Categories   >   Small Business Payroll Software
Last Reviewed: November 18th, 2024

Best Small Business Payroll Software Of 2024

What is Small Business Payroll Software?

Small business payroll software is a game-changer for owners and managers drowning in paperwork. Imagine spending hours calculating wages, taxes, and deductions – a time-consuming nightmare. This software automates the entire process, ensuring accuracy and freeing you up to focus on running your business. It tackles payroll complexities like hourly vs. salaried employees, overtime calculations, and various tax withholdings. Benefits include reduced errors, saved time, and peace of mind knowing your employees are paid correctly and on time. Key features include automatic tax calculations and filings, direct deposit options, and employee self-service portals. Emerging features focus on mobile accessibility and integration with accounting software for a seamless workflow. This is a win for any small business, especially those with limited HR resources or complex pay structures. While affordable options exist, some require upfront costs and a learning curve. Overall, small business payroll software is a strategic investment that streamlines a critical task, saves money, and lets you focus on what you do best: growing your business.

What Are The Key Benefits of Small Business Payroll Software?

  • Reduced Errors
  • Saved Time & Money
  • Accurate Calculations
  • Faster Payroll Processing
  • Simplified Tax Compliance
  • On-Time Employee Payments
  • Streamlined Reporting
  • Employee Self-Service
  • Mobile App Accessibility
  • Accounting Software Integration
Read more

Overall

Based on the latest available data collected by SelectHub for 82 solutions, we determined the following solutions are the best Small Business Payroll Software overall:

ADP RUN
ADP RUN
Start Price
$79
Monthly
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request Pricing Request Demo

Why We Picked ADP RUN

RUN powered by ADP is a popular payroll and HR solution for a range of small businesses, including startups and newer companies needing robust payroll and HR tools (without extensive expertise).

Its efficient tools for managing employee records, benefits and compliance help these professionals minimize manual effort. Payroll specialists and accountants or bookkeepers also benefit from ADP RUN's automation and error detection.

The main menu and search bar (with shortcuts for common tasks under it) made it easy to find what I was looking for without an annoying amount of redirects or feeling like a game of Where’s Waldo. It’s simple and uncomplicated to view your paystub and when payday is.

For admins, the payroll feature seems straightforward. View your pay period, use “Calculate Paycheck” and check dates. Get an overview of payroll either for all employees or sort by things like last name. When you log in and get to the main page, there’s also a convenient reminder(s) section called “Top To-Dos.”

For famous document misplacers, there’s a document vault that keeps important info secure and accessible.

Onboard fully from your phone, including setting up direct deposit and tax withholdings without waiting for HR to show you how. For me, working remotely makes mobile access a must-have, and ADP RUN checks that box with mobile clocking in and out, viewing company policies, PTO, and pay info. Admins can also fully get payroll done on their phones.

If anything seems off, payroll error detection activates a pop-up box asking, “Does this look right?” and gives a brief explanation of potential issues; from there, admins select “Ignore issues” or “Go back and fix.”

Run a single report or select a popular report option. View payroll details, liabilities and summaries. Choose your date range and download the report from there (on the app or desktop).

Recent reviews cite long wait times over the phone for customer service. When I called the general line, I shared my details and got a specific number to dial. I would prefer direct transfers over calling separate numbers, although this might change once you have a designated contact.

Lastly, I've noticed that the cost is higher compared to competitors like Paychex or Workday. Purchasing add-on features “a la carte” affects the cost, which may be frustrating to some users who need more in-depth functionality on a smaller budget.

The RUN Powered by ADP® Mobile Payroll app is a free download for mobile devices. With the app, you can complete payroll processing, view reports like payroll liability and access or update employee 1099 info. Additional mobile app features vary depending on Apple or Android devices, such as a chat feature for Androids and pay rate changes on Apple devices.

Overall, RUN Powered by ADP is a comprehensive payroll solution for small businesses. Its intuitive design is great for users with little to no experience in most cases. It might be pricier than some alternatives, but most users find the added cost valid, considering its user-friendly interface, payroll automation and mobile app features.

