The verdict in three sentences
For an SME with 150 employees across several sites around Dublin, an employee self-service HR portal costs, as a 2026 order of magnitude, EUR 18,000 to 35,000 excluding VAT, then about EUR 150 a month for hosting and maintenance. It replaces the 300 monthly leave and letter requests handled by email and gives the HR team back 6 to 8 hours a week. The key to success is the payroll software connection, without which leave balances stay wrong and staff go back to email.
Where HR time goes today
The HR manager of a logistics and services SME, with a head office in Dublin, a warehouse in Ballymount and a branch in Swords, receives about 300 requests a month: annual leave, time in lieu, employment letters, payslip copies, address or bank detail changes. Each takes 5 to 8 minutes on average between reading, checking, replying and filing.
| Request type | Monthly volume | Handled by email | With the portal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual leave and time in lieu | 140 | 6 min, re-keyed into payroll | 1 min approval, automatic payroll export |
| Employment letters | 45 | 8 min, Word template to fill | Instant PDF generation |
| Payslip copies | 50 | 5 min searching | Secure vault available 24/7 |
| Address or bank detail changes | 25 | 7 min with supporting documents | Form with attachment and approval |
| Leave balance questions | 30 | 4 min checking | Balance shown in real time |
| Simple expense claims | 10 | 10 min | Built-in approval flow |
The total comes to about 30 hours a month, or 7 hours a week. The portal does not remove all of this work, but it eliminates the repetitive part and reduces double-entry errors, which are common when leave approved by email never reaches payroll.
Portal budget, module by module
| Module | Core version | Full version |
|---|---|---|
| Authentication and directory of 150 employees (Microsoft or Google SSO) | EUR 2,000 | EUR 3,500 |
| Leave, absence requests and manager approval flow | EUR 4,500 | EUR 7,500 |
| Payslip and HR document vault | EUR 3,000 | EUR 5,000 |
| Letter and template document generation | EUR 2,000 | EUR 4,000 |
| Payroll software connection (BrightPay, Sage, Thesaurus) | EUR 3,500 | EUR 7,000 |
| Mobile app or PWA for staff without a desk | EUR 1,500 | EUR 4,500 |
| Testing, GDPR and manager training | EUR 1,500 | EUR 3,500 |
| Total excl. VAT | EUR 18,000 | EUR 35,000 |
The PWA matters a lot for a multi-site SME: pickers and drivers have no computer. An app installable on the phone, reachable by code or secure link, determines adoption.
Custom build or off-the-shelf HRIS
Online HR systems are a serious alternative. The choice comes down to five-year cost and flexibility of approval flows.
| 2026 option | Upfront cost | Recurring cost (order of magnitude) | 5-year cost for 150 staff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Email and spreadsheet | EUR 0 | 7 h a week of HR time | About EUR 55,000 of internal time |
| Standard SaaS HRIS | EUR 1,000 to 3,000 setup | EUR 5 to 10 per employee per month | EUR 46,000 to 93,000 |
| Custom portal | EUR 18,000 to 35,000 | EUR 150 a month | EUR 27,000 to 44,000 |
| Payroll software HR module | EUR 0 to 2,000 | EUR 2 to 5 per employee per month | EUR 18,000 to 47,000 |
The payroll module is often the cheapest, but rarely fits specific rules: approval by team lead then site manager, warehouse rosters, company agreements on time in lieu. A custom build makes sense when these rules are numerous or when the SME wants a single portal for HR and other internal uses.
Mini case study
Need a professional website?
Kolonell builds websites that attract clients, optimized for the Sénégalese market. Free quote in 2 minutes.
Aoife, HR manager of a 150-person SME in Dublin (illustrative persona), spends 7 hours a week on email requests. Over 46 working weeks, that is 322 hours a year. With the portal, about 1 hour a week of approvals and checks remains, or 46 hours. The gain is 276 hours a year. At a loaded cost of EUR 40 an hour, that is about EUR 11,000 a year, plus avoided payroll errors. For a EUR 25,000 portal with EUR 1,800 of annual running costs, payback comes in just under 3 years, and faster if you count managers' time no longer spent chasing by email.
FAQ
How much does a custom HR portal cost for a 150-person SME?
As a 2026 order of magnitude, budget EUR 18,000 to 35,000 excluding VAT depending on modules and the payroll connection. Running costs are around EUR 150 a month for hosting and maintenance.
Are electronic payslips legal in Ireland?
Yes, employers can issue payslips electronically as long as employees can access, read and keep them. Payroll records must be kept for at least 6 years for Revenue purposes, hence the value of a compliant document vault.
How long does deployment take?
Allow 3 to 5 months, including 3 to 4 weeks scoping approval flows. Rolling out site by site, starting with head office, limits resistance.
What about staff without a work email address?
They access the portal by phone through a PWA with SMS code or secure link authentication. In a logistics SME, they often represent 40 to 60 % of the workforce.
Is the portal GDPR compliant?
It must be by design: role-based access, logging, EU hosting and a retention period per document type. The data protection impact assessment takes 2 to 5 days depending on data sensitivity.
Let's scope your project. Send us your request types, payroll software and site organisation: we will price a custom HR portal, with an indicative budget, a site-by-site rollout plan and a monthly running cost. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
