PayFlatHQ

Unlimited payroll for small teams at a flat $25/month—no per-employee fees.

Score: 8.0/10GermanyMedium BuildReady to Spawn
Brand Colors

The Opportunity

Problem

Small business owners face unaffordable per-employee pricing from HR software like Gusto and BambooHR, crippling payroll and benefits management as teams scale to 5-10 people.

Solution

PayFlatHQ handles payroll calculations, paystub generation, and tax form exports for teams up to 10 employees with a simple flat fee. Owners input hours and salaries once, run payroll in one click, and distribute stubs securely. It eliminates the scaling pain of per-headcount pricing from Gusto or BambooHR.

Target Audience

Small business owners with teams growing to 5-10 employees

Differentiator

Pure payroll focus with dead-simple flat pricing for 1-10 employees, no upsells or bloat.

Brand Voice

friendly

Features

Employee Onboarding

must-have8h

Add employees with basic info, salary, and tax withholding preferences.

Payroll Run

must-have12h

Input hours/salaries, auto-calculate gross/net pay, generate stubs.

Paystub Distribution

must-have10h

Email or portal access to secure PDF paystubs.

Tax Export

must-have8h

Generate W-2/1099 forms and CSV for accountants.

Time Tracking

must-have15h

Simple timesheet entry for hourly employees.

Payroll History

nice-to-have6h

View and search past payroll runs.

Multi-State Tax Support

nice-to-have10h

Basic state tax withholding rules.

Integrations

future20h

Export to QuickBooks.

Total Build Time: 89 hours

Database Schema

companies

ColumnTypeNullable
iduuidNo
nametextNo
eintextNo
created_attimestampNo

Relationships:

  • has many employees, payroll_runs

employees

ColumnTypeNullable
iduuidNo
company_iduuidNo
nametextNo
salaryintNo
hours_per_weekintYes

Relationships:

  • belongs to company

payroll_runs

ColumnTypeNullable
iduuidNo
company_iduuidNo
period_starttimestampNo
total_grossintNo

Relationships:

  • belongs to company

API Endpoints

POST
/api/companies

Create company

🔒 Auth Required
POST
/api/employees

Add employee

🔒 Auth Required
POST
/api/payroll/run

Process payroll

🔒 Auth Required
GET
/api/paystubs/:id

Download paystub

🔒 Auth Required
GET
/api/taxes/export

Export tax forms

🔒 Auth Required

Tech Stack

Frontend
Next.js 14 + Tailwind + shadcn/ui
Backend
Next.js API routes
Database
Supabase Postgres
Auth
Supabase Auth
Payments
Stripe
Hosting
Vercel
Additional Tools
React PDF for stubsResend for emails

Build Timeline

Week 1: Core auth & company setup

40h
  • User signup/login
  • Company CRUD

Week 2: Employee management

35h
  • Employee add/edit
  • List view

Week 3: Payroll engine

45h
  • Payroll calculation logic
  • Stub generation

Week 4: User flows & exports

35h
  • Distribution emails
  • Tax exports

Week 5: Polish & payments

30h
  • Stripe integration
  • Dashboard

Week 6: Testing & launch

25h
  • E2E tests
  • Landing page
Total Timeline: 6 weeks • 210 hours

Pricing Tiers

Free

$0/mo

No runs

  • 1 employee
  • Paystub previews

Pro

$25/mo
  • Unlimited employees (up to 10)
  • Unlimited runs
  • Exports

Enterprise

$99/mo

11+ employees

  • All Pro + priority support
  • Custom branding

Revenue Projections

MonthUsersConversionMRRARR
Month 12002%$100$1,200
Month 61,5008%$3,000$36,000

Unit Economics

$40
CAC
$600
LTV
5%
Churn
92%
Margin
LTV:CAC Ratio: 15.0xExcellent!

Landing Page Copy

Payroll That Doesn't Scale With Your Team

Flat $25/month for unlimited paystubs and calculations—no Gusto-style per-employee gouging.

Feature Highlights

Unlimited employees up to 10
One-click payroll runs
Secure paystub delivery
Tax form exports

Social Proof (Placeholders)

"'Saved us $200/mo vs Gusto!' - Mike, Cafe Owner"
"'Dead simple for my 7-person team.' - Sarah, Agency Founder"

First Three Customers

Post in r/smallbusiness and r/Entrepreneur about 'flat payroll beta testers needed'. DM 10 owners from LinkedIn searches for 'small business owner + 5 employees'. Offer free 3 months for feedback and case studies.

Launch Channels

Product Huntr/smallbusinessr/SaaSTwitter #indiehackersLinkedIn groups

SEO Keywords

flat rate payroll small businesscheap payroll software 5 employeespayroll no per employee fee

Competitive Analysis

$40+/employee/mo
Strength

Full payroll processing

Weakness

Pricing scales painfully

Our Advantage

Flat fee, instant setup

🏰 Moat Strategy

Speed to MVP + viral employee invites creating lock-in.

⏰ Why Now?

Remote teams booming, small biz cost sensitivity post-inflation.

Risks & Mitigation

legalmedium severity

Tax calculation errors

Mitigation

Use IRS tables + disclaimers, partner accountant

marketlow severity

Low awareness of flat pricing

Mitigation

Targeted SEO + communities

Validation Roadmap

pre-build7 days

Interview 20 small biz owners

Success: 10+ confirm pain >$100/mo

mvp14 days

Beta with 5 users

Success: 80% retention week 2

Pivot Options

  • Add time-off tracking
  • Focus on contractors only
  • White-label for accountants

Quick Stats

Build Time
210h
Target MRR (6 mo)
$3,000
Market Size
$5000.0M
Features
8
Database Tables
3
API Endpoints
5