Accounting

Accounting Software With Payroll Included

By Accountium Team  ·  Updated September 2026  ·  ⏱ 5 min read

You don't have a payroll problem. You have a payroll invoice problem.

Most accounting software handles the basics of bookkeeping fine. The cost creep shows up somewhere else — in the separate plan, the separate per-employee fee, the second bill that shows up once you add your first employee. Payroll is usually the moment an "affordable" accounting plan stops being affordable.

accountium / the payroll line as you hire LIVE
MONTHLY PAYROLL COST — ADD-ON ONLY
HEADCOUNT 2 6 10 15
Accountium
payroll in the plan
INCLUDED — NO PER-EMPLOYEE FEE
$0
Xero
$36 + $6/employee
$48 $72 $96 $126
QuickBooks Workforce
$50 + $7/employee
$64 $92 $120 $155
Two bills grow with the team. One doesn’t move.
Payroll add-on cost only, excluding the core plan · publicly listed 2026 rates
TRY NOW

The Stacked Add-On Reality

Here's what payroll actually costs on top of two of the most popular platforms, as of 2026.

  • Xero

    Payroll is never included in any plan. It's sold separately (powered by Gusto) at $36/month base fee, plus $6 per employee or contractor — on top of whatever your Early, Growing, or Established plan already costs.

  • QuickBooks Online

    Payroll isn't part of the core Simple Start, Essentials, or Plus plans at all. To run payroll, you need a separate Workforce plan, starting at $50/month plus $7 per employee for the base tier — and that's before Premium or Elite, which add more per-employee cost for time tracking or expert setup.

Not hidden, just how it's built Neither of these is a trick or unusual — it's simply how both platforms are built: bookkeeping is the core product, and payroll is a metered add-on stacked on top.

What That Actually Costs as You Grow

The math gets more visible the more people you employ, because per-employee fees compound with headcount.

  • Xero, 6 employees: $36 + (6 × $6) = $72/month for payroll alone
  • QuickBooks Workforce Basic, 6 employees: $50 + (6 × $7) = $92/month for payroll alone

Both figures sit on top of the core plan you're already paying for. Scale to 15 employees and the payroll line alone climbs to $126/month on Xero, or $155/month on QuickBooks Workforce Basic — numbers that keep growing every time you hire.

One Plan, Already Included

Accountium doesn't sell payroll as a separate metered product. It's part of the one plan, at the one price — running payroll for your team doesn't trigger a second bill or a per-head surcharge as you hire.

accountium / payroll · run payroll INCLUDED
EMPLOYEES 3
GROSS PAY $4,756.08
CPP + EI $234.76
INCOME TAX $334.87
TOTAL NET PAY $4,186.45
09/05 – 09/20/2026 Confirm & Submit
1Enter hours & rates 2Review & confirm 3Done
Name Hours Gross CPP EI Tax Net Pay
Hourly Employees
Dana Whitfield $56.00/hr 42.00 $2,446.08 $136.86 $39.87 $323.58 $1,945.76
Priya Raman $22.00/hr 40.00 $880.00 $43.68 $14.34 $10.35 $811.62
Salary Employees
Marcus Hale $5,500.00/mo 1,500.00 $1,430.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.94 $1,429.06
Total $4,756.08 $569.63 $4,186.45
Same login, same plan, same bill — payroll is just another screen
Hours in, CPP, EI, tax and net pay out — in the same product you keep the books in, on the same plan

The price you see is the price you pay, whether you have 2 employees or 20. Hours in, CPP, EI, and tax come out the same product you already keep your books in — no separate login, no separate bill.

Comparing the Real Cost

Base plan plus payroll add-on, side by side at 6 and 15 employees.

Base Plan Payroll Total at 6 Employees Total at 15 Employees
Xero (Growing) $46/mo $36 + $6/employee $118/mo $208/mo
QuickBooks (Essentials + Workforce Basic) $60/mo $50 + $7/employee $152/mo $215/mo
Accountium One price Included Same price Same price

Competitor pricing shown reflects publicly listed 2026 rates at time of writing and is subject to change by the provider.

To Be Fair

Per-employee payroll pricing isn't a trick — it reflects real, ongoing work.

Running payroll involves real, ongoing costs: tax filing, direct deposit processing, compliance updates. Xero and QuickBooks are pricing that work explicitly rather than folding it in. The tradeoff is transparency of a different kind: you know exactly what payroll costs, it's just billed separately and it scales with your team.

Predictability vs. line-item transparency Accountium's approach is to price that cost into the plan itself rather than metering it — which means predictability instead of line-item transparency. Which model fits better really depends on whether you'd rather see the payroll cost broken out, or never think about it at all.

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about payroll pricing across these platforms.

  • Does Xero include payroll in its plans?

    No. Xero Payroll, powered by Gusto, is always a separate add-on at $36/month plus $6 per employee or contractor, regardless of which core plan you're on.

  • Does QuickBooks Online include payroll?

    Not in its core plans. QuickBooks Simple Start, Essentials, and Plus don't include payroll — running payroll requires a separate Workforce plan starting at $50/month plus $7 per employee.

  • Is payroll really included in Accountium's price, with no per-employee fee?

    Yes. Payroll runs on the same plan and price as your bookkeeping — it isn't metered per employee or sold as a separate add-on tier.

One Price. Payroll Already in It.

No add-on tier, no per-employee surcharge — just one plan that includes payroll from day one.

TRY NOW