Switching payroll software takes 1-2 pay cycles. Export employee data from your old system, import to the new platform, run a parallel pay cycle to verify, then cut over. Here's the complete checklist.
Switching payroll software is the kind of task most SME owners put off until a forcing event makes it unavoidable — a price hike, a missed statutory deadline, or a vendor sunsetting a free plan. The migration itself is mechanical: export your data, import it, verify a parallel pay run, and cut over. The real risk is statutory continuity. Get CPF year-to-date figures wrong, miss an IRAS Auto-Inclusion Scheme (AIS) deadline, or leave a gap in CPF submissions, and the penalties dwarf any subscription saving.
This guide walks through the full migration process — whether you are leaving Talenox after its free-plan sunset, outgrowing QuickHR, or escaping Payboy's per-module pricing. For a broader vendor comparison, see our payroll software comparison guide. All statutory figures below are sourced from CPF Board, IRAS, and MOM, and we use S$ throughout.
When to switch: pain signals
Most SMEs switch when the pain of staying exceeds the perceived pain of moving. Here are the signals.
Manual Excel errors are recurring
If your payroll process involves exporting a CSV and finishing the calculation in Excel, the software is not doing its job. The total CPF 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). If your tool does not auto-calculate CPF by age band, OW ceiling, and PR graduated rates, you are one formula error from an underpayment. See our CPF contribution rates guide.
You are missing statutory deadlines
CPF contributions are due on the last day of the calendar month — not the 14th. The 14th is the enforcement trigger: contributions received after the last day incur late-payment interest at 1.5% per month, simple interest, not compounded (Source: CPF Board). SDL (0.25% of monthly remuneration, minimum S$2, maximum S$11.25, employer-paid for every employee) is similarly easy to miss and compounds into a lump sum at year end (Source: CPF Board / SSG). See our SDL calculation guide.
Per-employee pricing is getting expensive
If your payroll bill grows every time you hire, you are on a per-employee model. At 50 employees, a S$5/employee/month vendor costs S$250/month before add-ons. Flat per-company pricing removes that hiring tax entirely. If your bill has crossed S$100/month and is still climbing, the pricing model — not just the rate — is the problem.
No IRAS AIS support
Employers with 5 or more employees must submit employment income data to IRAS annually by 1 March under the Auto-Inclusion Scheme. AIS enrollment is permanent once you cross the 5-employee threshold (Source: IRAS). If your software cannot generate IR8A files in the IRAS-specified format, you are doing by hand what software should automate. Non-submission carries a penalty of S$5,000, with up to 200% of tax undercharged for negligence and 400% for wilful evasion (Source: IRAS).
Talenox free plan sunset
On 5 January 2026, Talenox sunset its free plan. Existing free users were given until 31 March 2026 (Singapore and Malaysia) or 1 May 2026 (Hong Kong) before view-only access, and until 31 December 2026 to upgrade or export. Talenox's paid plan now starts at S$4.36/employee/month on annual billing, with a S$21.80 base covering the first 5 employees (Source: Talenox). For a 3-employee startup paying S$0, this was a forced migration. If you are a displaced free-plan user, export before 31 December 2026.
Choosing new payroll software: what to look for
Confirm your new platform handles the Singapore compliance surface before migrating. Here is the minimum bar.
CPF, SDL, and SHG auto-calculation. The software must auto-calculate CPF by age band and PR status (graduated rates for first two years), apply the OW ceiling (S$8,000/month) and annual ceiling (S$102,000), compute SDL (0.25%, min S$2, max S$11.25), and handle Self-Help Group deductions — CDAC, MBMF, SINDA, and ECF — collected alongside CPF based on ethnicity and income band (Source: CPF Board). See our CPF contribution rates guide for the rate tables.
IRAS AIS support. The software should generate IR8A and IR21 files in the correct IRAS format. Note: AIMM Payroll generates these files correctly but is not yet IRAS AIS Category A certified — direct API submission is in progress, with scaffolding built and awaiting CorpPass. Until then, AIMM users submit via file generation. If direct API submission is a hard requirement and your filing deadline is imminent, choose an AIS-listed vendor.
GIRO bank files. Most Singapore banks accept GIRO bulk-payout files for one-upload team payments. Confirm the new software generates bank-specific GIRO files — some vendors gate this behind higher tiers.
Flat pricing. AIMM Payroll is the only Singapore vendor using flat per-company pricing: Free (up to 3, S$0), Starter (up to 10, S$9.90/month), Growth (up to 50, S$29/month), and Business (up to 200, S$69/month). Per-employee vendors charge S$3-S$5/employee/month — Payboy at S$3-3.50, QuickHR at S$5, JustLogin at S$5 with a 5-employee minimum. At 50 employees, AIMM's S$29 flat fee is roughly one-seventh of a S$5/employee vendor's S$250 bill.
