Frequently asked questions

Changepen is a payroll operations management platform for payroll bureaus, accountancy firms and managed payroll providers. It sits as an operational layer around your existing payroll software, replacing the spreadsheets, inbox chaos and manual workarounds that build up around a growing payroll service, giving teams structured workflows, client portals and real-time visibility.

No. Changepen does not calculate or process pay. It works alongside your existing payroll engine and manages everything around it: client data capture, payroll changes, queries, approvals, scheduling and tracking.

A payroll operations platform is the layer that manages everything around payroll calculation: the workflows, client communication, data capture, approvals, scheduling and tracking. Rather than calculating pay itself, it sits around your existing payroll software to bring structure, visibility and control to the end-to-end payroll process. Changepen is a payroll operations platform built specifically for payroll bureaus and accountancy firms.

Payroll software calculates and processes pay, tax, deductions and submissions. A payroll operations platform manages everything around that calculation: how changes are collected from clients, how work flows through your team, how progress is tracked, and how risks are flagged. Changepen is the operations platform, and it works alongside your payroll software rather than replacing it.

Clients submit payroll changes, files and questions through a secure, structured portal, so instructions arrive in the right format instead of scattered across emails. Each payroll then moves through a clear, configurable workflow, and your whole team can see the live status of every payroll, where bottlenecks are forming, and what still needs doing, all in one place. Your existing payroll software continues to calculate the pay.

Practice management tools are built for generic accountancy workflows. Changepen is purpose-built for payroll operations such as payroll cycles, cut-offs, change capture, approvals and helpdesk, rather than adapted from something designed for a different job.

Payroll bureaus managing multiple client payrolls, in-house and outsourced payroll teams, accountancy firms running payroll as a service line, and managed payroll providers that want to scale without adding headcount. In short, anyone looking to bring structure, visibility and control to their payroll operations.

Changepen brings structure, visibility and control to the entire payroll process, so teams work faster and with less risk. By separating workflow from calculation, bureaus standardise how every payroll runs, see the live status of their whole service, and flag risks before they become problems. The result is better efficiency, lower risk, and the ability to scale operations without the disruption of changing core systems.

Yes. By replacing spreadsheets, email threads and manual chasing with structured workflows and a single client portal, Changepen strips out the admin that slows payroll teams down. One bureau, Cheney Payroll Services, took on 200 additional payrolls without adding staff after putting Changepen at the core of their operation. Results vary by firm, but the pattern is consistent: less time spent coordinating, more time on client care.

Most payroll errors come from missed instructions, manual re-keying and last-minute changes. Changepen reduces them by capturing client changes in a structured format, keeping every instruction and approval logged and auditable, and giving teams clear workflows so steps are not missed. Catching issues before payroll is finalised is far cheaper and less stressful than correcting them afterwards.

By removing the manual coordination that caps your capacity. Standardised workflows mean any team member can pick up any payroll, the client portal cuts the back-and-forth of chasing information, and real-time visibility lets you rebalance workload before deadlines slip. One Changepen customer, Cheney Payroll Services, took on 200 additional payrolls without adding staff.

Changepen was the first payroll operations platform built specifically for payroll bureaus and accountancy firms, not a generic workflow tool stretched to fit payroll. It sits around any payroll engine such as Sage, BrightPay, IRIS, Star and Moneysoft, is purpose-built around payroll cycles, cut-offs and approvals, and adds structured data capture, a payroll helpdesk, billing and real-time capacity visibility designed for how payroll teams actually work.

No. The client portal is popular, but it is optional. Many firms run Changepen on the internal payroll operations functionality alone, using the workflows, scheduling, task management and real-time visibility across their team, and add client portals later if and when it suits them. You can adopt Changepen at the pace that works for your operation.

Changepen is designed to overlay any payroll engine. It works alongside existing payroll systems including Sage, Star, BrightPay, IRIS and Moneysoft, among others, connecting through secure APIs so you can modernise your operation without changing the software that calculates pay.

Changepen has open APIs allowing you to connect with the data that changepen holds.

No. You keep your payroll engine. Changepen adds the operational layer around it, so there is no migration of your core payroll system.

No. There are no setup fees and no support costs.

Yes. Changepen is a fully cloud-based platform, hosted on Microsoft Azure, so your team can log in securely from anywhere with nothing to install or maintain. New features and updates are rolled out automatically.

Yes. Changepen can be white-labelled to reflect your firm's brand, so clients feel like they are engaging with your firm rather than a third-party tool. Your branding can be applied across the client portal and the platform.

Yes. Onboarding and ongoing support are included, with no separate support or setup costs. Your team is helped to get up and running, and supported as your payroll service grows.

Yes. Changepen is a UK company, built for UK payroll bureaus and accountancy firms and designed around how UK payroll teams operate, including pay cycles, cut-offs, approvals and GDPR-aligned data handling. It works alongside UK payroll software such as Sage, BrightPay, IRIS and Moneysoft.

The Team plan starts from £25 per user per month. The Business plan starts from £35 per user per month. Enterprise pricing is custom. See the pricing page for full details.

Yes. Changepen offers 1 months free.

Yes. Changepen is hosted on Microsoft Azure and uses role-based access controls, with full audit trails for every change and approval.

Changepen follows GDPR-aligned data practices suitable for UK firms, including secure handling of payroll instructions and documents, clear audit trails and role-based access controls.

Yes. Every payroll change, query and approval is logged, giving you a clear, time-stamped audit trail of who did what and when. That makes it easy to demonstrate control, satisfy compliance requirements and resolve questions with confidence.