Pros & Cons

  • Easy to Use: A whopping 88% of users found the design intuitive and user-friendly, including the mobile app. Specifically, the payroll side is noted for its clear presentation.
  • Excellent Customer Service: 82% of ADP RUN users praise its customer service, particularly the prompt assistance and effective issue resolution through the 24/7 chat feature.
  • Efficient Reporting: Users enjoy ADP RUN's reporting for ensuring accurate P&L allocation and payroll tracking. The report generator helps tailor payroll reports for seamless integration with accounting files for a more comprehensive overview.
  • User-Friendly Payroll Processing: Most users find the payroll feature easy and efficient. They appreciate the quick data entry process and fail-safe questions to prevent errors.
  • 24/7 Customer Service: RUN offers phone and online support to ensure the speedy resolution of issues. In reviews, users say customer service is polite, knowledgeable and effective.
  • Automated Tax Filing: Companies can leave all their taxes to RUN. They don’t have to worry about filing on time. Instead, they can trust experienced professionals to handle it.
  • Easy to Use: The platform is easy to navigate and use, with a relatively small learning curve.
  • Multiple Reports: Built-in reports are easy to generate; you can also “favorite” frequent reports to save time. They’re also convenient to view online and export as a PDF or Excel file.
  • Limited Timesheets: Some express a desire for a customizable timesheet.
  • PTO Woes: Users have mixed experiences with ADP RUN's PTO feature. They encounter challenges with managers not receiving timely alerts for PTO requests and being directed to incorrect pages when trying to approve requests. There's a desire for more customization options, particularly in setting PTO features tailored to individual employee needs.
  • Holiday Time Off: Some users also face difficulties updating company holidays for specific pay classes within the system.
  • Tax Questions: Some users request additional clarity when setting up earning and deductions tax status in payroll.
  • Add-Ons Get Expensive: Not all functionalities are available in the main application.
  • Costly Upgrades: It’s relatively expensive, and upgrading from one tier to the next isn’t always seamless. It’s not the most affordable for companies with many pay cycles per month. Other payroll options offer similar functions and cost less.
  • Difficult/Limited Functionality: Some issues include:
    • Users can’t edit payroll after submission.
    • No feature for escalating to supervisors.
    • Hard to remove workers hired to cover during vacations.
    • No unlimited payroll runs.
    • No option to create multiple paychecks for one person during the pay cycle.
  • Implementation Miscommunication: Some reviewers have reported poor communication when working through implementation issues. However, some say that after setup, it’s easy to use, and potential hurdles are worth the trouble.
  • Slow Phone Customer Service: Customer service is ultimately helpful, but many users get frustrated by long wait times to speak with a rep. After all, any issue regarding money may be a serious one.

Key Features

  • Payroll: Check employee hours, adjust details like rates and bonuses, and review the payroll (helping estimate costs for your current pay period). This feature also integrates with general ledgers and exports to Xero and QuickBooks.
  • Insurance: Connects with licensed insurance pros to help pick the right coverage for your business with the ADP Insurance Agency. They've got workers’ comp, auto insurance, BOP, liability insurance and group health insurance. This setup makes it easy to handle premium payments and get certificates of insurance.
  • Mobile Solutions: Securely access the system anytime, anywhere, including clocking in and out with mobile timecards via iOS and Android-ready apps.
  • Hiring and Onboarding: Connect with ZipRecruiter to post jobs, invite candidates, access a resume database and use a wizard to create job descriptions. ADP RUN also includes background check capabilities.
  • Self Onboarding: Let employees fill out paperwork and set up account details, such as direct deposit, before their first day of work.
  • Reporting: View custom reports related to profiles, payroll, PTO and deductions. Arrange report fields with the drag-and-drop functionality and filters help you find what you need faster. Export reports in CSV, PDF or Excel formats.
Paycom
Paycom
Start Price
$25
Per Employee, Monthly
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
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Why We Picked Paycom

