Bexio payroll costs: the honest calculation goes beyond the price

«Costs» and «price» are among the most common searches around payroll software — understandably, nobody likes buying a pig in a poke:

Google autocomplete for the German search «bexio lohnbuchhaltung» — retrieved September 2026. Switzerland googles for setup help, costs and the year-end step.

What Switzerland googles

We deliberately do not quote other providers' prices here — they change, and they belong on their websites. The more interesting question is the one behind the search: what does payroll actually cost me? And there, the licence price alone falls short.

The full-cost calculation

• Licence or subscription: the visible number — often just the beginning
• Add-on modules: whatever the payroll module, interfaces or extra features cost on top
• Setup: the initial configuration — done yourself (time) or bought in (money)
• Learning effort: courses, manuals, videos — and onboarding every new person who will run payroll
• Cost of mistakes: the most invisible item — back payments, correction runs, effort with compensation offices and insurers

The biggest item: your time

Be honest: how many hours per month does the payroll run cost you — including looking up special cases, checking and correcting? Multiplied by an internal hourly rate, this is the most expensive part of payroll for many SMEs, without ever appearing on an invoice. This is exactly where a guided system helps: when the know-how lives in the system, the time item shrinks to reporting events and approving.

Our maths: one price, all in

payrollnow keeps the calculation deliberately short: CHF 12 per employee per month for the payroll software — withholding tax in all 26 cantons, collective agreement rates, the 13th salary, employee app, salary certificates and support included. No modules, no courses, no setup fee. And if you no longer want to run payroll at all: CHF 25 per payslip in payroll outsourcing, from 30 employees — our team takes over everything.

Frequently asked questions

What does payroll cost with payrollnow?

CHF 12 per employee per month for the software — including all features, withholding tax in all 26 cantons, collective agreement rates, the employee app, salary certificates, filings via Swissdec ELM 5.1 through a partner, and support. No modules, no courses, no setup fee.

Why compare full costs instead of licence prices?

Because the licence is often the smallest item: add-on modules, setup, training and above all your own working time add up to a multiple over the year. A fair comparison counts everything — including the hours you spend looking things up and correcting.

And what does it cost to hand payroll over completely?

In payroll outsourcing, our Swiss service team takes over everything from 30 employees for CHF 25 per payslip — payroll runs, filings, salary certificates, authority contact. You only report the events.

Are there hidden costs at payrollnow?

No — that is the core of our model: two transparent prices, CHF 12 for the software or CHF 25 for outsourcing, per employee or per payslip, everything included.