Best Payroll Software in Sri Lanka (2026): 8 Tools Compared
An honest comparison of the 8 payroll software tools Sri Lankan businesses shortlist most: Humanised, PeoplesHR, MiHCM, BetterHR, Gallery HR, Simplebooks, OODOX and AccSoft - with LKR pricing, EPF/ETF/APIT depth and bank-file support.
On this page
- How we compared
- The quick comparison
- 1. Humanised — best all-round payroll software for Sri Lankan SMEs
- 2. PeoplesHR — best for large enterprises
- 3. MiHCM — best for mid-size and regional operations
- 4. BetterHR — best per-employee pricing model
- 5. Gallery HR — best if performance management matters most
- 6. Simplebooks — best for very small teams that also want accounting help
- 7. OODOX — newer payroll-focused option for small teams
- 8. AccSoft — best if you want on-premise deployment
- Integrations compared: where the monthly hours actually go
- Accounting software (Xero, QuickBooks, Zoho Books)
- Biometric attendance devices (ZKTeco, HikVision)
- Bank salary transfer files
- What Sri Lankan payroll compliance actually requires
- Can I just do payroll in Excel?
- Is there free payroll software in Sri Lanka?
- Frequently asked questions
- How much does payroll software cost in Sri Lanka?
- What is the best payroll software for a small business in Sri Lanka?
- Can payroll software handle Sri Lankan tax (APIT/PAYE) tables?
- Can I do payroll in Excel in Sri Lanka?
- Is Zoho Payroll available in Sri Lanka?
- Which payroll software integrates with Xero or QuickBooks in Sri Lanka?
Choosing payroll software in Sri Lanka comes down to three questions: does it get EPF, ETF and APIT right every month, does it produce the bank files and statutory reports you actually need, and can you afford it in LKR without surprises? We compared the eight payroll tools Sri Lankan businesses shortlist most often — including their integrations with accounting software, biometric attendance devices, and local banks, which is where the real month-to-month time savings live. Full disclosure: we build Humanised, so we’ve kept the comparison factual — every tool here is genuinely used and liked by Sri Lankan companies, and the right one depends on your size and setup.
How we compared
We evaluated each tool on five criteria: statutory compliance depth (EPF, ETF, APIT and the reports auditors ask for), bank salary-file support, published pricing in LKR, integrations (accounting software, biometric devices, banks), and fit by company size. Information comes from each vendor’s public website and published pricing as of August 2026 — where a vendor doesn’t publish something, we say so rather than guess. Quote-based vendors don’t list public pricing; always confirm current details directly.
The quick comparison
| Software | Best for | Starting price (LKR) | EPF/ETF/APIT | Bank salary files | Accounting sync |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Humanised | SMEs 5–5,000 staff wanting payroll + HR in one | 10,000/month | Automatic | 8 local banks | Xero, QuickBooks, Zoho Books |
| PeoplesHR | Large enterprises with complex HR needs | Custom quote | Automatic | Yes | Enterprise APIs |
| MiHCM | Mid-size to enterprise, regional operations | Custom quote | Automatic | Yes | Enterprise APIs |
| BetterHR | Per-employee pricing, growing teams | Per employee/month | Automatic | Yes | Not published |
| Gallery HR | SMEs wanting HR + performance tools | Custom quote | Automatic | Yes | Not published |
| Simplebooks | Very small teams with accounting support needs | Contact for pricing | Automatic | Limited | Via their accountants |
| OODOX | Small teams, payroll-only focus | 10,000/month | Automatic | Yes | Not specified |
| AccSoft | Companies wanting on-premise options | Custom quote | Automatic | Yes | Own accounting suite |
1. Humanised — best all-round payroll software for Sri Lankan SMEs
Humanised payroll software is built only for Sri Lanka — EPF, ETF and APIT are calculated automatically on every pay run, and the system generates bank-ready salary transfer files for HNB, Sampath, BOC, Commercial Bank, Standard Chartered, HSBC, DFCC and NTB. Payroll connects natively to leave (automatic no-pay), time and attendance (automatic OT from ZKTeco and HikVision biometric devices), digital contracts, and expense reimbursements. Pricing is public and in LKR: from 10,000/month, with plans up to 5,000 employees. If you run payroll for multiple companies — for example as an accountancy firm — there’s a dedicated bulk payroll offering.
