Payroll software for small businesses in Pakistan
A small business usually starts payroll in Excel, and for ten people that is fine. Then the team grows to twenty-five, someone joins mid-month, a salary changes, FBR tax applies to a few people and EOBI registration becomes necessary, and the sheet that used to take an hour takes a weekend. StreamHCM gives small businesses payroll that is correct without hiring a payroll specialist.
When a small business outgrows Excel
- You have crossed the EOBI registration threshold of five employees and need to calculate contributions every month.
- Several staff now earn above the Rs 600,000 annual tax-free threshold, so tax has to be withheld and revised as pay changes.
- Attendance from a device or register has to be turned into deductions by hand.
- Staff ask for payslips, loan balances and leave balances on WhatsApp.
- The person who understands the spreadsheet is going on leave.
What StreamHCM does for you
You enter each employee once, with their salary structure, allowances and bank details. Each month, StreamHCM brings in attendance and leave, applies your late and absence rules, calculates overtime, tax under the Tax Year 2027 slabs, EOBI and any loan instalments, and shows a payroll preview for you to approve. After approval it produces payslips in the employee app and a finalised payroll you can disburse through your bank.
Mid-month joiners and leavers are prorated automatically, and final settlement for a leaver is calculated from their record.
Pricing that suits a small team
StreamHCM pricing is in PKR, with a monthly base fee plus a per-employee rate, so a small team pays for its size rather than an enterprise licence. The pricing page has a calculator showing the monthly cost for your headcount, and every plan starts with a 14-day free trial with no credit card. Because it is cloud-based, there are no servers to buy or maintain.
No payroll expertise required
Tax slabs and EOBI rates are maintained as settings, so you do not have to rebuild formulas after a budget. The payroll preview shows each employee's gross pay, deductions and net pay before anything is final, and you can fix an input and recalculate. Our Lahore-based support team helps if a number does not look right.
Pakistani payroll compliance built in
Payroll in StreamHCM includes the statutory items Pakistani employers deal with every month: FBR salary tax withheld under Section 149 using the Tax Year 2027 slabs, EOBI at 5% employer and 1% employee of the notified minimum wage, and provincial social security such as PESSI in Punjab or SESSI in Sindh, set per branch. Rates are settings rather than spreadsheet formulas, so when a new notification arrives payroll is updated once and every later run uses it, while finalised payslips stay exactly as they were paid.
Grow into the rest of HR
Small businesses usually start with payroll and attendance, then add leave management, the employee app, recruitment and performance reviews as they grow. All modules run in the same account, so there is no second system to learn later.
A small-business payroll month in StreamHCM
Here is what a month looks like for a 20-person business. During the month, staff punch in on the device or app and request leave in the app. On the last working day, you open payroll, review flagged exceptions such as missing punches, approve overtime, and add any one-off bonus. StreamHCM calculates gross pay, tax, EOBI and loan instalments, and shows the preview. You approve and lock it, pay salaries through your bank, and payslips appear in the app. The monthly EOBI summary and tax deduction report are ready for deposit.
Common small-business payroll mistakes
Small businesses most often get caught by the same few errors: calculating EOBI on actual salary instead of the minimum wage base, forgetting to revise tax after a raise, not prorating a mid-month joiner, and paying final settlement without leave encashment. Each of these is handled by rules in StreamHCM rather than memory.
Moving from Excel
You do not have to rebuild your data. Export your employee list and salary sheet from Excel, map the columns during import, and StreamHCM creates employee records and salary structures. Then run one month side by side with your spreadsheet and compare totals before switching.
Frequently asked questions
Pricing is a PKR base fee plus a per-employee rate, so small teams pay for their size. Use the calculator on the pricing page for your headcount.
No. Tax slabs and EOBI rates are built in as settings, and payroll shows a preview with every calculation before you approve.
Yes. Payslips are available in the employee app as soon as payroll is approved.
Yes. Yes. Payroll finalisation locks the run with one click, and payslips are issued to employees.
A small team can usually be set up within a day: employees, salary structures and attendance rules.
See StreamHCM running your HR
Start a 14-day free trial, no credit card required.