Paycom users in the past year have expressed both enthusiasm and concerns about the software. Many praise its user-friendly interface, mobile app convenience, and comprehensive feature set, which includes payroll, HR, benefits administration, and talent management. Compared to competitors, users find Paycom to be more intuitive and integrated, streamlining HR processes and saving time. Additionally, customer service is often lauded as responsive and helpful. However, some drawbacks are also mentioned. Implementation can be complex and require significant initial effort. Pricing concerns surface, with Paycom perceived as costlier than some competitors. While offering a wider range of features, this may not be necessary for all businesses, leading to potential overpaying for unused functionalities. Overall, Paycom seems to be a powerful and user-friendly option for companies seeking a one-stop HR and payroll solution. However, its complexity and cost warrant careful consideration, especially for smaller businesses or those with simpler needs. Comparing features and pricing with competitors is crucial to ensure Paycom aligns with your specific requirements and budget.

Pros & Cons

  • User-Friendly: 85% of reviews mentioning the interface noted the platform has an intuitive layout, with all features organized and easy to locate.
  • Customer Service: Customer support is highly responsive, as asserted by 100% of reviews referencing it.
  • Employee Self-Services: All users referring to self-service observed that employees can easily upload documents, view information and track performance.
  • Performance Reviews: An open dialogue tool makes employee performance reviews more effective, as indicated by 70% of reviews mentioning this feature.
  • Use Anywhere: The mobile app is easy to use and has all desktop features available, as asserted by 100% reviews on this feature.
  • Customization: Customization for most features helps cater to a company’s unique requirements, as noted by all reviews on product customization.
  • Login Process: All reviews on the login process observed that employees need to log in every time they open the software, as there’s no password save feature.
  • Challenging Transition: Transitioning between the client and employee side is challenging and cumbersome, as users need to log in to both systems, according to all reviews on this aspect.
  • Learning Curve: All users reviewing learning noted that the platform has a steep learning curve, making adaptation difficult for new users.
  • Integration Capabilities: The system doesn't provide integration with major third-party platforms without using SFTP or API, as indicated by 100% of reviews on this feature.

Key Features

  • Applicant Tracking System (ATS): Build customizable databases to view relevant applicant information and track candidates as they move through the application process. Managers can search and sort applicants by information such as degree, specific skill sets, work history and more. 
  • Compensation Management: Define budgets, award bonuses and integrate with payroll to ensure that all employees receive fair compensation without overspending. 
  • Job Posting: Allows managers to post open positions to thousands of job boards. Managers can also rely on recruitment data to build reports to determine if their recruiting efforts are working. 
  • Payroll: Calculate taxes, process payroll, account for employee expenses and more, directly through the platform. Automate payroll processing, ensuring that employees are always paid the accurate amount at the correct time. 
  • Performance Management: Schedule and facilitate employee performance appraisals directly through the platform. 
  • Reporting: Leverage Paycom’s built-in analytics to generate reports on a variety of processes, including payroll, time and attendance, compensation and more. 
  • Scheduling: Create and edit employee schedules and approve requests for time off through the system’s calendar. Automate time tracking and integrate with payroll to streamline pay processing. 
Paylocity
Paylocity
Start Price
$19
Per Employee, Monthly
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request Pricing Request Demo

Why We Picked Paylocity

Paylocity is a user-friendly HCM solution that works well for SMBs and delivers an array of features such as payroll management, hiring and talent management in a unified suite. Self-service capabilities help employees access their information. Some users found issues with its payroll, tracking and timesheet capabilities, reducing accuracy and limiting what can be done. However, it offers an intuitive interface, with tools like onboarding and PTO that make tasks easier while speeding up processes. Businesses looking for an end-to-end system to manage HR functions should consider this as a good contender.