Consider something else if: you need deep enterprise talent-management modules (succession planning, learning management) — that’s PeoplesHR and MiHCM territory.
2. PeoplesHR — best for large enterprises
PeoplesHR (by hSenid Business Solutions) is one of Sri Lanka’s most established HR platforms, strong on compliance and used by many large local and regional enterprises. It covers the full HR suite — recruitment through performance — with payroll as one module, and exposes enterprise APIs for integration work. Pricing is quote-based and implementation is a proper project, which is fine at enterprise scale but heavy for a 30-person company.
3. MiHCM — best for mid-size and regional operations
MiHCM (formerly Microimage HCM) is a mature platform with strong Sri Lankan payroll compliance, analytics, and a solid mobile app, serving mid-size to enterprise customers across Asia. Like PeoplesHR, pricing is quote-based and the platform’s breadth means more setup than an SME typically needs.
4. BetterHR — best per-employee pricing model
BetterHR runs on per-employee monthly pricing, which suits teams that want costs to scale headcount-linearly. It covers payroll, leave and attendance with Sri Lankan statutory compliance and has a well-reviewed mobile app. Compare the per-employee total against flat-plan tools once you pass ~25 staff — the math flips depending on your size.
5. Gallery HR — best if performance management matters most
Gallery HR is a Sri Lankan platform combining payroll, leave, attendance and notably strong performance-review tooling. A good fit when your priority is people development alongside payroll; pricing is quote-based.
6. Simplebooks — best for very small teams that also want accounting help
Simplebooks pairs a simple online payroll tool with human accounting and compliance support — attractive for very small companies that want someone to lean on. Less suited once you need shift work, biometric attendance, or multi-department structures.
7. OODOX — newer payroll-focused option for small teams
OODOX is a newer Sri Lankan entrant focused squarely on payroll automation with EPF/ETF/APIT compliance, starting at LKR 10,000/month for up to 20 employees. Being young, its ecosystem (documented integrations, support docs, HR modules beyond payroll) is still maturing compared with the established platforms on this list.
8. AccSoft — best if you want on-premise deployment
AccSoft Solutions offers HR and payroll software with local deployment options, its own accounting suite, and time-attendance hardware integration — a consideration for organisations with strict on-premise policies. Cloud-first teams will find the modern SaaS tools above faster to run.
Integrations compared: where the monthly hours actually go
Feature lists look similar across payroll tools; integrations are where they separate. Three connections determine how much manual work survives after you buy:
Accounting software (Xero, QuickBooks, Zoho Books)
Without an accounting sync, someone re-types every pay run into your ledger as manual journal entries — gross salaries, EPF and ETF contributions, APIT withholdings, reimbursements. Humanised posts these automatically to Xero, QuickBooks (Online and Desktop) and Zoho Books with the correct GL account mapping — it was the first Sri Lankan payroll software to integrate with QuickBooks and Xero. Among the others, the enterprise platforms offer APIs your IT team can build against, while most SME tools don’t publish accounting integrations — ask specifically before buying if your accountant uses cloud software.
Biometric attendance devices (ZKTeco, HikVision)
If you pay overtime or deduct no-pay, payroll must read attendance data directly. Humanised connects to the ZKTeco and HikVision fingerprint, face-recognition and RFID terminals most Sri Lankan offices already own (other brands via file upload) — punches flow through shift rules into OT and no-pay automatically. See our full guide to fingerprint attendance systems in Sri Lanka. Enterprise platforms typically support devices through implementation projects; with SME tools, confirm your exact device model is supported.
Bank salary transfer files
Every tool claims “bank files”; the question is which banks. Humanised generates upload-ready bulk transfer files for Hatton National Bank, Sampath Bank, Bank of Ceylon, Commercial Bank, Standard Chartered, HSBC, DFCC and NTB. Whatever tool you choose, confirm your specific bank and corporate banking portal format is on the vendor’s supported list — “we support bank files” without your bank’s name means CSV editing every month.
What Sri Lankan payroll compliance actually requires
Whichever tool you pick, this is the statutory floor it must clear every month:
- EPF (Employees’ Provident Fund) under the EPF Act No. 15 of 1958 — 8% employee deduction plus 12% employer contribution, remitted monthly with the C-Form.
