Feature Comparison
What’s included
A deeper look at capabilities across the three products.
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Staffology Bureau
IRIS Payroll Professional
IRIS Payrite
Payroll features
| Feature | Staffology Bureau | IRIS Payroll Professional | IRIS Payrite |
|---|---|---|---|
| RTI submissions |  | | |
| Off-payroll workers | | | |
| CIS | | |  |
| Split NI calculations | | | |
| Aggregated NI calculations | | | |
| Automatic NI category letter changes | | | |
| Automatic NI recalculation | | | |
| Multiple PAYE references | | | |
| Multi-user access | | | |
| Pay spines and grades | | | |
| Teachers’ payroll | | | |
| Automatic pro-rating (starters/leavers/mid-period) | | | |
| Automatic pro-rating (contractual hours changes | | | |
| Sort code validation | | | |
| Email integration (for emailing documents) | | | |
| Occupational sick/absence schemes | | | |
| 52-week average holiday pay | | | |
| Alabaster rules recalculation | | | |
| Shadow and modified payrolls | | | |
| Copy company for receivership | | | |
| Backup and restore | – | | |
| Umbrella payroll | | | |
| Teachers’ Pensions (MCR) | | | |
Reporting
| Feature | Staffology Bureau | IRIS Payroll Professional | IRIS Payrite |
|---|---|---|---|
| Payroll analysis | | | |
| Negative net / zero net | | | |
| Net variance | | | |
| Bank detail changes | | | |
| Starters / leavers | | | |
| YTD totals | | | |
| Cost code analysis | | | |
| Pension contribution analysis | | | |
| Report writing functionality | | | |
| Bespoke reporting | | | |
| Change audit report | | | |
| Export reports (e.g. spreadsheet) | | | |
Payments
| Feature | Staffology Bureau | IRIS Payroll Professional | IRIS Payrite |
|---|---|---|---|
| BACS | | | |
| Faster Payments | | | |
| Payment authorisation at point of processing | | | |
Pay on demand
| Feature | Staffology Bureau | IRIS Payroll Professional | IRIS Payrite |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ability to restrict/limit drawdown amounts | | | |
| Integration with BACS/payroll | | | |
Integrations & API
| Feature | Staffology Bureau | IRIS Payroll Professional | IRIS Payrite |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open REST API | | | |
| Finance/accounting integrations | (Xero, Sage, QuickBooks, IRIS, and more) | User defined | User defined |
| HR integrations | (API + flat file) | Flat file only – Cascade | Flat file only |
(Square, Deputy, Quinyx, RotaCloud, and more) | | | |
| Pension provider integrations | (NEST, Smart Pension, The People’s Pension) | | |
| Online payslips | (included in price) | (add-on) | (add-on) |
About each product
Want more detail? Here’s a closer look at what each product includes.
Next-generation cloud bureau software – built for modern payroll practices
Staffology Bureau is IRIS’s cloud-first payroll bureau platform, designed for accountancy practices and payroll bureaus that want to automate routine tasks, give clients secure self-service access, and scale without adding headcount.
Proven desktop bureau payroll for complex payroll needs
IRIS Payroll Professional is a desktop bureau payroll solution that has served UK payroll bureaus for many years. It supports up to 5,000 employees and handles complex payroll scenarios.
High-capacity desktop bureau payroll for larger client bases
IRIS Payrite is a desktop bureau payroll solution designed for bureaus managing larger payrolls, supporting 20,000+ employees per payroll with unlimited PAYE references.
Not sure which product is right for your bureau?
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about choosing between Staffology Bureau, IRIS Payroll Professional and IRIS Payrite.
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All three are IRIS payroll bureau products designed for accountancy practices and payroll service providers. Staffology Bureau is a cloud-based platform that is actively being developed, offering client portal access, payroll automation, white labelling, and a wide range of integrations via API. IRIS Payroll Professional (IPP) and IRIS Payrite are desktop bureau solutions that are maintained and receive legislative updates but are not receiving new feature investment. IPP suits bureaus with complex payroll requirements including CIS, Teachers' Pensions, and occupational schemes, while Payrite is designed for bureaus managing very large payrolls of 20,000+ employees. The key deciding factor between staying on IPP or Payrite versus moving to Staffology Bureau is whether your bureau needs modern cloud capabilities - automation, client self-service, integrations, and scalability.
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No, not at the moment. Both products remain fully supported and continue to receive legislative updates. Existing customers can continue using their current product. IRIS is, however, actively investing in Staffology Bureau as its next-generation bureau platform. Customers considering new capabilities or planning for growth may find Staffology Bureau a better fit for the future.
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Yes. IRIS provides a dedicated upgrade tool that migrates payroll data from IPP, Payrite, and other IRIS heritage products into Staffology Bureau. The migration covers employees, employment records, pay codes, pay schedules, pensions, benefits, departments, and users. You can migrate yourself using the self-service tool, or IRIS's team can handle the migration for you. Dedicated adoption support is available after go-live to ensure a smooth transition.
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Staffology Bureau covers the majority of bureau payroll requirements, but there are some specialist features currently available in IPP and Payrite that are not yet in Staffology Bureau - including shadow and modified payrolls, 52-week average holiday pay, and full occupational sick and absence schemes. Bureaus with a significant proportion of clients requiring these features should discuss their specific requirements with IRIS before migrating. If these features are important to you today, IPP or Payrite may continue to be the right choice while you monitor Staffology Bureau's roadmap.
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Yes. Staffology Bureau supports full white labelling, including a custom domain (e.g. yourbrand.payroll-app.com), your own logo and brand colours via CSS, a branded login screen with multi-factor authentication, branded email communications via your own SMTP settings, and unbranded learning materials. This allows you to present the platform as your own to clients.
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Staffology Bureau is designed to reduce the manual effort involved in running a bureau. Key efficiency features include: moving data entry responsibility to clients via a secure portal and self-service; real-time payroll calculations; automated payroll processing for straightforward payrolls (including full auto-run for director-only payrolls); automated FPS submissions, payment processing, general ledger posting, and pension uploads after finalisation; and a comprehensive REST API for integrating with accounting, HR, time and attendance, and pension platforms. One bureau customer reported saving one full-time equivalent staff member per year as a result of the automation features alone.
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Yes. Staffology Bureau is Cyber Essentials certified and holds ISO/IEC 27001 (Information Security Management) and ISO 9001:2015 (Quality Management) certification.
