What Payworks Can’t Do Once You Start Growing

If you’ve landed on this page, payroll is probably running fine. The problem is everything around it.

Here’s what we hear from companies making the switch:

The feature ceiling. Payworks handles payroll, basic HR, and time management. But when you need performance reviews, succession planning, compensation management, or advanced workforce scheduling in the same system, you hit a wall. You end up bolting on separate tools, each with its own login, its own data silo, and its own invoice.

Integration fatigue. Once you’re running payroll in Payworks, time tracking somewhere else, HR records in a spreadsheet, and benefits administration through your broker’s portal, your team becomes the human middleware holding it all together. That’s not sustainable at 150+ employees.

Reporting limitations. When your payroll data lives in one system and your HR data lives in another, getting a unified view of labour costs, headcount trends, or turnover by department requires manual exports and spreadsheet gymnastics.

Growing complexity. Multi-province operations, multiple pay groups, complex benefit structures, union environments all create edge cases that a payroll-first tool wasn’t built to handle. At some point the workarounds cost more in your team’s time than the software saves on the invoice.

Understanding Your Payworks Agreement

Contract Terms

Before you start shopping, read your Payworks agreement. Payworks contracts carry a notice period of 30 to 90 days. Some include auto-renewal clauses that lock you in for another term if you miss the cancellation window.

Check for:

• Cancellation notice period (typically 30-90 days written notice)
• Auto-renewal dates and opt-out windows
• Early termination fees, if any
• Data retention and export obligations after cancellation
• Whether year-end processing (T4s, ROEs) is included through the end of your contract or billed separately

Get everything in writing. Call your Payworks account rep and confirm the exact steps required to cancel. Ask them to email you those steps. Verbal confirmations aren’t worth the paper they’re not printed on.

Key Questions to Ask Before Cancelling

Before you give notice, get clear answers to these five questions:

1. What format will my data export be in? CSV, Excel, PDF reports? You need machine-readable formats, not just printed reports.
2. How long will I have access after cancellation? Some providers cut access immediately. Others give 30-60 days. You need enough time to verify your data landed correctly in the new system.
3. Will Payworks process my final CRA remittance? Confirm who is responsible for the last remittance. A gap here means CRA penalties.
4. Who handles year-end if I leave mid-year? If you switch in July, who issues the T4s in February? You or Payworks? Clarify this before you sign anything new.
5. Can I get historical payroll registers going back 7 years? CRA requires you to keep payroll records for at least 6 years. Get everything before you lose access.

Your Payworks Data Export Checklist

This is the part most companies underestimate. Your data is your leverage. Export everything before you cancel. Not after.

Payroll Data

• Complete employee master list (names, SINs, addresses, birth dates, hire dates, termination dates)
• Current pay rates, salary schedules, and pay frequencies for every active employee
• Year-to-date earnings by employee, broken down by earning type (regular, overtime, vacation, statutory holiday)
• Year-to-date CPP and EI contributions (employee and employer portions)
• Year-to-date federal and provincial income tax deducted
• All active deductions: benefits, garnishments, union dues, RRSP contributions, charitable donations
• Direct deposit banking information for every employee
• Historical payroll registers, minimum 7 years (CRA record-keeping requirement)
• TD1 federal and provincial personal tax credit forms on file

Tax and Compliance Records

• T4 and T4A summaries for at least the last 3 years
• Records of Employment (ROEs) issued, with serial numbers
• Provincial remittance history (Quebec employers: both CRA and Revenu Quebec records)
• WSIB/WCB account numbers and rate groups by province
• EHT (Employer Health Tax) records for Ontario employers
• CRA payroll account number and current remittance frequency
• Any CRA correspondence or assessments related to payroll

HR and Time Data

• Vacation and sick leave accrual balances for every employee
• Time and attendance records (if using Payworks time module)
• Employee self-service documents (uploaded tax forms, signed policies)
• Custom fields and employee notes
• Benefit enrolment records and coverage details

Step-by-Step: Switching from Payworks

Nine steps. Eight to twelve weeks. No drama if you follow the sequence.

Step 1: Audit your current state (Week 1). Document every pay group, earning code, deduction, and benefit plan in Payworks. Write down the workarounds your team uses. The spreadsheets. The manual steps. The things someone “just knows.” This becomes your configuration blueprint for the new system.

Step 2: Select your new provider (Weeks 1-3). Evaluate based on what actually matters: Canadian payroll depth, all-in-one capability, implementation cost, and contract flexibility. Ask every vendor the five questions from the section above. If they dodge the parallel payroll question, that’s your answer.

Step 3: Give Payworks written notice (Week 2-3). Send cancellation notice per your contract terms. Request a complete data export in machine-readable format. Confirm final remittance responsibilities and post-cancellation access timeline. Get confirmation in writing.

Step 4: Export and verify your data (Weeks 3-4). Pull every item on the checklist above. Verify employee counts, YTD totals, and benefit deductions against your most recent payroll register. If anything looks off, resolve it with Payworks before you leave. Cleaning up data errors after cancellation is significantly harder.

Step 5: Configure your new system (Weeks 4-6). Import employee data, set up pay rules, configure deduction schedules, and establish CRA remittance settings using your existing payroll account number. Do not open a new CRA payroll account unless the CRA specifically instructs you to.

Step 6: Run parallel payroll (Week 6-7). Process one full pay cycle in both Payworks and your new system simultaneously. Compare every line: gross pay, CPP, EI, federal tax, provincial tax, benefit deductions, net pay. If any number differs by even a cent, find out why before going live. This is not optional.

