REPORT
UK Payroll Efficiency Report 2026
How payroll inefficiencies are holding payroll teams back as compliance demands greater visibility, speed, and simplicity – and what needs to change.
📊 Insights from 342 payroll professionals
📈 Year-on-year comparison with our 2025 report
9 in 10 payroll teams experienced payroll errors in the last year
Fragmented payroll processes are creating costly mistakes, operational delays, and compliance risk. Our research revealed the most common causes of payroll errors can be largely attributed to internal systems and processes rather than external factors, highlighting the need for greater visibility, automation, and integration across payroll operations.
77% of payroll professionals lose up to 11 hours per week to inefficient tech or processes
68% of payroll professionals experience payment delays due to their current systems and processes
91% of payroll professionals dissatisfied with time spent running payroll
48% of professionals blame manual processing for payroll errors
70% use multiple payroll systems – an average of 3.2 per team
What you’ll learn from this report
Payroll inefficiencies are creating operational and compliance risk.
Discover:
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The key technology and process gaps contributing to payroll errors.
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The operational inefficiencies slowing payroll teams down.
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What needs to change to improve payroll accuracy, visibility, and control.
“In 2025, late payment affected 43% of organisations. Today it affects more than two-thirds. Manual errors have increased; integration problems have broadened. Frustration with automation remains high, yet only 21% have significantly reduced reliance on manual payroll processes through automation. The industry is not facing new problems, it’s facing the consequences of not solving old ones.”
– Varun Monteiro, CEO at Finity
