As of 13 August 2026, AI can only partly choose a UK payroll outsourcing service.

What to actually do

1. Hand it to a person

   The route this page recommends

   A person who owns the outcome does this end to end, worth it when the failure is dear.

2. Use a tool built for this

   Second choice

3. Do it yourself

   The distant third

   A chat interface, chat-fluent skill, and roughly 1 hour until you can act on the result.

   How to actually do it

   1. Open a spreadsheet and create columns for supplier name, scope, implementation, integrations, support, reporting, price, contract terms, security information, service levels and unknowns.
   2. Gather your employee count, pay frequency, payroll dates, pension arrangements, current HR or payroll systems, required reports, migration needs, budget and non-negotiable requirements.
   3. Collect the current proposals, price schedules, contract terms and relevant website pages from each supplier, then remove employee personal data before pasting the material into the prompt.
   4. Paste the completed requirements and supplier evidence into a chatbot with the copyable prompt, and ask it to produce the comparison table, questions and weighted scoring template.
   5. Compare every drafted fact and price against the original proposal or current supplier page, and mark unsupported claims as unknown in your spreadsheet.
   6. Send the same question list to the shortlisted suppliers, paste their written replies into the comparison, and record which answers change the score.
   7. Ask a payroll professional to check any unresolved PAYE, pension, employment, data protection or contract issue before you sign, then make the final choice using the confirmed scores and contract.

   Prompt

   Help me compare UK payroll outsourcing services for my business. Do not choose a provider on my behalf and do not invent prices, features, certifications, service levels or legal conclusions.
   
   Use only the supplier information and links I provide. Separate verified facts from supplier claims, assumptions and missing information. Flag anything that needs checking with the supplier or a payroll professional.
   
   My requirements:
   - Business type: [BUSINESS TYPE]
   - Number of employees: [EMPLOYEE COUNT]
   - Pay frequency: [WEEKLY, MONTHLY OR OTHER]
   - Expected payroll start date: [DATE]
   - Current payroll software or HR system: [SYSTEMS]
   - Required services: [PAYROLL, PAYE REPORTING, PENSION ADMINISTRATION, YEAR-END WORK, EMPLOYEE SUPPORT OR OTHER]
   - Required locations or currencies: [DETAILS]
   - Need for historical data migration: [YES OR NO, WITH DETAILS]
   - Internal payroll knowledge and available time: [DETAILS]
   - Budget or quoted prices: [DETAILS]
   - Must-have requirements: [LIST]
   - Deal-breakers: [LIST]
   
   Supplier information:
   [PASTE EACH SUPPLIER'S WEBSITE LINKS, QUOTES, PROPOSALS AND NOTES UNDER A CLEAR SUPPLIER NAME. REMOVE EMPLOYEE PERSONAL DATA.]
   
   Produce:
   1. A requirements checklist showing which supplier information is relevant to each requirement.
   2. A comparison table covering scope, implementation, data migration, software integrations, payroll reporting, pension administration, employee support, deadlines, pricing, contract terms, security information, service levels, escalation routes and termination arrangements. Mark each cell as verified, supplier-stated, unclear or not provided.
   3. A list of questions to send to every shortlisted supplier so their answers are directly comparable.
   4. A weighted scoring template, leaving the weights for me to confirm. Include price, scope, implementation risk, support, integration, transparency and contract flexibility.
   5. The three strongest candidates only if the evidence supports that conclusion, with the evidence for and against each.
   6. A due-diligence checklist covering references, contract review, data protection documents, payroll controls, business continuity, insurance and the handover process. Do not state that a supplier is compliant unless the supplied evidence proves it.
   7. A short decision summary that says what remains unknown and what I must verify before signing.
   
   End by asking me to confirm the scoring weights and which suppliers I want to contact. State clearly that this is not professional advice and that a serious payroll, tax, employment or data protection issue should be checked with an appropriate UK payroll, tax or legal professional.

   Open it prefilled in ChatGPT or Claude, or copy it into Gemini, which takes no prefill link.