Changing your HRIS or T&A integration
What it costs, how much notice we need, and what is required of you.
Key facts
- Notice required
- 8 weeks' written notice before your intended first live pay period on the new system. 12 weeks where the system is new to PayCaptain, or where you are changing HRIS and T&A together.
- Change request
- Raised with your Payroll Specialist. We issue a written quotation and plan within 5 working days; work begins on the agreed date.
- Cut-over point
- Always the start of a pay period. We do not cut over mid-period, or in your payroll year-end period (March/April).
- Cost basis
- Every change is scoped individually. Fees start from £500 per integration and are fixed in your written quotation after the scoping call. Additional work is charged at £125 per hour.
- UAT
- Mandatory where the integration is newly built. Your sign-off is required before go-live.
- Ongoing fee
- No change to your monthly PayCaptain subscription. Some HRIS/T&A vendors charge their own integration or API licence fee — payable by you, direct to them.
Cost and lead time by scenario
| Scenario | Indicative fee | Lead time | UAT required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Existing supported connector (system we already integrate with) | From £500 | 6 weeks | Recommended | Re-mapping and testing only; fastest route. |
| T&A change only (HRIS unchanged) | From £750 | 6–8 weeks | Yes | Hours, overtime and premium mapping must be re-tested. |
| Brand new integration (not previously built by PayCaptain) | From £2,500 | 12–16 weeks | Yes – full UAT cycle | Build and two UAT cycles. Scoped individually. |
| Secure file feed (SFTP) where no API exists | From £1,250 | 8–10 weeks | Yes | You or your vendor own the file specification and its delivery. |
| HRIS and T&A changed together | Quoted | 16 weeks | Yes – full UAT cycle | Treated as two builds; we advise staging them. |
UAT — what is required of you
Where the integration is brand new, or the source system has not been connected to PayCaptain before, user acceptance testing is a contractual condition of go-live. It is not optional and cannot be waived to meet a vendor deadline.
- Your effort
- Approx. 3–5 days of a named payroll or HR tester's time, across a 2–3 week window.
- Test data
- A representative population agreed at scoping — salaried, hourly, part-time, starters, leavers, absence and any non-standard pay elements.
- What you test
- Employee data accuracy, pay elements and rates, hours and overtime, absence treatment, cost centre reporting, and error handling.
- Defect handling
- Logged, fixed and retested. Go-live is not approved with any open critical or high-severity defect.
- Sign-off
- Written UAT sign-off is required before the live switch.
- Limited time
- Where the timetable does not allow a full UAT cycle, we ask you to accept that the transition may not be as smooth as we would want, and that areas of the new API may be found that need further development after go-live.
Included in the fee
- Scoping call and written project plan
- Field mapping document and sign-off
- Build, configuration and internal testing
- UAT support and defect resolution
- Two pay cycles of hypercare and handover documentation
Not included
- Your vendor's own API, connector or licence fees
- Cleansing or correcting data in your source system
- New or redesigned pay elements, or payroll re-structuring
- Re-work caused by a change of scope after mapping sign-off
- Historical data migration beyond the current tax year
- Expedited delivery inside the notice period (surcharge applies)
Before you sign with a new vendor
Tell us first. Confirming a vendor go-live date before speaking to PayCaptain is the single most common cause of slipped or surcharged projects. Ask your prospective vendor to confirm, in writing, that they provide API or scheduled file export access, and that it is included in your quoted price.
To start: contact your Payroll Specialist to raise a change request and book a 30-minute scoping call. We will confirm your fixed fee, cut-over date and UAT window in writing.