QuickBooks Payroll Review 2022: Features, Pricing, Alternatives

We considered cost, scalability, ease of use, reputation, and accounting features. Scalability was the next most important consideration because as a company grows, its accounting needs grow as well, and transferring financial information to new software can be tedious. While the other QuickBooks payroll alternatives on this list are primarily payroll providers, Zenefits is first and foremost a benefits administration system. Zenefits only offers payroll as an add-on module to one of its three HR software plans. Zenefits payroll features are extensive, including direct deposit, setting multiple pay rates, garnishments, automatic tax filing, and payroll reporting. Depending on the plan you select, you could have access to features including employee management, time scheduling, hiring and onboarding, performance management, and employee engagement surveys. Besides a fixed monthly cost, online payroll services often charge per transaction or employee payment.

• Square Payroll gives you automatic tax filings, time and PTO tracking, direct deposit, new-hire reporting, worker’s comp, and much more without any added fees.
• However, it lacks the 24/7 customer support that ADP TotalSource offers to its international clients .
• When we contacted the company by live chat, the chat support agent told us we needed to contact the company by phone to get the answers we wanted.
• This company offers specified payroll platforms for small, midsize and large businesses.
• With each of these plans, you have the option to get either one month free or a 50% discount for the first three months of service.

All of your bank and credit card transactions automatically sync to QuickBooks to help you seamlessly track your income & expenses. Explore all the employee services you can get with QuickBooks Payroll. Michael Rosenston is a fact-checker and researcher with expertise in business, finance, and insurance. Replacing our failed for-profit credit reporting system with a public credit registry will benefit consumers and reduce racial wealth inequality.

What’s The Best Payroll Software For Small Business?

Paychex has features similar to ADP’s, but they aren’t as robust—like job postings . QuickBooks Payroll is the only provider that we reviewed that allows you to pay and file your payroll taxes Intuit® Online Payroll Services For Small Business through its mobile apps. If you’re a QuickBooks Online Accounting user, QuickBooks Payroll will allow seamless integration of your payroll application with your accounting software.

A good accounting software is one that integrates with your payroll software, automates as much as possible and accommodates your business size. While there’s plenty of accounting software out there, the most popular among small business owners are Xero, QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop and Zoho Books. Some payroll software will charge you for each payroll you run. Gusto only charges a monthly fee based on how many contractors or employees you paid that month — so it doesn’t matter if you run one payroll or 50. You can also tap into the system from the QuickBooks mobile app, which is available on iOS and Android devices.

The Best (and Worst) States for Accountants

Full-service payroll usually costs more than self-service payroll, but it saves you time, which could translate to saved money. Most importantly, a full-service payroll company takes on the responsibility for withdrawing the right amount of taxes. If there’s an issue with federal or local taxes, it’s the payroll company’s problem, not yours. Want more small-business payroll options than the five listed here?

In our experience, the best payroll software is Gusto and the best accounting software is Xero. Gusto and Xero are both easy-to-use, affordable, and efficient tools for new business owners. However, you and your business may need another payroll and accounting software that’s best suited for your needs.

Zenefits: Best Low-Cost Payroll Software

With its platform’s Community Edition, you get all the basic tools you need to manage payroll, staff attendance, PTO, schedules, and employee information—although its interface is outdated. However, you have to download its open-source workforce management solution, plus its payroll tax functionalities don’t include automated tax filings. With Justworks, you can pay salaried and hourly employees, contractors, and even vendors. It can handle federal, state, and local payroll tax filings for you, including end-of-year reporting (W-2s/1099s). However, it only supports direct deposits and paychecks, so if you need multiple payment options, ADP and Paychex are great PEO alternatives. If you’ve grown your company to a point that you require a bigger HR team but you’re not willing to hire, then Paychex’s PEO services is a great option. Running payroll with Gusto is very easy, mainly because of its intuitive interface and solid pay processing tools.

We don’t guarantee that our suggestions will work best for each individual or business, so consider your unique needs when choosing products and services. We recently reviewed this page to ensure none of our top brands had changed their plan and pricing information recently. None have, and we’re happy to stand by our current recommendations and star ratings. Additionally, Square Payroll is still offering a three-month free trial for Business.org readers only. We’ll help you nail down the right payroll software for your business. Like Square, Gusto also offers a contractor-only plan with no monthly base fee. It’s a bit pricier at $6 per contractor per month, but it offers a few more HR perks than Square.

How often should I pay my employees?

The best payroll software for your company depends on your business size and needs. Papaya Global offers solid payroll services for global businesses.

This belong to the bank as business records, which is why there is no privacy right in bank statements. They could easily incentivize employers to induce them to agree by some sort of profit sharing. July 1, 2021As I understand it, the decision is up to whoever administers the payroll account for the small business. AFAICT, there isn’t a way for individual employees to opt out.

This probably isn’t a huge hurdle for a small company with only a few employees or a payroll that fluctuates. But for a company with a large workforce of salaried employees, this can quickly become an unnecessary burden. Other products on my list, like Gusto, Paychex, and ADP do offer this set-it-and-forget-it convenience. The danger with Paychex pricing, confirmed by numerous https://personal-accounting.org/ user reviews, is that costs can go up fast, especially as a la carte services are added. Paychex also puts a focus on the mobile aspect of payroll in two ways. First, unlike OnPay or Gusto, Paychex does offer a mobile app for administrators. This allows admins to process payroll from anywhere at any time without having to use a web browser on their mobile devices.

