AIS support

The software must generate IR8A files (and Appendix 8A/8B where applicable) in the IRAS-specified format for AIS submission, and IR21 files for tax clearance. Source: IRAS. Note the distinction: generating the file is one capability; submitting directly to IRAS via API is another. AIMM generates IR8A and IR21 files in the correct format but does not yet have direct API submission to IRAS — that is in progress. You can still submit generated files via the IRAS AIS portal.

GIRO bank files

Most Singapore banks accept GIRO bulk-payout files, letting you pay your entire team in a single upload. Some vendors gate this behind higher tiers.

Itemised payslips

The software must generate payslips with all 12 mandatory MOM items, issue within three working days of payment, and allow secure delivery. Source: MOM. Manual payslip formatting is exactly the repetitive, error-prone task software should eliminate.

Employee Self-Service (ESS) portal

An ESS portal lets employees view payslips, leave balances, and personal details without asking you — reducing administrative interruptions. Not every tier includes ESS; check before you commit.

Flat pricing, not per-employee

Many vendors charge S$4-5 per employee per month, a model that penalises growth — as headcount rises from 3 to 10, your bill rises proportionally, though the software does the same work. Flat pricing, where you pay one fee regardless of whether you have 4 or 10 employees, is significantly cheaper for a growing micro-SME.

Singapore-specific, not a global HR platform

A global HR platform supporting 50 countries will not match the depth of Singapore-specific compliance. CPF rate changes, SHG fund updates, IRAS format revisions, and MOM payslip rules change frequently. Software built for Singapore updates these automatically; a global platform may lag, leaving you to verify and patch rates yourself.

AIMM Payroll for 1-3 employees (free tier)

For a Singapore small business with one to three employees, AIMM Payroll offers a genuinely free tier — no credit card, no time limit, no trial countdown. It is a working product tier, not a marketing landing page.

The free tier includes:

• CPF, SDL, and SHG calculation — full auto-calculation by age band, OW ceiling, and PR graduated rates
• Itemised payslips — MOM-compliant payslips with all 12 mandatory items
• IR8A and IR21 file generation — files in the correct IRAS-specified format for AIS submission and tax clearance
• eZpay support — eZpay file generation for CPF submission

What the free tier does not include matters too. GIRO bank files are not in the free tier — that is a Starter feature and above. Leave management and the AI co-pilot are Growth tier features. The free tier is focused on the compliance fundamentals: CPF, SDL, SHG, payslips, and IR8A/IR21 files, at zero cost.

For a three-person startup or a family-run shop, this means full statutory compliance with nothing to lose by trying. If you stay at three employees, you pay nothing. If you grow, you upgrade on your terms. See our free payroll software guide for more detail.

AIMM Payroll for 4-10 employees (Starter, S$9.90/month)

When your headcount grows past three, AIMM's Starter tier covers up to 10 employees for a flat S$9.90 per month — S$9.90 total, whether you have 4 employees or 10.

The Starter tier includes everything in the free tier — CPF/SDL/SHG calculation, itemised payslips, IR8A/IR21 file generation, and eZpay support — plus one key addition:

• GIRO bank files — bank-ready bulk-payout files so you can pay your entire team in a single upload

Be clear about what is not in the Starter tier. Leave management and the AI co-pilot are not included — both are Growth tier features (S$29/month for up to 50 employees). Audit trail is also a Growth tier feature. Starter is designed for the micro-SME that needs full statutory compliance plus GIRO bank files at a flat, predictable price. At 10 employees, you pay S$9.90. At 4 employees, you also pay S$9.90. The price does not move with headcount.

Cost comparison at 1-10 employees

Here is how AIMM compares at the 1-10 employee range. All figures are total monthly cost at the stated headcount.

Notes on the figures:

• Talenox sunset its free plan on 5 January 2026; now S$4.36/employee/month on annual billing (base S$21.80 for first 5). At 10 employees: S$43.60/month. Source: Talenox pricing.
• Payboy charges S$3-3.50/employee/month; at 10 employees: approximately S$30-35/month. PSG-eligible; integrates with Xero and QBO. Source: Payboy pricing.
• QuickHR charges S$5/employee/month (S$2 promo available); at 10 employees: S$50/month. PSG-eligible; ISO 9001 certified. Source: QuickHR pricing.
• JustLogin charges S$5/employee/month, minimum 5; at 10 employees: S$50/month. PSG-eligible; IRAS AIS Category A certified. Source: JustLogin pricing.
• SimplePay charges S$12 base (3 employees) plus S$4/employee for 4-25; at 10 employees: S$40/month. Source: SimplePay pricing.

At 10 employees, AIMM's S$9.90 is 4.4x cheaper than Talenox (S$43.60), roughly 5x cheaper than QuickHR and JustLogin (S$50), roughly 4x cheaper than SimplePay (S$40), and roughly 3.5x cheaper than Payboy (S$35). For a deeper comparison, see our payroll software comparison guide.