Pros & Cons

  • User-Friendly Interface: 60% of users suggested that the interface is user-friendly, with automated payroll and simplified workflows that make it easy to operate and monitor teams.
  • Unified Dashboard: Paylocity enables HRIS, payroll, timekeeping and admin-related tasks to be handled from a single location, according to 60% of users.
  • Performance Benefits: It eases task management for essential activities such as checking time off balances and paychecks, conducting goal assessments and achievements, performing year-end reviews, and more.
  • Easy PTO: It’s easy to use and implement in a day-to-day work routine, with 30% of users mentioning they can check staff availability before approving leaves.
  • Streamlined Onboarding: The onboarding process checks in candidates and sends paperwork before they start, making it 10%-20% easier for admin setup and paperwork completion according to users.
  • Support Team: Paylocity's support process is lengthy according to 30% of users, requiring a lot of back and forth to get an issue resolved, which usually takes days.
  • Cumbersome Payroll: The payroll module requires set up by different people and doesn’t function accurately according to 10% of users.
  • Timesheets: Tracking time is difficult, as Paylocity doesn’t update and capture time entries until a shift is completed.
  • System Logouts: Despite automation, additional verification is required when logging in, causing 10% of users to completely exit and then log in again.
  • Tracking: Tracking functionality doesn’t work well for all the features in the experience of 10%-20% of users.

Key Features

  • Payroll: Companies can simplify multiple financial tasks related to payroll with this feature. It automates payroll processes and takes care of tax compliance, expense reimbursements into paychecks, garnishment services and custom reports that derive whatever data that’s needed. It provides employees with the flexibility to access a portion of their earned wages when needed. 
  • Workforce Management: This feature helps eliminate the need for manual tracking of tasks, reduces administrative work and maintains accurate records of individual employees. The review forms can be customized to promote employees to set goals via an insight chart. 
  • Employee Self-Service: The software provides users with admin analytics, 24/7 secure access, enrollment and insurance access, and internal plans. This feature helps employees and employers to access, update, enroll and administer data respectively. 
  • Time and Labor Management: Workers can clock in and out via the mobile app, and managers can set geofencing rules that ensure accurate clock-punching. It also syncs with payroll automatically and allows managers to create and adjust schedules as needed, without manually correcting payroll data. 
  • Data Insights: The platform allows users to access demographic information, utilization, headcount, labor costs, position insights, turnover and retention. It also features real-time employee data, analytics for employment trends, strategic hiring and budgeting decisions, and programs to build a diverse workforce. 
  • Reports: The system comes with over 100 standard reports along with an ad hoc reporting tool. Users can schedule reports to automatically generate and track key reports with a favorites feature. 
  • Compensation Management: With this feature, administrators can configure settings such as the approval process and eligibility requirements. It also supports the customization of compensation plans to match organizational pay cycles. Company leaders gain a view into budgets and allocations, while managers can provide increases and view employee data like performance and pay history.  
  • Marketplace Integrations: Organizations can extend Paylocity’s capabilities to streamline the payroll regularity and HR data management across all policies. The solution connects with partner solutions in 20 categories, including single sign-on (SSO), ERP and a variety of HR-related functions. More than 300 integrations are available in the vendor marketplace. Data can flow into or out of Paylocity, or in both directions, depending on the integration. 
Paychex
Paychex
Start Price
$39
Monthly
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request Pricing Request Demo

Why We Picked Paychex

Paychex incorporates a range of different solutions and is used widely by small, medium and large-sized companies. While around 40% of users were happy with the functionality of the system, the majority expressed dissatisfaction with its tax capabilities, pricing and customer service. Many described it as dishonest and complained especially that they were oversold on its capabilities and that the salespeople used pushy tactics to try and upsell them. Other complaints of the system included making errors, overpaying employees or even miscalculating taxes resulting in serious penalties. Current and former clients greatly disliked the service.
The UI was the most positively reviewed element of the platform with around 80% expressing satisfaction with the design and navigation. Around 50% were happy with the pricing structure and a minority of around 30% of users said they had positive experiences with some select customer service members. This disparity in experiences may be in part to the high turnover rate in representatives which is mentioned many times during the reviews. This solution could be appropriate for small and medium-sized businesses. It supports larger enterprises, but buyers should make sure it has the necessary functionality before purchasing.

