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Vendors.ie Index, Q2 2026

Auto-Enrolment Readiness Index 2026

Four months into My Future Fund, the question Irish employers keep asking is not which payroll tool grades highest, but whether their own setup will hold up to a NAERSA compliance check. The interactive Index below answers that. Enter your headcount, existing-scheme posture, and payroll vendor; the calculator returns a 0-100 readiness score, the prioritised gaps that matter most this quarter, and recommended Auto-Enrolment-ready payroll vendors if yours has not published a verified readiness statement.

New to the scheme? Start with our Auto-Enrolment Ireland guide, the AEPN vs RPN explainer, and the 2026-2035 rate schedule. Score your own setup with the interactive Readiness Index calculator.

Last verified 12 May 2026

Headcount by age band

Auto-Enrolment applies to employees aged 23 to 60. Splitting by age band lets the calculator separate in-scope from out-of-scope employees.

Earnings threshold

The €20,000 gross-earnings threshold gates eligibility under the Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Act 2024.

Existing occupational pension scheme
Current payroll software

Your payroll vendor must retrieve Auto-Enrolment Payroll Notifications (AEPNs) from NAERSA, calculate phased contributions, and submit alongside the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Modernisation Payroll Submission.

NAERSA registration status

Payroll vendor readiness rubric

Eight Irish payroll vendors with published My Future Fund readiness statements, scored across five NAERSA compliance dimensions. Last verified 12 May 2026. Confirm your version directly with the vendor before your next pay run.

VendorAEPN retrievalPhased contributionsEUR 80k capOpt-out / re-enrolmentNAERSA submissions
BrightPayYesYesYesYesYes
Collsoft PayrollYesYesYesYesYes
Thesaurus Payroll ManagerYesYesYesYesYes
Big Red Book PayrollYesYesYesYesYes
Sage Payroll IrelandYesYesYesYesYes
ParollaYesYesYesYesYes
SimplePayYesYesYesYesYes
PaybackYesYesYesYesYes

Readiness assessed from each vendor's published documentation or release notes. Vendors without a Vendors.ie profile link to their own website. Source: Auto-Enrolment Ireland Software page, last verified 12 May 2026.

Next step

Compare Auto-Enrolment-ready payroll software for Irish SMEs

Short-list of payroll tools with published NAERSA readiness statements, side-by-side on Auto-Enrolment Payroll Notification retrieval, phased contribution handling, opt-out and re-enrolment workflows, and 2029 rate-step automation.

Compare AE-ready payroll software ›

How the Q2 2026 Index is calculated

The readiness score is a 0-to-100 composite of four signals: NAERSA registration status (30 points), payroll vendor Auto-Enrolment readiness (30 points), existing-scheme posture clarity (20 points), and in-scope headcount coherence (20 points). Bands are: 0-24 Not started, 25-54 Foundational, 55-84 Ready, 85-100 Compliant. Vendor readiness reflects each payroll provider's published documentation or release notes, last verified 12 May 2026. The EUR 20,000 earnings threshold and the 23-to-60 age band are statutory under the Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Act 2024. The phased contribution rates are statutory under the Section 52 Regulations 2025. Indicative only - confirm specific employee eligibility with NAERSA and your payroll vendor before any pay run.

The vendor rubric table scores five NAERSA compliance dimensions: AEPN retrieval, phased contribution calculation, EUR 80,000 earnings cap enforcement, opt-out and re-enrolment workflow, and NAERSA submission alongside the Payroll Submission Report. All eight vendors in the table have published readiness statements covering the full set of dimensions. Readiness does not imply the vendor's current software version is up to date in your environment - verify your installed version with the vendor.

Auto-Enrolment Readiness Index Q2 2026 - methodology FAQ

How the scoring works, where the vendor data comes from, and what stays in your browser.

How is the readiness score calculated?
The score is a 0-to-100 composite of four NAERSA-aligned signals: NAERSA registration status (30 points), payroll vendor Auto-Enrolment readiness (30 points), existing-scheme posture clarity (20 points), and in-scope headcount coherence (20 points). Bands are 0-24 Not started, 25-54 Foundational, 55-84 Ready, 85-100 Compliant. Scoring happens client-side; nothing is sent to a server unless you opt in to the email report.
Which Irish payroll vendors count as Auto-Enrolment ready?
BrightPay, Collsoft Payroll, Thesaurus Payroll Manager, Big Red Book Payroll, Sage Payroll Ireland, Parolla, SimplePay, and Payback have each published verified Auto-Enrolment readiness statements covering AEPN retrieval, phased contribution calculations, and NAERSA submissions. QuickBooks Payroll, Surf Payroll, Payroller, and Xero have not published equivalent statements at the time of writing. Selecting one of those routes you to the recommended-vendors panel.
Why does in-scope headcount matter to the score?
NAERSA enrolment is triggered employee-by-employee. The calculator asks for age band counts plus how many employees earn at least EUR20,000 a year, because both gates have to be met before an employee enters Auto-Enrolment. The score rewards coherent inputs (earnings count never exceeds the 23-to-60 age band) because it signals you have payroll data clean enough to act on. Mismatched counts still produce a score, just a lower one.
Is this a Q2 2026 snapshot or a live tool?
Both. The underlying vendor readiness data was last verified 12 May 2026 and is rebuilt every time the Vendors.ie dataset refreshes. The Q2 2026 label is the publication edition; the calculator itself stays live and reflects the most recent verified state. The next Q3 edition will follow the same methodology with refreshed vendor verifications.
Does my data leave the browser?
No. The readiness calculation runs entirely in your browser. Nothing is logged or transmitted unless you choose to email yourself the saved report, in which case only the score summary plus your email address is forwarded to our EU-hosted mailing infrastructure. We never sell or share email data.

Results are indicative only and based on the information provided. Data may not reflect current vendor offerings and is subject to change. Always verify details directly with vendors before making purchasing decisions.