Run payday yourself. Get the math right.
PayNorth is for Ontario employers who pay their own staff. Enter the hours — it calculates federal & Ontario tax, CPP, CPP2 and EI using the CRA's published payroll formulas, then hands you a professional wage statement and a running total of what to remit. About 30 seconds per employee, once you're set up.
Create your first wage statement — free See what it does (and doesn't) → No signup. No credit card. 5 statements a month free.CRA T4127 formulas2026 editions, federal & Ontario
Automated test suiteevery build checked; edition printed on every stub
Private by designpayroll data stays on your device
Operator-builtby an Ontario restaurant owner
The hour you lose every payday
You know the hours. You know the wage. Then comes the part where a $19.50/hr shift with tips and a holiday turns into forty minutes of PDOC tabs, a spreadsheet you half-trust, and a stub template you found in 2019. Get one CPP cap or vacation percentage wrong and you're unwinding it at year end — with your accountant on the clock. PayNorth exists for exactly that hour.
Three steps, then it's 30 seconds forever
Set up once
Your business, your people, their wage and vacation setup. About 2 minutes.
Enter the pay period
Hours, tips, overtime, holiday pay — whatever happened.
Done
A professional PDF wage statement, YTD totals carried forward, and your CRA remittance summary updated. Download, print, or send it.
What a small employer gets on payday
Made for restaurants, shops and small teams — by an owner who got tired of paying for stubs an accountant shouldn't need to make.
Deductions from the CRA's published formulas
Federal & Ontario income tax (including surtax, health premium and tax reduction), CPP, CPP2 and EI — with annual maximums applied automatically — implemented from the CRA T4127 Payroll Deductions Formulas, for supported situations.
30-second pay runs
Set up your roster once. After that: pick the employee, enter the hours, done. Year-to-date totals carry themselves.
Restaurant-fluent
Controlled tips (taxable, pensionable, insurable), overtime at 1.5× on the hours you enter (Ontario's general 44-hour threshold), a statutory-holiday-pay line for the entitlement you determine, vacation on each cheque or accrued — with Ontario minimum-wage warnings for general and student rates.
Professional PDF wage statements
Clean, standard Canadian layout with current + YTD columns and employer contributions — including every element Ontario's ESA requires for supported situations, with vacation pay reported separately when paid each cheque.
CRA remittance summary
A PD7A-style monthly total of income tax withheld, both CPP portions, and EI at 1.4× — with the regular-remitter due date. You send the remittance; your remitter type may differ.
Records your accountant will love
Every statement saved and organized, one-click CSV export at year end, multi-location support for corporate and franchise operators. Your records live on your device — so keep backups (one click; we remind you).
Built in a restaurant, not a boardroom
PayNorth started because tip-outs, stat holidays and October minimum-wage changes break generic payroll tools. So it handles the things food-service payday is actually made of: controlled tips treated properly for tax, CPP and EI; overtime paid at 1.5× on the hours you enter, the way Ontario's general 44-hour rule works; a holiday-pay line right on the pay run for the entitlement you determine; vacation pay your way — on every cheque or banked until they take the week. Salons, shops and small crews: it's the same math, minus the fryer.
Your payroll data never leaves your device
The calculator runs entirely in your browser. Our only server code checks Pro subscriptions — it never sees a name, a wage, or an hour worked. There's no payroll database to breach, sell, or lose. That's not a promise — it's the architecture.
The honest trade: because everything lives on your device, you keep the backups. PayNorth makes that a one-click job — export anytime, restore on a new device in seconds, get reminders when a backup is overdue, or turn on auto-download after every statement. Clear your browser data without a backup and your records are gone — so take the 5 seconds. We'll nag you, kindly.
Two different jobs. Know which one you're hiring for.
If you want payroll done for you, buy full-service — sincerely. If you're already doing it yourself and want the math and records handled, that's PayNorth.
| What you need | PayNorth ($0–$9.99/mo) | Full-service payroll (typ. $40–$80+/mo + per-employee fees) |
|---|---|---|
| Calculates deductions (CRA formula method) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Professional wage statements | ✓ | ✓ |
| YTD tracking & remittance totals | ✓ | ✓ |
| Pays employees (direct deposit) | — you pay them as you do now | ✓ |
| Sends remittances to the CRA | — it totals them; you send | ✓ |
| Files T4s / ROEs | — your accountant or you | ✓ |
| Where your data lives | Your device | Their cloud |
| Setup | 2 minutes, no signup | Onboarding, verification, bank linking |
What PayNorth doesn't do
- No direct deposit — you pay your team the way you do today.
- No CRA remitting — it tells you the amount; you send it.
- No T4 or ROE preparation or filing.
- No EHT or WSIB premium calculations.
- No recoverable cloud copies of your payroll — your device, your backups.
- No tax or legal advice, and no replacement for your accountant on judgment calls.
Unusual payroll situations — commissions, taxable benefits, terminations, out-of-province employees and more — belong with a professional. See the full supported-situations list →
Made for Ontario's smallest employers
PayNorth fits if…
- You're an Ontario owner-operator with one to about ten employees
- Restaurants, cafés, bars, salons, shops, cleaners, small crews — one location or several
- Hourly or salaried; tips or no tips
- You can describe each person's pay in a sentence: rate, hours, tips, vacation setup
- You pay staff yourself and remit to the CRA yourself
Probably not for you if…
- You employ people outside Ontario
- You want direct deposit or automatic remittance
- Your pay involves extensive taxable benefits, commissions-with-expenses, or union deduction schemes
- You're an employee looking for a pay document — PayNorth is employer software for records of wages actually paid
- You won't keep backups
No hard feelings — full-service payroll or a payroll professional is the right call for those.