Pros & Cons

  • User-Friendly UI: A total of 80% of reviewers who mentioned the UI felt it easy to use.
  • Price Within Budget: Around 50% of reviewers that mentioned price were satisfied with the pricing structure and found that the system was worth it.
  • Late Submissions and Missed Deadlines: Around 80% of reviewers that mentioned taxes ran into issues, with around 70% saying they had to pay penalties as a result.
  • Terrible Customer Service: Clients complained that the customer service was rude, unqualified, ill-informed, unhelpful and had high turnover in almost 70% of reviews that mentioned customer service.
  • Broken Features: Over 50% of reviews that mentioned the features said they were left wanting. The most common issues were communication problems. Just under 20% of all reviewers complained about errors made by either the solution or the staff.
  • Late Cancellations: Around 20% of reviewers that discussed price complained that they had canceled the program, but it had kept taking money out of their account.

Key Features

  • Products: It has many different products for different applications. Here are the most important:
    • Payroll: The platform offers payment for businesses with one employee, under 10 employees, from 10-49 employees and from 50 to over 1,000 workers. This includes online payroll, taxes, deductions and many tools to generate reports and look at costs.
    • Time and Attendance: The online time and attendance function ties in directly to payroll, saving time when trying to calculate paychecks. In addition to the software, it also offers TrueShift physical time clocks and the InVision iris recognition clocks. Users can track team activity in real time through the manager’s dashboard, and allow employees to record time, approve timecards and check schedules through the employee dashboard.
    • HR: It has a range of HR services and software including employee development, hiring, records administration, compliance, benefits administration, learning management and more.
      • Professional Employer Organization: This is a full-service HR consulting program that helps organizations with liability issues, daily worker problems, risk management, benefits administration and other related issues.
      • Hiring Service: The software can make the hiring process easier with applicant tracking, screening, recruiting and onboarding capabilities. Please note, they don’t have employee leasing, temp staffing or contract staff services.
      • Employee Benefits: Managers and workers alike can get access to health insurance for groups or individuals, financial wellness and retirement planning.
    • Business Insurance: Users can get property and casualty insurance with the help of agents who assist in the selection and implementation process for the new benefits. This includes business owner policies, cyber liability and workers’ compensation.
    • Finances and Payments: Besides payroll, this program also has business loans, expense management, tax administration and processing for payments.
    • Startup Solutions: For new businesses, it offers guides, consulting, advice and more for multiple aspects of the process. They give aid with marketing, the incorporation process, business management and access to free online tools.
  • Payroll and Tax Filing: Process payroll and automatically calculate taxes. Paychex can calculate, file and pay taxes at the federal, state and local level automatically. The platform can calculate hours, doing setup for direct deposit and setting hours per pay period.
  • General Ledger: Synchronize payroll data with integrations offered by Paychex. The system is compatible with a variety of popular accounting systems, including QuickBooks Online and Xero.
  • Reporting and Analytics: Generate custom analytics and reports or choose from over 160 customizable templates to track and visualize relevant data.
  • Learning and Development: Employees can take advantage of online courses to stay educated on relevant topics. Not only does this increase productivity, but it makes employees feel more invested in.
  • Core HR: It gives employee feedback, manages employee training and tracks important documents through the system’s interface.
  • Onboarding: Applicants and new hires can complete new hire documents, such as tax forms, and set up direct deposit directly through the platform.
  • Paycheck Protection Program: Introduced by the CARES Act as a measure for economic stability during the COVID pandemic, the Paycheck Protection Program loans encourage small businesses to keep or rehire workers that have been furloughed. This system offers a quick way to apply for this loan.
UKG Ready
UKG Ready
Start Price
$21
Per Employee, Monthly
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request Pricing Request Demo

Why We Picked UKG Ready

User reviews from the past year indicate UKG Ready is a comprehensive human resources management software solution best suited for small and mid-sized businesses, but may not be the best fit for every organization.