Reports

While some plans focus solely on payroll processing, others include a variety of human resources services, which are valuable for small businesses that don’t have the luxury of an in-house HR team. You can use Square Payroll to process payroll for W-2 employees and 1099 contractors. It streamlines payroll by automating the preparation of tax forms based on the data that already exists within your system. It also offers a straightforward payroll processing routine, making it easy to ensure all types of employees are paid promptly. Gusto handles all payroll and payroll tax responsibilities for both W-2 employees and 1099 freelancers and contractors.

• Get Paid Upfront is designed with simplicity and speed in mind.
• The application has simplified the payroll entry process, minimizing the amount of data entry needed.
• You’ll also get help with managing the unemployment insurance for your employees.
• It’s simple and straightforward to add employees, set statuses, and run payroll.
• At the time of publication, Intuit Online Payroll charges a flat monthly fee of $39 to use its online payroll processing system, and an additional $1.50 for each employee.
• Businesses can collect payment online from customers through Xero’s integration with Stripe and GoCardless.

In addition to providing online payroll solutions, Intuit is also known for its accounting solutions, specifically, QuickBooks and Quicken. Most employers who use a payroll service provider process their payroll via the supplier’s online system; otherwise, they use payroll software. Both QuickBooks and Quicken accounting software have payroll features. Before rating Intuit as number one, Top Ten Reviews compared the service with ten other companies, including Paychex, SurePayroll, Bank of America and ADP.

TimeTrex User Reviews

The first plan is $20 per month plus $6 per employee or contractor. In this plan, Wave will process payroll and prepare payroll tax calculations, but the user is responsible for manually completing payroll tax forms and submitting tax payments.

• No one seems to know how to handle what should be easy issues.
• At the time of publication, Top Ten Reviews named Intuit as the top online payroll provider.
• This is an advantage for Paychex because it is included with every plan it offers, while QuickBooks only offers it with its more expensive plans.
• First, unlike OnPay or Gusto, Paychex does offer a mobile app for administrators.
• Likewise, if your payroll data changes regularly, as it does for one college payroll administrator we interviewed, ADP makes it easy to modify payroll cycles anytime.
• Paychex has a reputation for offering quality customer support.

Manage payroll and access HR and employee services all in one place. The second step is to review the payroll to ensure everything looks accurate. You can compare your payroll date to previous pay runs to see how things line up. If everything is correct, the third step is to submit the payroll. You can then either print your checks or allow direct deposits. When it is time to run payroll, you can complete the process in just three steps.

It also provides employee discounts with partner retailers and businesses, but doesn’t have the health and wellness perks that Justworks offers. Payroll services for small businesses like Gusto don’t offer all the tools you’ll need to manage the entire employee lifecycle, especially as your company grows.

More advanced plans include a robust HR platform, including an employee handbook, document management, training programs and employee toolkits. Gusto is made for startups and growing small businesses with a mix of employee- and contractor-based workforces. You can also check our buyer’s guides where we compare many of these providers side by side. Similar to ADP, you are granted access to a dedicated payroll specialist who serves as your point of contact for all of your payroll and tax questions. Employees can use a four-digit passcode to clock in and out through the Square POS app.

A Certified Payroll Professional since 1993, Loy Loveless has mastered the payroll service industry in a variety of business settings. She has completed the Global Certificate Program with the American Payroll Association and is an active member of the Dallas Chapter APA.

Having tried other options, Shah said he appreciates the software’s seamless integration, ease of use and added options. Using atime and attendance systemis also a way to save money on your payroll, because it helps ensure you aren’t paying employees for time they didn’t work. When using a paper timesheet, employees can easily add a few minutes that they didn’t actually work.

These benefits vary based on the type of service a company chooses. Therefore, these types of services can run payroll smoothly and accurately, as well as provide employees with information about their pay periods and what taxes they may owe. Payroll software providers also have payment systems in place to make sure that employees only receive what they are owed. Through Wave Payroll, you can pay employees and contractors via direct deposit and automatically generate W-2 and 1099 forms for tax season.

What Should Small Businesses Look for in Payroll Service?

Along with those paper checks, you can get access to check signing and check logo service to personalize the checks for your business. While this isn’t something every business owner will need or use, it is key for those who do need it. Manage your employees’ health benefits from the QuickBooks payroll portal. Run reports around payroll, from history and bank transactions to PTO statistics and tax payments. One of the biggest names in business software is QuickBooks , so you’ve likely come across them in some capacity already. There are three versions of its payroll software depending on the features you need for your business.

QuickBooks Time mobile access is included with your QuickBooks Online Payroll Premium and Elite subscription at no additional cost. Data access is subject to cellular/internet provider network availability and occasional downtime due to system and server maintenance and events beyond your control. Integratable with the core QuickBooks system, QuickBooks Payroll allows you to track employee hours, pay up to 50 workers by check or direct deposit and print annual W-2s. The highest plan option, dubbed QuickBooks Full Service Payroll, adds the help of Intuit’s experts to calculate and file your payroll taxes for you. But full-service payroll software isn’t right for every small-business owner.

Paychex Flex vs. QuickBooks Online Payroll: Plans and Pricing

“The functionality and options are endless, including the ability to add in health benefits and workers’ comp insurance with a few clicks.” Depending on your business’s needs, you may benefit from a payroll company that offers additional services, such as a time and attendance system or HR solutions. Another benefit is that the payroll company takes care of the tax filings and payments for you. Most offer a tax guarantee, so if the payroll service makes a mistake when filing or paying your taxes, it will fix the problem and pay any fines you incur. Some payroll providers offer on-demand pay services that allow employees the flexibility to choose when they are paid. There is still a regular pay schedule (bi-weekly, semi-monthly, etc.), but employees can get paid before their actual payday if a need arises. In these situations, employees are only paid for the days they have already worked within that pay cycle.