The per-employee pricing trap

Per-employee pricing is the most common model in Singapore payroll software, and the most expensive for a growing small business. Most vendors charge S$4-5 per employee per month. That sounds manageable at 3 employees, but payroll cost should not scale linearly with headcount — the software does the same calculation for employee 1 and employee 10, with no marginal cost to the vendor.

Consider the trajectory from 3 to 10 employees:

At 10 employees, AIMM costs S$9.90/month and Talenox S$43.60 — 5.5x more for the same core function, or S$427.20/year in savings with AIMM.

The per-employee model is not dishonest — it is how most SaaS pricing works. But for a growing small business, it is a hidden cost that compounds: every new hire increases your bill, though the software's job has not changed. Flat pricing decouples payroll cost from headcount within a tier, making growth cheaper and budgeting predictable. Flat tiers have headcount caps — AIMM's free tier caps at 3, Starter at 10 — but the jumps (S$0 to S$9.90 to S$29) are far smaller than per-employee escalation.

Getting started: a 5-minute setup guide

Payroll software built for small business should be fast to set up — no consultant required. Here is how to get started with AIMM Payroll in about five minutes.

Step 1: Sign up (2 minutes)

Create an AIMM Payroll account. No credit card is required for the free tier. Provide your email, set a password, and you are in.

Step 2: Add company and CPF settings

Enter your company details — name, UEN, registered address. Set your CPF account number. The software applies current 2026 CPF rates (37% total for under-55, OW ceiling S$8,000/month) automatically. Source: CPF Board.

Step 3: Add employees via the import wizard

Add employees one by one or use the import wizard to bulk-add from a spreadsheet. For each, enter name, NRIC/FIN, date of birth (for age-band CPF rates), citizenship/PR status (for graduated rates), salary, and SHG fund eligibility. The software calculates CPF, SDL, and SHG automatically.

Step 4: Run your first pay run

Run your first pay run. The software calculates CPF, SDL, and SHG per employee, generates itemised payslips with all 12 MOM-mandated items, and produces IR8A/IR21 files for year end. On the Starter tier, it also generates GIRO bank files. Review, approve, and distribute payslips.

Singapore payroll compliance should not require a multi-week implementation. If it does, the software is not built for small business.

When to upgrade

AIMM's tiered structure means you upgrade when your needs genuinely change, not when a trial expires.

Your headcount grows past 10

Starter covers up to 10 employees. When you hire your 11th, you move to Growth at S$29/month, covering up to 50 — a flat increase, not a per-employee escalation.

You need leave management

Leave management — annual, medical, and other leave with approval workflows — is a Growth tier feature. If spreadsheet-based leave tracking is causing confusion, it is time to upgrade.

You need the AI co-pilot

The AI co-pilot, on Growth and above, helps with payroll queries and edge cases — mid-month salary adjustments, prorated CPF. If you frequently look up CPF rules or call an accountant, the co-pilot reduces that friction.

You need audit trail

Audit trail — who changed what and when — becomes important as multiple people touch payroll. It is a Growth tier feature, useful for compliance or resolving pay disputes.

You need multi-entity support

If your business expands to multiple entities, you will need multi-entity payroll management, available on the Business tier (S$69/month for up to 200 employees).

Where AIMM stands on integrations and certifications

Transparency matters when choosing payroll software. Here is where AIMM Payroll stands on capabilities small businesses often ask about.

IRAS AIS Category A certification: Not yet certified — in progress. AIMM generates IR8A and IR21 files in the correct IRAS-specified format, which you can submit via the IRAS AIS portal.

Direct API submission to IRAS: In progress. AIMM generates the files; direct API submission is being developed.

CPF APEX API: Not available. AIMM supports eZpay file generation for CPF submission.

Xero and QBO integration: Available. AIMM syncs with both Xero and QuickBooks Online.

Mobile app: Planned. On the roadmap.

Multi-client accountant dashboard: In development. Will allow accountants to manage payroll across entities from a single dashboard.

PSG grant eligibility: In progress. AIMM is working towards Productivity Solutions Grant eligibility.

Summary

For a Singapore small business with 1-10 employees, the right payroll software handles the full statutory stack — CPF, SDL, SHG, itemised payslips, and IR8A/IR21 file generation — without charging per employee. The obligations do not shrink with headcount, and neither should the software's ability to handle them.

AIMM Payroll is free for up to 3 employees with full CPF/SDL/SHG calculation, payslips, IR8A/IR21 file generation, and eZpay support. The Starter tier extends to 10 employees with GIRO bank files for a flat S$9.90/month — 4.4x cheaper than Talenox at 10 employees, and significantly cheaper than Payboy, QuickHR, JustLogin, and SimplePay.

If you are running payroll on a spreadsheet, the real risk is a CPF miscalculation, a missed AIS deadline, or a non-compliant payslip — each carrying a real penalty. Payroll software exists to prevent those errors, and for a Singapore micro-SME it should do so without per-employee pricing, without a credit card, and without a trial countdown.

Free for 3 employees, S$9.90 for 10. Start now.