- ETF (Employees’ Trust Fund) under the ETF Act No. 46 of 1980 — 3% employer contribution, with the R1 monthly remittance and R4 half-yearly return.
- APIT (Advance Personal Income Tax) under the Inland Revenue Act — deducted per the current tax tables, with the T10 certificate issued to each employee and the annual statement of employer filed with the IRD. Tables change with budgets, so your software vendor’s update speed matters; see our APIT accuracy guide for Y/A 2025/26.
- Gratuity under the Payment of Gratuity Act No. 12 of 1983 — half a month’s salary per year of service for employees with 5+ years, which good software provisions for automatically.
- Payslips and records that satisfy the Shop and Office Employees Act, plus overtime and no-pay calculated at the correct rates.
When you demo any tool on this list, run one real employee’s numbers through it — including an OT month and a no-pay month — and check the EPF, ETF and APIT outputs against your current calculations. Ask each vendor how quickly their APIT tables updated after the last budget. That single question tells you more about product maintenance than any feature tour.
Can I just do payroll in Excel?
You can, and many small Sri Lankan businesses start there — we even publish a free Sri Lankan payslip template and salary slip format that thousands of companies download. Excel works at 5–10 employees with simple salaries. It starts failing when OT and no-pay enter the picture (formula errors compound quietly), when APIT tables change (someone must notice and rebuild the sheet), and when you need C-Forms, R4s and T10s at audit time. The honest rule of thumb: if payroll takes anyone in your company more than half a day a month, or you’ve ever found an EPF error after remitting, the LKR 10,000/month entry price of proper software costs less than the time and risk of the spreadsheet.
Is there free payroll software in Sri Lanka?
Genuinely free options are limited, and it’s worth being honest about why: EPF, ETF and APIT rules change, and maintaining those updates costs vendors money. Your realistic free routes are: free trials of the paid tools above (use them to run one real month before paying anything); IceHrm’s open-source edition if you have IT capacity to self-host and maintain Sri Lankan statutory logic yourself; and Excel with our free payslip template at very small scale. Be careful with “free payroll software download” results — abandoned desktop tools with stale APIT tables produce confidently wrong numbers, which is worse than a spreadsheet you at least distrust.
Frequently asked questions
How much does payroll software cost in Sri Lanka?
Published entry prices start around LKR 10,000/month for SME plans (Humanised, OODOX). Per-employee models charge a few hundred rupees per staff member monthly. Enterprise platforms (PeoplesHR, MiHCM) price by quote and typically include implementation fees.
What is the best payroll software for a small business in Sri Lanka?
For 5–100 employees, prioritise automatic EPF/ETF/APIT, your bank’s salary file format, and flat LKR pricing — that shortlist is typically Humanised, BetterHR and OODOX. Try each with one real month of data; the differences show up fast.
Can payroll software handle Sri Lankan tax (APIT/PAYE) tables?
The tools in this list all update APIT tables when regulations change. Ask any vendor how quickly tables were updated at the last budget — it’s the best test of how maintained the product is. For a deeper dive, see our APIT accuracy guide for Y/A 2025/26.
Can I do payroll in Excel in Sri Lanka?
Yes, at very small scale — a free payslip template and careful formulas work for simple salaries under ~10 employees. The risks are OT/no-pay formula errors, missed APIT table updates, and assembling C-Forms, R4s and T10s manually at audit time. Most businesses switch to software once payroll passes a half-day of monthly effort.
Is Zoho Payroll available in Sri Lanka?
Zoho Payroll is built for markets like India, the UAE and the US, and doesn’t handle Sri Lankan EPF, ETF or APIT. If your accountant uses Zoho Books, the practical route is Sri Lankan payroll software that syncs to it — Humanised posts pay-run journals to Zoho Books automatically.
Which payroll software integrates with Xero or QuickBooks in Sri Lanka?
Humanised integrates directly with Xero, QuickBooks (Online and Desktop) and Zoho Books, posting each pay run’s journals with correct GL mapping — it was the first Sri Lankan payroll software with QuickBooks and Xero integration. Enterprise platforms offer APIs for custom integration work; most other SME tools don’t publish accounting integrations.
Want the detailed head-to-heads? See our side-by-side comparisons of Humanised with PeoplesHR, MiHCM, BetterHR and Gallery HR — or book a free demo and run one month of your payroll in Humanised to see the difference yourself.
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