Users praise UKG Ready for its user-friendly interface, robust reporting and analytics, and seamless integration with other business software, such as accounting and CRM software. For example, one user noted the software's intuitive design made it easy to navigate and complete tasks efficiently. Another user highlighted the value of the detailed reports, which provided actionable insights into key HR metrics, enabling data-driven decision-making. However, some users have reported that the software can be expensive and may require a significant upfront investment. Additionally, some users have found the initial setup and implementation process to be somewhat complex and time-consuming.

UKG Ready differentiates itself from competitors by offering a mobile app that allows employees to access their information and manage tasks on the go. This feature is particularly beneficial for businesses with remote or mobile workforces. Users also appreciate the strong customer support provided by UKG, noting the team's responsiveness and helpfulness in resolving issues. Overall, UKG Ready is a solid choice for businesses seeking a comprehensive HR solution with a user-friendly interface, robust features, and reliable customer support. However, businesses with limited budgets or those seeking a simple solution with minimal setup may want to consider alternative options.

Pros & Cons

  • Streamlined Onboarding: New hires can electronically complete onboarding tasks, such as I-9 and W-4 forms, before their first day, saving time for both HR and employees.
  • Centralized Employee Data: The platform serves as a single source of truth for employee information, including contact details, job history, performance reviews, and benefits enrollment, reducing the need for multiple systems and spreadsheets.
  • Efficient Benefits Administration: UKG Ready simplifies benefits enrollment and management, allowing employees to easily compare plans, make selections, and track their coverage.
  • Time and Attendance Tracking: The system offers various methods for tracking employee time and attendance, including mobile clock-in/out, which can help ensure accurate payroll and compliance with labor laws.
  • Performance Management: UKG Ready facilitates performance reviews, goal setting, and feedback, enabling managers to track employee progress and development.
  • Limited Customization: Users express frustration over the inflexibility of the platform, particularly when it comes to tailoring the system to their specific needs. For example, setting up unique approval workflows or customizing reports can be challenging.
  • Complex User Interface: Some users find the system difficult to navigate, describing the interface as clunky and unintuitive. This can lead to decreased efficiency and frustration, especially for new users.
  • Occasional Technical Issues: Users report experiencing occasional glitches and errors, such as system slowdowns or difficulty accessing certain features. These technical hiccups can disrupt workflow and impact productivity.

