Sage Payroll integration FAQs
What Sage users ask before connecting time and attendance to payroll. If yours is not here, call the Leeds team on 0113 350 9043.
Which time and attendance systems integrate with Sage Payroll?▼
Several do, and it is worth asking each of them what they mean by integration. Computime Realtime integrates directly with Sage Payroll, so approved hours pass across without a file, as an optional module at £395 a year excl. VAT. Many suppliers describe a CSV export as an integration, which works perfectly well but is a different thing: someone still produces a file and imports it. Ask whether data moves on its own or whether a person is in the middle, and you will quickly see which is which.
Does it work with Sage 50 and Sage 200?▼
It works with every version of Sage Payroll, including Sage 50 Payroll. Sage 200 is Sage’s accounts and business management software rather than a payroll product, and businesses running Sage 200 usually run their payroll in Sage Payroll, which is where the hours go. Tell us which version you run and how your pay elements are set up, and we will confirm the detail before you commit to anything.
What is the difference between integration and an export?▼
Direct integration means the systems talk to each other and nobody handles a file. An export means we produce a file in the format your payroll expects and someone imports it, which takes a minute and works fine. Computime offers direct integration with Sage Payroll on Realtime, and an included export for Sage, Pegasus, QuickBooks, BrightPay, Xero, IRIS and ADP from both our systems. We would rather you knew which you were buying.
What does the Sage integration cost?▼
£395 a year excluding VAT, on top of Realtime. It is a flat price per installation rather than per employee, so it costs the same whether you run fifty people or five hundred. Worth weighing against what you are currently spending in time: if importing a payroll file takes somebody half a morning every month, the integration pays for itself; if it takes them five minutes, the export is included and may be all you need. We will tell you which we think applies to you.
Is the Sage integration available on Syncro Connect?▼
No. Direct Sage Payroll integration is a Realtime module.
Syncro Connect, our cloud system, exports approved hours for Sage as a file, with the export included in the price. For most smaller businesses that is all they need.
How does it compare with Deputy or Workforce.com?▼
We would not presume to describe their products for them, so ask each the same question we suggest above: does data move on its own, or does someone import a file? Where we differ is that we are a UK company in Leeds selling to UK businesses, we supply the clocking hardware as well as the software, and on Realtime our Sage connection is a direct integration at a flat £395 a year. If advanced rota management across many sites is your priority, look at them seriously. If it is getting accurate UK hours into Sage with someone in Leeds to ring when it matters, we are worth a conversation.
Does it calculate overtime before it reaches Sage?▼
Yes, against your own rules. You set when overtime starts, what rate applies, and how evenings, weekends and bank holidays are treated. Those rules are applied to the recorded hours, so Sage receives overtime already split by rate rather than a total someone has to unpick. Getting the rules right at setup is where most of the value sits, and we do that with you rather than handing over a manual.
Can hours be split by department or cost centre in Sage?▼
Yes, if your Sage setup uses them. Hours can be attributed to departments or cost centres and carried across, so labour cost lands where it belongs rather than in one total. If you need hours against individual jobs rather than departments, that is
job costing, which is a Realtime feature.
Does Computime handle payslips, tax or RTI?▼
No, and it is worth being plain about it. Sage does the pay: payslips, P60s, tax codes, National Insurance, pensions and RTI submissions to HMRC. We do the hours that go into it. The
gov.uk guide to running payroll sets out what an employer’s payroll has to do. If you are looking for payroll software itself, we are not that, and we will tell you so rather than take you through a demo first.
Can we still check the figures before they go across?▼
Yes, and you should. Nothing passes to Sage until a manager has approved it, and exceptions like missed clockings or unbooked absence are flagged for a decision first. Direct integration removes the typing, not the checking. Anyone offering you a system where hours reach payroll with no human review has misunderstood what payroll people want.
How long does it take to set up?▼
The connection itself is quick. The work is mapping your pay elements and agreeing the rules: overtime thresholds, premium rates, rounding, bank holiday treatment. That is a conversation with whoever runs your payroll, and it is worth doing carefully, because rules set wrongly at the start produce figures that look plausible and are not.
What if we change payroll systems later?▼
Your time and attendance records stay with us and are not tied to Sage. If you move to a different payroll package, the hours export in the layout it expects instead: the export is set up for Sage, Pegasus, QuickBooks, BrightPay, Xero, IRIS and ADP. You are not locking your attendance data inside a payroll decision, which is worth knowing before you make either choice.
