Payday alternatives 2026: the 5 best options and how to switch before New Year

Kassify · 6 November 2026

Payday's full package costs at most 11.700 kr. a month excluding VAT. That is the price of the system. In an article Payday published on 4 November 2026, the company itself says owners rarely do the year-end close and tax return themselves, and that VAT returns go to a bookkeeper if you want the job off your hands. So a company on Payday usually pays three providers: the system, the bookkeeper and the accountant.

At New Year many companies decide what the next year should look like. Here are the 5 best alternatives to Payday, the prices from each company's site, the true yearly cost and how to switch.

What Payday is and what it costs

Payday is an Icelandic cloud system for invoicing, bookkeeping and payroll, founded in 2017. Visma, a European software company, bought Payday in August 2023. There are four plans, per month excluding VAT:

The general ledger, with reconciliation, journal, trial balance and balance sheet, comes only with the full package. A company that runs payroll pays at least the price of the payroll plan. The system does not do the work: someone still has to book the expenses, reconcile the bank, file VAT, run payroll and close the year.

What Payday really costs a year

The price of the system says little on its own. Here are two setups for an ehf. on Payday, worked out per year from published prices on 5 November 2026. Bóklega and Accounta are accounting firms that work in Payday, and a bookkeeper who keeps the general ledger in Payday needs the full package.

The prices exclude VAT, and Accounta adds 24% VAT. Bóklega's price is a starting price. Accounta's cheapest package, Frumkvöðlapakkinn at 49.990 kr. a month, sets up your books in Payday and covers recording, reconciliation and the VAT settlement, but neither payroll nor the annual accounts. Neither package in the table mentions the tax return. At Accounta it first comes with Gull, at 499.990 kr. a month.

Kassify replaces the system, the bookkeeper and the accountant with one fixed monthly price, in writing beforehand, that also covers the annual accounts and tax return. The cost is 20% below a traditional accounting firm. How a bookkeeping price is put together is set out in the article What bookkeeping costs.

The 5 best alternatives to Payday

The ranking goes by how much work comes off your plate. Kassify takes all of the work, so it is number 1. The other four are systems where the work stays yours, and they are ranked by how much of what Payday does, invoicing, bookkeeping and payroll, comes with the base price. Prices per month excluding VAT, from each company's site on 5 November 2026.

Payday, dk and Regla are compared item by item in the article Payday, dk or Regla.

1. Kassify

Kassify is an accounting firm that uses AI, and a whole finance department for your company. Payday gives you the system. Kassify takes over the work itself. Every transaction is read, categorised and matched, without a single manual entry from you.

• Bookkeeping, VAT returns, payroll and the app for a fixed monthly price. The annual accounts and tax return included in the monthly price, reviewed by a chartered accountant.
• Sales invoices with your company's logo, paid by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay, and claims your customer sees in their online bank.
• Each bank connected directly, and the cards too. Bills in your email find their own way into the books, and receipts arrive from Messenger and the app.
• Payslips, withholding tax and pension returns every month.
• The move from Payday in less than 7 days, included in the price. Entries, sales invoices, payslips and the opening balance come with you, and every account is reconciled.
• A bookkeeper replies within 24 hours. Certified bookkeepers and chartered accountants stand behind the work, including Gunnar Freyr Guðmundsson, chartered accountant and owner of Endár ehf.

What the monthly price covers is set out on the page on bookkeeping with Kassify. The other four options are systems, like Payday. You change systems, but the bookkeeper and the accountant stay on their own invoices. With Kassify you pay one provider.

2. Netbókhald

An Icelandic system for small and medium companies. One system costs 5.900 kr. and the full package 13.754 kr., with sales, ledger and payroll, unlimited users and transactions, and no extra fees for more staff or higher turnover.

Keep in mind: A bank connection costs 2.785 kr. and e-invoices 2.100 kr. on top. If the books get too complicated, Netbókhald's advice is to give your bookkeeper access, so the bookkeeper and the accountant come on top of the price.

3. Regla

An Icelandic cloud system with a flat monthly fee and no percentage of turnover. The starter package costs 8.800 kr. with ledger, sales and payroll, Staðlaður 15.800 kr., and Stærri, with payroll, 23.700 kr. Finago completed its purchase of Regla on 2 November 2026.

Keep in mind: Transaction limits count from the start, not per month, and the starter package takes 1.000 transactions. E-invoices cost 3.600 kr. a month and 40 kr. per invoice beyond 10, and the bookkeeper and the accountant come on top.

4. dk

An Icelandic system with three packages: dk Kjarni at 19.250 kr., dk Vöxtur at 29.500 kr., which dk marks as most chosen, and dk Tindur at 39.000 kr. A service contract comes with every new package. The prices rose this year, as set out in the article dk raised its prices.

Keep in mind: Payroll comes only with dk Tindur, for 10 employees, and is an add-on in the other packages. The cheapest package costs 7.550 kr. a month more than Payday's full package, and the bookkeeper and the accountant come on top.

5. Uniconta

A Danish system sold here through resellers, and Payday offers an integration with it. At Fjártækni, the Standard ledger costs 4.495 kr. and Icelandic localisation 3.500 kr. per user, so 7.995 kr. for one user. Stock control, job costing and production are available as add-ons.

Keep in mind: Payroll is a separate system, UniSal, which works with Uniconta, so the payroll you now run in Payday moves to a different system from the books. Each extra user costs 4.495 kr. plus localisation, e-invoicing 4.995 kr. with a 15.000 kr. setup fee, and the bookkeeper and the accountant come on top.

Who does the work

Payday published its own table of what the owner does and what the bookkeeper takes. Here it is next to Kassify.

How to switch from Payday

If you change systems yourself, these are the steps:

1. 1
   Finish 2026 in Payday

   December payroll runs in Payday, and the last VAT period of the year, November and December, is due on 5 February 2027. The new system starts on 1 January 2027, with a new financial year and a new VAT period.

2. 2
   Cancel open claims

   Payday creates claims in your customers' online banks, and cancelling a claim in Payday cancels it in the online bank. Unpaid claims have to be cancelled and created again in the new system before the subscription is cancelled.

3. 3
   Take out the history

   The transaction list comes with every Payday plan except Laun, but the trial balance, balance sheet and balance list come only with the full package. Take them out on the switch date and compare the trial balance with the opening balance in the new system.

4. 4
   Keep access for 7 years

   Under article 20 of the Bookkeeping Act no. 145/1994, the books, accounting records and supporting documents must be kept in Iceland for seven years from the end of the financial year. Make sure your data in Payday stays within reach before the subscription ends.

Bóklega estimates two to three weeks for a small company to change systems, including one to two weeks of running both systems side by side.

With Kassify you skip all four steps. You give your bookkeeper's name, Kassify talks to them, moves the history out of Payday and reconciles every account before Kassify takes over. It takes less than 7 days, with no side-by-side run, and the move is included in the fixed monthly price. Decide before New Year and Kassify takes over your books from 1 January.

Questions

One provider instead of three. One fixed monthly price, in writing up front.

Leave your email and Kassify goes through what Payday, your bookkeeper and your accountant cost you today. You get one fixed monthly price, with the annual accounts and tax return, in writing before you decide.