Simple, honest pricing
Free covers a small team's payday, forever. Pro removes the monthly limit — and funds the formula updates every January and July.
Free
$0
forever
- 5 wage statements / calendar month
- Unlimited businesses & employees
- YTD tracking & remittance summaries
- PDF download, print & share
- CSV export for your accountant
PRO
Pro
$9.99
per month · or $89/year (save 26%)
- Unlimited wage statements
- Everything in Free
Only finalized statements count toward the free limit; voided statements don't. Pro renews automatically (monthly or yearly) until you cancel in the app's Settings; Pro stays active to the end of the period you've paid for, and amounts already billed aren't refunded. Pro activates on the device where you subscribe and travels with your backup file. Prices CAD; tax added at checkout where applicable.
How the math is done — and how to check it
PayNorth implements the CRA's published T4127 Payroll Deductions Formulas (2026 editions, federal and Ontario) — the same formula method commercial payroll vendors implement. That includes federal and Ontario income tax, the Ontario surtax, health premium and tax reduction, CPP and CPP2, and EI, with annual maximums applied automatically, for supported situations.
Every build must pass an automated test suite before release, and every statement prints the CRA edition it was calculated with, so you always know which rules produced which numbers.
Check us. The CRA's own Payroll Deductions Online Calculator (PDOC) is free. Run any employee through both — we encourage it, especially your first payday. Small rounding differences of a few cents can occur between formula and table methods; if you ever see a material difference, trust PDOC and email hello@pay-north.ca — we treat those reports as bugs of the highest priority.
PayNorth provides calculations, not tax advice. Unusual situations belong with a payroll professional.
Why this exists
PayNorth was built by an Ontario restaurant operator who runs corporate and franchise locations — someone whose payday meant PDOC tabs, spreadsheet formulas from three years ago, and stub templates that didn't know what a controlled tip was. The tools that could do it cost more per month than a cook's shift and wanted the whole payroll handed over. PayNorth is the missing middle: the math, the statement, the records — nothing you didn't ask for.
Questions employers actually ask
Is PayNorth payroll software?
It's the calculation-and-records half of payroll software. PayNorth computes deductions with the CRA's published formulas, produces wage statements, tracks YTD totals and totals your remittances. It deliberately does not move money or file with the government — that stays with you (and costs you nothing extra).
Does PayNorth pay my employees or remit to the CRA?
No. You pay your team exactly as you do now — e-transfer, cheque, or any permitted method — and you send your own remittances. The Remittance screen shows a PD7A-style monthly summary and the regular-remitter due date; your remitter type may differ, so check your CRA correspondence.
Does PayNorth file T4s or ROEs?
No. At year end, the CSV export gives you or your accountant everything needed to prepare T4s. ROEs are also outside PayNorth's scope, as are EHT and WSIB premiums.
How are deductions calculated?
Using the CRA's published T4127 Payroll Deductions Formulas (2026 editions) for Ontario, for supported situations — the same formula method commercial payroll vendors implement: federal and Ontario income tax (including the Ontario surtax, health premium and tax reduction), CPP, CPP2 and EI, with annual maximums applied automatically. Every build passes an automated test suite before release, and every statement prints the CRA edition used.
Is PayNorth approved by the CRA?
No — and be wary of any software that claims to be. The CRA doesn't certify payroll calculators. What the CRA does publish is the T4127 formula specification, which PayNorth implements, and the free PDOC calculator, which you can use to check any result.
Should I compare results with PDOC?
Yes — especially your first payday. Differences of a few cents can occur (formula vs. table rounding); differences of dollars should not. If you find one, trust PDOC for that run and email hello@pay-north.ca — calculation reports get fixed ahead of everything else.
Where is my data stored? What if I lose my device?
Everything lives in your browser on your device — nothing is uploaded, and we can't see or recover it. Your latest backup file is your safety net: restore it on a new device in one click and continue, Pro status included. The app reminds you when a backup is overdue and can auto-download one after every statement.
Does it handle tips?
Controlled tips — tips you collect and distribute — yes: they're treated as taxable, pensionable and insurable income. Because Ontario law says tips are not wages, they're excluded from vacation-pay calculations. Direct tips your staff keep are not payroll and don't belong on the statement.
Does it handle vacation, overtime and stat holidays?
Vacation pay two ways: a percentage on every cheque (reported separately, as the ESA requires) or accrued and paid when taken — at the ESA minimums of 4%, or 6% after five years. Overtime is paid at 1.5× on the hours you enter; Ontario's general threshold is 44 hours/week, and special rules and averaging agreements exist. Statutory holiday pay gets its own earnings line — you determine the entitlement amount (the ESA formula is regular wages in the 4 work weeks before the holiday ÷ 20).
What kinds of payroll situations are unsupported?
The honest list: taxable benefits beyond cash earnings, commission employees with expense claims (TD1X), employees with special CPP/EI status, director's fees, non-resident or out-of-province employees, retroactive corrections across years, and terminations. For these, involve a payroll professional. Full list here.
Can employees use PayNorth to create their own pay stubs?
No. PayNorth is for employers (or their bookkeepers) producing truthful records of wages actually paid. If you're an employee who needs pay records, ask your employer — they're required to provide them.
How do the free limit and Pro work?
Free includes 5 wage statements per calendar month — only finalized statements count, voided ones don't, and the counter resets monthly. Pro removes the limit: $9.99/month or $89/year by Stripe subscription, renewing automatically until you cancel in Settings. Cancelling stops future charges; Pro stays active to the end of the period you've paid for. Pro activates on the device where you subscribe and is included in your backup file, so restoring a backup restores Pro.
Your next payday takes 30 seconds
Set up your first employee now — free, no signup, and the first statement will tell you more than this page can.
Create a wage statement — free