Softwr

Accounting · head to head

IRIS KashFlow vs Paychex

IRIS KashFlow logo

IRIS KashFlow

Accounting

Online accounting software for UK sole traders and small businesses

From
£13.5/month
Rated
-
Paychex logo

Paychex

Accounting

Outsourced United States payroll, tax filing, benefits and HR services with an assigned service representative

From
$29/month
Rated
-

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: IRIS KashFlow advertised monthly prices of £1.35 (Starter) and £2.75 (Business) are a 90% promotional discount off the standard £13.50 and £27.50 rates, and the promotion is described as lasting 6 months before reverting; Paychex pricing is quoted rather than published and varies between clients and between renewals, with separate charges for each payroll run, off cycle payments and year end processing, so two similar businesses regularly pay very different amounts for the same service and comparing quotes is difficult by design.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which IRIS KashFlow and Paychex actually diverge.

Attributes where IRIS KashFlow and Paychex differ
AttributeIRIS KashFlowPaychex
Starting price£13.5/month$29/month
PlatformsWebWeb, Ios, Android
FoundedUnknown1971

Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Accounting).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in IRIS KashFlow

Nothing recorded that Paychex does not also cover.

Only in Paychex

  • Payroll processing
  • Payroll tax filing
  • Year end forms
  • Multi state payroll
  • Garnishments
  • Time and attendance
  • Benefits administration
  • Retirement plans

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

IRIS KashFlow

  • business accountingnot Paychex
  • invoicing and billingnot Paychex
  • VAT managementnot Paychex

Paychex

  • A United States business with employees in several states that does not want to track differing withholding and unemployment rules internallynot IRIS KashFlow
  • A small employer whose accountant recommends outsourcing payroll tax filing so the penalty risk sits with a service providernot IRIS KashFlow
  • A growing company that wants payroll, benefits enrolment and a retirement plan administered together rather than through three vendorsnot IRIS KashFlow
  • A small employer seeking benefits pricing through a professional employer organisation that it could not negotiate on its own headcountnot IRIS KashFlow

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

IRIS KashFlow

  • Advertised monthly prices of £1.35 (Starter) and £2.75 (Business) are a 90% promotional discount off the standard £13.50 and £27.50 rates, and the promotion is described as lasting 6 months before reverting
  • Listed prices are in GBP plus VAT, and the platform's plans are built around UK VAT filing rather than other tax regimes
  • Annual pricing is quoted at RRP £162/year (Starter) and £291.50/year (Business) before the same promotional reduction

Paychex

  • Pricing is quoted rather than published and varies between clients and between renewals, with separate charges for each payroll run, off cycle payments and year end processing, so two similar businesses regularly pay very different amounts for the same service and comparing quotes is difficult by design.
  • Charging per payroll run rather than per month penalises employers who pay weekly or who run frequent off cycles, so a business with hourly staff on a weekly cycle pays several times what a monthly salaried business of the same size pays.
  • Migrating mid year requires transferring year to date wage and tax figures for every employee in every jurisdiction, so in practice companies switch only at a calendar year end, which leaves you locked to the incumbent for the rest of the year whatever the service is like.
  • The service model depends on an assigned representative, and reported experience varies sharply with who that person is and how often the assignment changes, which means the quality of what you bought is not a property of the product you evaluated.
  • It is a United States service, so a company with employees abroad still needs a separate payroll provider in each country, and the group has no single view of employment cost without building one outside the system.

Pricing, plan by plan

IRIS KashFlow

£13.5/month
  • Starter Monthly$13.5/month
    • 10 invoices
    • up to 25 bank transactions
    • single user access
  • Business Monthly$27.5/month
    • unlimited invoices
    • unlimited bank transactions
    • multi-user access
  • Starter Annual$162/year
    • 10 invoices
    • up to 25 bank transactions
    • single user access
  • Business Annual$291.5/year
    • unlimited invoices
    • unlimited bank transactions
    • multi-user access

Paychex

$29/month
  • Flex Essentials$39/month
    • Payroll
    • Tax administration
    • Direct deposit
  • Flex Select$59/month
    • HR administration
    • State unemployment insurance
    • New hire reporting

Which should you pick?

Choose IRIS KashFlow if

Nothing in the data separates IRIS KashFlow from Paychex on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.

Choose Paychex if

  • You need payroll processing.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want payroll tax filing.

Questions people ask

Is IRIS KashFlow or Paychex better?
Neither clearly leads. IRIS KashFlow starts at £13.5/month and Paychex at $29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, IRIS KashFlow or Paychex?
IRIS KashFlow starts at £13.5/month and Paychex at $29/month.
Does IRIS KashFlow or Paychex run on more platforms?
IRIS KashFlow runs on Web. Paychex runs on Web, Ios, Android.
What is IRIS KashFlow best used for?
IRIS KashFlow is most often used for business accounting, invoicing and billing, vat management. Of those, business accounting and invoicing and billing are not what Paychex is typically brought in for.
What can IRIS KashFlow do that Paychex cannot?
Paychex covers Payroll processing, Payroll tax filing, Year end forms, Multi state payroll.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

IRIS KashFlow: What are IRIS KashFlow's core features across all plans?

All IRIS KashFlow plans include unlimited quotes, online VAT submission, mobile app access, 50+ reports, bank feeds, receipt capture, multi-currency support, and payroll for up to 5 employees.

Source
Paychex: How much does it cost?

Paychex quotes per client rather than publishing rates, and the structure typically includes a base fee plus a per employee per payroll charge with extras for year end and off cycle runs. Get the full fee schedule in writing, including what a mid year change of plan costs.

IRIS KashFlow: Are there promotional discounts for new IRIS KashFlow customers?

Yes, new customers receive a 90% discount for 6 months on both Starter and Business monthly plans.

Source
Paychex: Who is liable if payroll taxes are filed late or wrongly?

Contractually the provider generally accepts responsibility for errors it makes, but the employer remains the party the tax authorities pursue. Read the specific indemnity language rather than relying on the sales description.

IRIS KashFlow: Can multiple users access IRIS KashFlow on the Starter plan?

No, the Starter plan is limited to single-user access only. Multi-user access requires the Business plan.

Source
Paychex: Can I switch providers mid year?

Technically yes, but you must carry year to date figures across for every employee and jurisdiction, and errors there surface at year end on employee tax forms. Most businesses switch effective 1 January for that reason.

Paychex: What is the difference between the standard service and the professional employer organisation option?

Under the professional employer organisation arrangement Paychex becomes a co-employer for tax and benefits purposes, which changes your benefits access and some of your employment administration. It costs more and it is harder to unwind, so treat it as a different decision from buying payroll.

Paychex: Does it work with my accounting software?

It exports a general ledger file and connects to the mainstream accounting products. Confirm the mapping to your chart of accounts during onboarding, because a generic export means your bookkeeper recodes every run.

Paychex: Is it suitable if we only have a few employees?

It will serve you, but very small employers often find the per run charges and the service tiering expensive relative to self service payroll products. The case improves once multi state complexity or benefits administration enters the picture.

Share

Related pages

Other head to heads