Step 7: Communicate with employees (Week 7). Tell your team what’s changing. Payday stays the same. Direct deposit stays the same. The pay stub will look different. Give them a contact person for questions. No surprises.

Step 8: Go live (Week 8). Run your first live payroll in the new system 3-5 business days earlier than normal to catch issues before deposit day. Verify every employee’s net pay. Confirm CRA remittances are submitted on time.

Step 9: Confirm and close (Weeks 9-12). After two successful pay runs in the new system, confirm Payworks cancellation is complete. Download any remaining historical data. Archive your Payworks exports securely for CRA compliance. Done.

Timing Your Transition

January 1 is the right target for most Payworks exits. Payworks processes your year-end T4s, your new provider inherits a clean slate with zero year-to-date balances, and nobody is reconciling split-year figures in February. This is the path of least resistance and, if you can wait for it, worth the wait.

One thing to know about leaving Payworks mid-year: the T4 handoff is genuinely ambiguous. Unlike some providers who draw a hard line, Payworks and your new provider may each claim the other is responsible for issuing T4s for the portion of the year they covered. Get written confirmation on who handles T4s before you sign anything new. A verbal agreement here is not enough.

Start of a quarter is the second-best option. April 1, July 1, or October 1 give you a natural cut-off for quarterly reconciliation. The YTD transfer is still required, but at least you’re carrying over round quarterly figures rather than mid-cycle totals.

Mid-quarter is survivable but messy. You’ll need per-employee, per-pay-period breakdowns of everything. CPP and EI contributions need to carry over exactly, or your employees get over-deducted for the rest of the year and their T4s come out wrong.

Budget 8 to 12 weeks regardless. The active work takes 6-8 weeks. The buffer covers a delayed data export from Payworks, a configuration question that takes a week to resolve, or an employee with a complicated garnishment that needs special handling.

If you’re targeting January 1, start the process in mid-October. That gives you November for setup and configuration, December for parallel testing, and a clean first run on January 1.

The Gaps Payworks Leaves Open (And What Fills Them)

Switching providers isn’t about getting the same thing from a different vendor. It’s about closing the gaps that a payroll-only tool leaves open.

Pricing note: Payworks pricing is not publicly listed and varies by configuration. Contact Payworks directly for current rates. Workzoom pricing is $4 CAD/employee/month per suite, published at /pricing. Comparison based on publicly available feature information.

Cost Comparison by Company Size

Here’s what Workzoom costs at different employee counts, using all four suites (HR + Workforce + Payroll + Talent):

No setup fees. No annual commitment. Month-to-month at $4 CAD per employee per month per suite. If it doesn’t work, you leave.

Who Should Stay with Payworks

Honest answer: some companies should.

Your payroll is simple and it works. If you’re running straightforward payroll for under 100 employees in one province, and Payworks handles it without drama, switching for the sake of switching is a waste of everyone’s time. “It works” is a perfectly valid reason to stay.

You don’t need HR, workforce, or talent tools. If payroll is genuinely all you need, and you’re not patching together three other systems to fill the gaps, Payworks does payroll well. A dedicated payroll tool that meets your needs is better than an all-in-one you don’t need.

You’re mid-year-end. If you’re in November or December, finish the year with Payworks. Let them handle your T4s. Start fresh with a new provider on January 1. Switching during year-end processing is asking for problems you can easily avoid by waiting six weeks.

Your team doesn’t have bandwidth for a transition right now. A payroll switch takes real effort from your payroll and HR team. If they’re already stretched thin, forcing a transition adds risk. Wait for a window where they can give it proper attention.

The right time to switch is when the cost of staying, in workarounds, manual processes, missing features, and integration headaches, exceeds the cost of moving. If you’re not there yet, bookmark this page and come back when you are.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to switch from Payworks?

Plan for 8 to 12 weeks from decision to first live payroll. The active configuration and testing work takes 6-8 weeks. The rest is buffer for data exports, notice periods, and parallel payroll testing. A January 1 switch should start in mid-October.

Can I switch from Payworks mid-year?

Yes. Mid-year switches require transferring year-to-date CPP, EI, and income tax figures for every employee. Get per-employee YTD breakdowns from Payworks, import them into your new system, and verify totals match before running your first live payroll. Start-of-quarter transitions (April 1, July 1, October 1) are cleaner than mid-quarter.

Will I lose my payroll history?

Not if you export it before cancelling. Request complete payroll registers going back at least 7 years from Payworks in CSV or Excel format. Download and archive these files before your access is terminated. CRA requires you to retain payroll records for a minimum of 6 years.

What happens to my employees’ direct deposit?

Nothing changes from the employee’s perspective. Their banking information transfers to the new system. Payday stays the same. The only visible difference is the pay stub format. Communicate the change in advance so nobody panics when their stub looks different.

Who handles T4s if I switch mid-year?

Clarify this with Payworks before you cancel. In most mid-year transitions, the new provider issues T4s for the full calendar year, using the combined YTD data from both systems. Some organisations have the old provider issue a T4 for the portion of the year they handled, and the new provider issues a second T4 for the remainder. Either approach works. The key is agreeing on who does what before year-end.

Does Workzoom charge implementation fees?

No. Data migration, system configuration, and parallel payroll testing are all included. Workzoom charges $4 CAD per employee per month per suite. No setup fees. No contracts. Month-to-month.