Nifty Payroll 2.0 is the latest payroll software by the same developer of Payslipmaker. It is a complete rebuild with many improvements.
(The Nifty Payroll 2.0 website: NiftyPayroll.com)
Free Migration for PayslipMaker Users: See details at the bottom. (This is a Limited Time Offer).
How is Nifty Payroll 2.0 better than PayslipMaker?
After running the payroll for a big organization with many employees on PayslipMaker I realized the user still had to do some things manually, and it was very inefficient. So I decided to build a payroll software that gives the user maximum efficiency in capturing salary information and outputting payroll reports.
Instead of trying to upgrade PayslipMaker I decided to rebuild the software from the ground up. Nifty Payroll 2.0 is the new product I developed and started to sell in 2022. It makes the person processing payroll much more efficient so you can process payroll much faster with less risk of error.
Microsoft Excel Integration
A lot of the improvement comes from making Nifty Payroll 2.0 work better with Microsoft Excel.
A lot of payroll information comes to the person processing as Excel files. In Nifty I have built an import tool that let’s you import any Excel data into it very efficiently.
The payroll reports are often also better shared to the people who need it as Excel files. Nifty exports into .xlsx and .csv much better than PayslipMaker.
Much Better Reports:
You can export all the upload files for statutory returns with one click. All of them are exported into a folder (PAYE, PAYE for Persons with Disability, NHIF, NHIF, HELB, Housing Fund). And all of them get formatted exactly as required to upload, no need for any further editing. It exports either to Excel or CSV depending on which format is required.
All other reports, like the muster roll (payroll details), payroll summaries, audit reports, pension, etc. can all be viewed and exported either to Excel or to PDF.
Nifty automatically formats the Excel muster roll (the complete payroll in one sheet) after exporting it. Freezing the top row of headings, and the first column with the employee names, formatting the numbers and adding totals at the bottom of each column.
17 Specialized Apps:
The second major improvement was separating the capture of salary info into different modules or apps. In PayslipMaker most data was captured directly in the Payslips form. In Nifty there are 17 specialized apps that make it easy to capture different types of info in the best way for each type. (PayslipMaker has 7 specialized apps and they do not have as many features as the Nifty ones).
For example there’s a special app that let’s you capture or compute salaries as daily and hourly rates. That app works with another app that lets you capture days or hours worked which combines that with the daily/hourly rate to compute a total. This is very useful for prorating salaries, capturing overtime, wages and paid leave.
Special Tax Apps:
There are 6 specialized apps for handle taxable benefits and reliefs: Car, House, Other Benefits (furniture, water, electricity, phone), Pension, Home Relief, and Insurance. In PayslipMaker it was not obvious how to capture this info and some people put them in the wrong places. Also PayslipMaker didn’t automatically enforce all the limits, Nifty does.
Start/Stop Payments/Deductions:
Another nifty thing is how Nifty has the capability of letting you set in advance when to start a payment or deduction and when to stop it. That is, the month to start and the month to stop. This way you set once and forget. Nifty calls this “Fixed” Items.
Overriding or Adjusting a Fixed Item:
Something really clever Nifty does is it allows you to override a Fixed Item in one month using another app called Varying Items. So let’s say a person contributes a fixed amount to a SACCO, then one month request the amount to be reduced. Instead of changing the month range for the Fixed Item, if you add a separate entry on the Varying Items, that is what is added to the Payslip. Nifty always “checks” if a Fixed item has been Varied in the current month and picks the Varied figure instead of the Fixed. This same “trick” can be used to prorate a salary or reduce a fixed loan deduction, etc.
Flagging Non-Compliance:
Nifty also flags some things for you when you process. It flags the people you have not started deducting NHIF or NSSF after two or more months in the payroll. It flags anyone missing a PIN number, yet you have deducted PAYE, because you cannot pay to iTax without a PIN. It flags those whose deductions exceed the 2/3rds rule. If you have foreign currency salary items it pops up the field for you to input the exchange rate for the month if you haven’t yet done so when processing. This flags help you fix things that will give you problems if you miss them.
Foreign Currency Salaries:
Nifty handles foreign currency payslips very well. You can set which currency an amount is in, e.g, you can set Basic Pay in US dollars. And you can add a universal exchange rate for each month to convert to KES. You can generate KES or forex payslips.
Employees Who Leave and Come Back:
In Nifty you can set which months an employee is active, i.e., should have a salary computed. And you can set more than one active period. E.g., if someone worked for a year and then left and then came back, there’s a way to capture these two separate employment durations.
Special Employees:
Nifty automates how special employees should be handled: Secondary Employees, Non-Residents, and Persons with Disability. In PayslipMaker you had to manually turn off or on the relevant reliefs and allowances. Nifty automatically switches off the reliefs the employee does not qualify for and uses the different tax rate for PAYE.
Handling Complex Pension Arrangements:
Nifty can handle different kinds of Pension. It can handle multiple pension institutions in one organization, generating reports for each institution. It enables adjusting how the tax deductible amount is computed based on if the organization is taxable or not. Pension contributions can also be set as a percentage of pay or as a fixed amount. You can adjust which pay the pension is computed on, Basic Pay alone or a combination of different types of pay.
Easier Cloud Backup:
One of the biggest risks with desktop software is losing all your payroll data if something happens to your PC (like it’s stolen or crashes). To keep your data safe, Nifty makes it easy to email yourself your backup any time you want, best done at least once a month after running the payroll. Email can be used like a free data storage drive in the Cloud, which you can access any time. With your backup safe, you can always re-install Nifty Payroll 2.0 and restore the backup to have your payroll back up in minutes after getting a new PC.
More:
This list is not complete, there are other subtle improvements that make Nifty a joy to work with for processing payroll.
Nifty is really cool and I have enjoyed running the payroll for that client since I started using it. And as user number 1 I keep adding things to make life even easier and more enjoyable. I can do that more easily because of how I rebuilt the roots of the software (the table design).
I hope you consider trying Nifty Payroll 2.0.
Free PayslipMaker Migration:
For a limited time I will migrate your payroll data from PayslipMaker to Nifty Payroll 2.0 for free. This offer will most likely expire at the end of 2023. I will import all your employee data and payroll data for the current year. And I’ll give you remote training and support until you’re up and running. This offer is on first come, first served basis.
To make your transition easier I added a feature in Nifty Payroll 2.0 that lets you feel like you’re still using PayslipMaker. There’s an App called Varying Items that is monthly and it has a Copy Previous Month button which works the same way as PayslipMaker. You can have all your payslip data in that form to start with and then slowly start to take advantage of the new ways of inputting salary data of Nifty Payroll 2.0.
Cost Implications: I will invoice you the annual fee as usual on your anniversary month, but will use the higher Nifty Payroll 2.0 pricing. See the pricing here: Nifty Payroll 2.0 Pricing. The price is higher because Nifty will make your payroll processing much faster and easier. The time savings return on your investment is worth it.
To take advantage of this offer, email me and I’ll schedule your migration.