Singapore-specific. If your business is Singapore-only, you do not need multi-country payroll — and should not pay for it. A Singapore-specific platform handling CPF, SDL, SHG, FWL, IR8A, IR21, and GIRO files natively will be both cheaper and more accurate than a regional tool treating Singapore as one of many markets.
Step 1: Data export from your old system
Export everything before you cancel — once access is revoked, retrieval is difficult. Here is what to export.
Employee master data: Full name, NRIC/FIN, date of birth (determines CPF age band), nationality, PR status and date (determines graduated rates), bank account details, joining date, employment type, CPF account numbers, SHG fund designation, and basic salary.
Year-to-date payroll history: Per employee, per month for the current calendar year — gross salary, CPF (employer and employee), SDL, SHG deductions (CDAC, MBMF, SINDA, ECF), FWL if applicable, and net pay. This is critical for AIS continuity: if you switch mid-year, the new software needs YTD totals to produce a complete IR8A at year end.
CPF submission records: All eZpay files or submission confirmations to date, to ensure no gap or overlap when the new software takes over. CPF late-payment interest is 1.5%/month, simple interest (Source: CPF Board).
Leave balances: Annual leave entitlement, balance carried forward, leave taken YTD, and remaining balance for each employee.
IR8A / YTD earnings data: If switching late in the year (October onwards), also export IR8A or YTD earnings data so the new platform can pick up year-end filing.
Export formats by vendor
Each vendor handles exports differently. Here is what to expect from the three most common sources.
| Vendor | Export format | What to export | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Talenox | CSV / Excel | Employee master, payslip history, CPF records | Free users on view-only can still export until 31 Dec 2026. Export before cancelling. |
| QuickHR | CSV / Excel | Employee master, payroll history, leave balances | Export from Reports > Payroll Summary and Reports > Employee Master. |
| Payboy | CSV / Excel | Employee master, payslip history, CPF submissions | Export from each module separately — payroll, leave, and attendance are separate exports. |
The export format does not need to match your new platform's import template exactly. A good import wizard accepts any CSV or Excel file and maps columns. What matters is exporting complete data — missing CPF records or YTD totals are the most common migration error.
Step 2: Data import to AIMM
AIMM Payroll includes an Excel/CSV import wizard that accepts data exported from any system. The wizard walks you through column mapping, previews the data before committing, and reports errors per row so you can fix issues before they enter your payroll.
Step 2a — Download the import template. From the Employees section, download the AIMM template specifying required columns: name, NRIC/FIN, date of birth, nationality, PR status, joining date, basic salary, bank details, CPF account number, and SHG fund. Optional columns include department, designation, and leave entitlement.
Step 2b — Map your data to the template. Most fields map directly. Pay particular attention to three: PR status and PR date (determines graduated CPF rates — if blank, AIMM defaults to full-rate CPF, over-deducting for first- and second-year PRs), date of birth (determines CPF age band — a missing DOB means the wrong rate), and SHG fund (CDAC, MBMF, SINDA, ECF — if blank, no SHG deduction is applied).
Step 2c — Upload and preview. The wizard parses the file and shows a preview of every row before anything is committed. Scan for obvious errors — wrong date formats, missing NRICs, salary figures that look wrong.
Step 2d — Review per-row error reports. The wizard flags errors per row: invalid NRIC format, duplicate records, missing mandatory fields, date mismatches. Each error identifies the exact row and column. Fix errors in your source file and re-upload — do not commit with errors, as they will surface during the pay run.
Step 2e — Commit the import. Once the preview is clean, commit. AIMM writes the employee records to your payroll. You can still edit individual records after import, but a clean commit means your employee master data is now live.
Step 2f — Import YTD payroll history. If switching mid-year, import YTD history as a separate step so AIMM has complete totals for AIS filing. Map each employee's YTD gross, CPF, SDL, SHG, and net pay by month, then verify against the old system's final payslip for the last completed month.
Step 3: First parallel pay run
The single most important step in any migration is the parallel pay run. Run both your old system and AIMM side by side for one full pay cycle, then compare figures line by line. This catches errors before they reach employees or CPF Board.
