Tools and providers
Payroll software survey tools in England: Microsoft Forms and SurveyMonkey checked, with a pilot plan
What Microsoft Forms and SurveyMonkey publish for payroll software research in England: exports, limits and data duties, plus a pilot plan to settle the choice.
What to take away
- Microsoft Forms fits teams that already hold a Microsoft 365 account and want responses landing in Excel.
- SurveyMonkey publishes a free-plan question limit, response limits, an overage charge and export formats.
- Payroll data is personal data, so data protection law applies, and some payroll items can be special category data.
- Google Forms and Jisc Online Surveys belong in the pilot too, but check their live provider pages first.
- Decide with one pilotthe same survey in every tool, using dummy data only.
How Microsoft Forms and SurveyMonkey compare
The table records only what the provider pages checked for this comparison state. Where a page does not cover a point, the cell says so. Read the live plan page for that point before you budget.
A free plan that hides responses over a limit matters for research. If a payroll survey passes the limit, you may not see every answer until you upgrade, so estimate the number of respondents before you choose a tier.
| Question | Microsoft Forms | SurveyMonkey |
|---|---|---|
| What do you need to start? | A Microsoft 365 account with access to Forms and Excel | A plan from its pricing page |
| How do responses reach analysis? | A Power Automate flow can add each response to an Excel table | Export as CSV, XLS, PPT or PDF |
| Statistics package? | Open the Excel table in your own tool | An SPSS export feature is listed |
| Question types | Not covered by the page checked | 13 common types, with more on paid plans |
| Free plan limits | Not covered by the page checked | 10 questions per survey, and free users must upgrade to view responses over the limit |
| Cost of extra responses | Not covered by the page checked | Paid plans are invoiced up to £0.15 per extra response |
Fix your participant frame before you choose a tool. The audience research guide explains why sampling matters more than software.
Microsoft Forms
Microsoft's Forms and Excel guide explains that a workflow can automatically add Forms responses to a pre-defined Excel file. It lists a Microsoft 365 account with access to Microsoft Forms and Excel as a prerequisite.
The workbook must be saved to OneDrive or SharePoint so that Power Automate can reach it. That is a governance point: the responses will sit in a file in your own storage, so decide who can open it before anyone submits data.
SurveyMonkey
The published plan details show how a plan shapes the design. Free SurveyMonkey users can add up to 10 questions per survey. Each plan has a limited number of responses, and paid plans are invoiced up to £0.15 or the equivalent for each response over the limit.
For analysis, the pricing page lists export to CSV, XLS, PPT or PDF, and an export for use in SPSS. Keep the ability to view responses apart from the ability to export them, and read the supplier's terms for renewal and deletion. The guide to reading a productivity software contract marks the clauses to check.
Google Forms and Jisc Online Surveys
Both tools are worth testing in the pilot. This comparison makes no claims about their limits, exports or prices. Their provider pages could not be checked for this edition.
Before you shortlist either one, read the live plan page and note the response limit, the export formats, who may sign up and where the data is held. Add each answer to the same table above.
Example questions for a payroll software study
A five-question pilot is enough to test every tool:
- Which payroll software runs your main pay run, and which release are you on?
- How many payslips do you produce in a typical month, and how many are off-cycle?
- How do you submit RTI returns to HMRC, and who holds the Government Gateway credentials?
- Which tasks still happen in a spreadsheet after the pay run?
- What happens to a leaver's final pay and leaver paperwork in your current process?
Use colleagues as technical testers only, following the pilot plan for payroll research tools. Never enter genuine payroll details into a pilot form.
Data protection in England: what to settle first
ICO guidance on special category data explains that the UK GDPR singles out some types of personal data as more sensitive and gives them extra protection. The list includes personal data revealing trade union membership and data concerning health.
Union subscriptions or sickness deductions in a payroll extract can therefore raise the bar.
Record four things before launch: the lawful basis, a retention period, the privacy information shown at the start of the form, and who approved the configuration. Payroll teams are small and identifiable, so avoid free-text questions that invite personal detail.
Run a pilot before you commit
- Write one short survey from the five example questions.
- Build it in each shortlisted tool with identical wording and logic.
- Test keyboard use, screen-reader labels, mobile layout, branching and required fields.
- Export the responses and check that your analysis reproduces the displayed totals, using the selection checklist as the record.
- Note how deleted responses, duplicates and missing values appear, then price the tier you would buy.
A software budget template helps, because units, timing and tax change the real cost of a tier.
The right tool is the lowest-risk one that meets your study design, not the one with the longest feature list.
Common questions
Which tool should I pick for payroll software research?
Pick Microsoft Forms if you already hold Microsoft 365 accounts and want responses in Excel. Pick SurveyMonkey if you want published response limits and an SPSS export. Run the pilot before you decide.
Is it allowed to collect payroll data in these tools?
Only with a lawful basis, a retention period and an approved configuration. Payroll data is personal data, and some items may be special category data. Ask your data protection owner to review the configured service.
How do the tools differ on exports?
Microsoft Forms responses can be added to an Excel table through Power Automate. SurveyMonkey lists CSV, XLS, PPT, PDF and SPSS exports.
What does SurveyMonkey charge for extra responses?
Paid plans are invoiced up to £0.15 or the equivalent for each response over the plan's limit.
