Payroll in Vietnam is not really a spreadsheet problem, it is a compliance problem. Every month the same arithmetic has to be right: base salary, overtime, allowances, the 13th-month bonus, then social insurance, health insurance, unemployment insurance and personal income tax on top. One decimal out of place and you are arguing with the tax office instead of running the business.
A shorter, rewritten version of our full comparison at Best Payroll Software Vietnam 2026.
What the software must do before price even matters
Most comparison tables rank features. In Vietnam the compliance engine is the feature, and it is binary: either the tool files the paperwork or you do.
- Social insurance maths, automatic. BHXH/BHYT/BHTN at 25.5% employer-side and 10.5% employee-side, capped at 20x the regional minimum wage, updated when the government changes rates.
- Personal income tax done properly. Progressive TNCN brackets, family deductions (giảm trừ gia cảnh), and overtime / tax-free allowance handling.
- Exports that the authorities accept. The monthly HS02 social insurance dossier (via VssID/eBHXH), the quarterly TNCN declaration, and the 03/TCT e-invoice salary file.
- Vietnamese reality. 13th-month pay, Tết bonuses, unpaid leave, regional minimum wages, labour contracts in Vietnamese.
- Attendance in, salary out. Overtime, shifts and leave pulled from the timekeeping system instead of retyped.
If a tool only prints payslips, the filing still belongs to your accountant, and you have not removed the risk you were trying to remove.
What each plan actually costs
These are indicative 2026 starting prices, not quotes:
| Software | Best for | Typical price (VND) |
|---|---|---|
| MISA AMIS HRM | All-in-one HR + payroll + accounting | ~30,000/employee/month; small packages from ~3M/year |
| Base.vn | Growing companies with real HR workflows | ~40,000–60,000/employee/month |
| 1Office | SMEs that want HR and accounting in one system | From ~2.9M/year (billed annually) |
| HRain (ThaiPay) | Manufacturing and shift-based workforces | From ~25,000/employee/month |
| FastWork | Startups and micro-businesses on a budget | From ~1.9M/year; free plan available |
| KiotViet Payroll | Retail chains already on KiotViet POS | Add-on from ~300,000/month |
| Sapo HRM | E-commerce and retail teams on Sapo | Add-on from ~200,000/month |
| VnResource HRM | Enterprise HR that needs configuration | From ~10,000/employee/month |
The per-employee column is the one that misleads people. Add-ons, implementation and the module you will need next year never appear in the headline rate, so compare the annual figure for your headcount.
Pick by situation, not by feature count
- Under ten staff, budget first. FastWork's free plan, or its package from ~1.9M/year, covers simple payslips and basic BHXH support.
- Shift work or a factory. Overtime and shift rules beat price: HRain (ThaiPay) from ~25,000/employee/month is built for that.
- You already run KiotViet POS or Sapo. Take the native add-on (KiotViet Payroll from ~300,000/month, Sapo HRM from ~200,000/month) so sales, attendance and payroll read one data set.
- Compliance is the risk, or payroll must flow into accounting. MISA AMIS HRM at ~30,000/employee/month is the safe default, especially if you already issue invoices through MISA. 1Office from ~2.9M/year is the alternative when you want HR and books in one system.
- Rules no standard package covers. VnResource HRM, from ~10,000/employee/month, is the one to shortlist for configuration or on-premise deployment.
The checklist before you pay
- Does it auto-update insurance rates and regional minimum wages?
- Can it export the monthly HS02 dossier?
- Does it produce the TNCN declaration and the 03/TCT salary file?
- Are progressive PIT brackets and family deductions built in?
- Can it handle 13th-month pay, Tết bonuses and unpaid leave?
- Do payslips come out in Vietnamese and English if you have expat staff?
- Is the data hosted in Vietnam or with a compliant cloud provider?
Then the only test that matters: take last month's real salary data, process it in the trial, and compare every line with what your accountant produced. That 30-minute check is worth more than any brochure.
Mistakes that cost the most
- Keeping payroll in Excel one month too long. Rates, regional minimum wages and PIT brackets move, and a spreadsheet never warns you.
- Buying before the parallel test. If a single number differs from your accountant's file, the tool is not ready for your payroll.
- Choosing on the per-employee price alone. Compare the annual cost including add-ons and implementation.
- Assuming every suite files Vietnamese paperwork. Ask about HS02, TNCN and the salary e-invoice file before signing.
- Ignoring shift and overtime rules. A system that cannot model them will be corrected by hand every month.
- Leaving the records only inside the subscription. Monthly exports, submission confirmations and signed payslips should also live in storage you own, so the history stays readable if a subscription lapses.
Closing
Vietnamese payroll is not optional complexity, it is the law. In 2026 there is no reason to keep calculating BHXH and TNCN in Excel: MISA AMIS and Base.vn lead on compliance and scale, 1Office and HRain are strong value, and FastWork, KiotViet and Sapo cover the budget and retail niches. Pick the tool for your headcount and industry, run a trial on last month's real data, and let the software do the arithmetic.
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