For every employee, compare these figures:
| Field | What to check |
|---|---|
| Gross salary | Should match exactly. Discrepancies indicate a data import error. |
| CPF (employer) | Should match if CPF age band and PR status are correct. |
| CPF (employee) | Should match. A mismatch usually means wrong age band or PR graduated rate. |
| SDL | 0.25% of monthly remuneration, min S$2, max S$11.25. Should match exactly. |
| SHG deductions | CDAC/MBMF/SINDA/ECF by ethnicity and income band. Should match. |
| Net pay | The final figure employees receive. Should match to the cent. |
Most discrepancies hide in three places: CPF age band misconfiguration (check employees over 55 first — their rate drops, so errors are visible), PR graduated rate not applied (check PR status and date for first- and second-year PRs), and OW ceiling not tracked (check earners above S$8,000/month for over-contribution).
If figures match for all employees, your import is verified. If discrepancies exist, fix the configuration and re-run until everything matches. Do not cut over until the parallel run is clean. Verify rate tables against our CPF contribution rates guide.
Step 4: Cutover checklist
Once the parallel pay run is clean, work through this 10-item checklist before, during, and after your first live pay run.
| # | Checklist item | Done when |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Employee data verified | Every record in AIMM matches the old system — name, NRIC, DOB, bank details, salary. |
| 2 | CPF rates match | CPF employer and employee figures match the old system for every employee. |
| 3 | Bank details confirmed | GIRO bank file generated and verified against bank account numbers for every employee. |
| 4 | Leave balances imported | Annual leave entitlement, carried-forward balance, and YTD taken set for every employee. |
| 5 | YTD figures correct | YTD gross, CPF, SDL, and SHG totals match the old system for the current calendar year. |
| 6 | First live pay run completed | First real pay cycle processed in AIMM with CPF, SDL, and SHG calculated and bank file generated. |
| 7 | Payslips distributed | Itemised payslips issued to all employees within 3 working days of payment (Source: MOM). |
| 8 | CPF submitted | CPF contribution file generated and submitted to CPF Board by the last day of the month. |
| 9 | ESS activated | Employee Self-Service portal activated so employees can view payslips and leave online. |
| 10 | Old system retained | Old system kept on file (view-only or exported data) for audit — do not cancel until one clean cycle is confirmed. |
Do not cancel your old subscription until item 10 is complete. A clean first cycle with CPF reconciled and payslips distributed is your green light.
Common migration pitfalls
Even with a clean parallel run, certain edge cases catch employers during and after migration. Here are the four most common.
Mid-year CPF ceiling tracking
The OW ceiling is S$8,000/month and the annual ceiling is S$102,000 (Source: CPF Board). If you switch mid-year, the new software must know how much CPF has already been contributed YTD for each employee — otherwise it may over-contribute (restarting ceiling tracking from zero) or under-contribute (ignoring prior contributions). Import YTD CPF totals for every employee and verify AIMM's ceiling tracking picks up where the old system left off.
Additional Wage (AW) ceiling YTD carryover
The AW ceiling is S$102,000 minus total OW subject to CPF for the year. Bonuses and variable payments count as Additional Wages. If an employee received a bonus in January and you switch in June, the new software must know the AW YTD figure to apply the remaining ceiling correctly. Import AW history alongside OW history — a missed AW ceiling means over-paying CPF, a cash flow drag hard to claw back.
Leave balance pro-rating
An employee who joined mid-year is entitled to a pro-rated annual leave balance, not a full year's entitlement. If the old system calculated pro-rating differently (by calendar days vs working days), the imported balance may be off. Verify leave balances for any employee who joined or changed employment type in the current year. See our payroll software comparison guide for tools handling pro-rating natively.
Director fees treatment
Director fees are treated as Additional Wages for CPF purposes, not Ordinary Wages, and are reported differently on IR8A. If you have directors on payroll, ensure the new software classifies director fees correctly — a misclassification means CPF is calculated on the wrong basis and the IR8A figure is wrong. This is common when director records are imported as regular employees without flagging director status.
Also note: if an employee ceases employment during your migration window, IR21 tax clearance must be filed at least one month before the cessation date — not 30 days after (Source: IRAS). Ensure the new software can generate the IR21 file with correct YTD earnings, including figures from the old system for months before the switch. AIMM generates IR21 files in the correct IRAS format; direct API submission to IRAS is in progress.
Switch to AIMM
AIMM's import wizard handles Excel/CSV from any system — Talenox, QuickHR, Payboy, or any other platform. No manual reformatting, no setup fee. Free for 3 employees — try the migration yourself. For up to 10 employees, the Starter plan is S$9.90/month flat; for 50, S$29/month flat. If you are a displaced Talenox free-plan user, export your data before 31 December 2026, import into AIMM, and run the parallel cycle while you still have access.
Switch to AIMM — free migration tools, S$9.90/month flat. Try free.