Key Features

  • Payroll: Supports unlimited payroll runs, ensures information is always up to date, manages a variety of components like tax considerations and garnishment processing, and provides self-service access for employees. Surfaces relevant data via standard and ad-hoc reporting, equipped with filters, grouping and customization. 
  • HR Management: Access a unified database for tracking and managing employee information. Configuration settings and the ability to build processes help workflows match internal requirements. Also offers: 
    • Onboarding: Streamlines processes with checklists, task assignments, automated reminders, forms with e-signature and more. 
    • Benefits: Includes employee self-service tools for selecting plans and updating information, configurable reports, and support for multiple plan types. Also shows data on costs, enrollment statuses and more. 
    • Training: Enables building courses, scheduling internal classes, reporting on learning outcomes, assigning training to employees, tracking completion and more. 
  • Workforce Analytics: Improves decisions and strategies by collecting and visualizing real-time workforce data. Uses AI to assess trends and identify risks to make predictive recommendations. 
  • Talent Acquisition: Simplifies the application process with custom application options, including populating from a LinkedIn profile. Also helps: 
    • Create a career site and integrate with more than 8,000 free and premium job boards.
    • Set up workflow approvals for job requisitions.
    • Manage recruitment processes in one place and sort candidates using criteria-based filters.
    • Configure email templates and pre-screening questions.
  • Employee Development: System administrators can define training courses, schedule classes and assign employees to take the classes. Managers are able to monitor open seats and gain visibility into employee participation and performance within the courses. 
  • Time Keeping: Automates many time and attendance processes, including alerts when employees cross leave limits and breach company policies related to attendance. Real-time data updates support accurate payroll and compliance. 
  • Performance Management: Delivers performance data that aids employee development efforts. Also includes: 
    • Goals tied to organizational objectives.
    • Unlimited profile types for the company, department or job level, offering weighted or numerical ratings and customizable criteria.
    • Automated review cycles, which include alerts, real-time status tracking and configuration options to set review dates and frequency.
    • Custom reports showing employee skills and required training, which aid succession planning.
  • Scheduling: Provides auto-generated schedules based on company needs, along with automatic employee sorting using preset conditions such as skills and availability. Other features include call lists for filling unexpected openings, employee self-scheduling, automated workflows and forecasts to anticipate demand. 
  • Compensation (Add-On): Simplifies compensation tasks by removing the need for manual tools and processes. Offers configurable cycles, automatic approval workflows, a budgeting interface, security settings and mass finalization of proposals. 
  • Attestation: Sends prompts to employees reminding them to confirm they’ve taken mandatory breaks for purposes of legal and internal compliance. Also offers: 
    •  Several course options: build-your-own courses, over 400 premade courses from the library and third-party content thanks to SCORM compatibility. 
    • Configuration of prompts to capture relevant information.
    • Automatic notifications alerting employees if they’ve missed attestation.
    • Reports that help validate compliance and aid attestation tracking.
    • Ability to attest time from the mobile or web time tracking app.
  • Accruals: Reduces errors through automated accrual tracking. A variety of criteria are available to configure accruals. Reports show thorough summaries of each employee’s accrual data for every type of PTO. 
  • ACA Management: Dashboards show real-time and historical data, with the ability to view individual employees for full visibility. Alerts help managers track schedules and employment changes, as well as let employees know about benefits eligibility. 
  • Payroll Service: Seamlessly integrates with the payroll module to ensure compliance, process garnishments, remove the need to manage tax paperwork and provide accurate information for tax filing. 
Paychex Flex
Paychex Flex
Start Price
$39
Monthly
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request Pricing Request Demo

Why We Picked Paychex Flex

Paychex Flex is a solid payroll processing system best liked for its ease of use, positive customer service interactions, fair price and useful functionality. However, it comes with several drawbacks as well. While it’s easy to use, the onboarding takes time and can be initially frustrating. The customer service is good but the high turnover with representatives can be trying. A small but significant percentage had problems with the time and attendance features, either having issues with their punches not being registered or issues with the physical biometric clocks. Overall, it seems best for small and medium businesses looking to automate their payroll. Any organization with multiple types of workers, complex pay rules or many different kinds of income to report should be sure to demo the system carefully and may want to find a more complex option.

Pros & Cons

  • User-Friendly: Just under 50% of reviews said the user experience was good and the interface worked well.
  • Good Support: Around 40% had good interactions with customer service and were happy with their level of care.
  • Proper Functionality: One-third of reviewers felt that the system was fully equipped with the tools they needed and especially liked the efficient payroll processing, benefits management, the transparency employees had on their payments and the PTO features.
  • Value for Price: Around 20% of reviews felt happy with the price and said it was well worth it.
  • Issues with Features: Just under 40% of reviewers felt the features were lacking. The biggest concerns were that the UI was difficult to learn initially and the reporting wasn’t sophisticated enough.
  • Time and Attendance Systems: Over 20% of users had problems with the punching system or the biometric clocks.
  • Poor Customer Service: While users felt that the customer service was helpful overall, they noted a high rate of turnover with their reps which often led to gaps in service.

Key Features

  • Online Payroll: Handle payroll management. Automatically calculate taxes, payments and files. View critical data, including the cash required for upcoming paydays. Use safeguards such as notifications to prevent errors. Employees can access direct deposit and pay stub information directly. Last, administrators can access documentation and records like cash requirements, the payroll journal and tax deposit notices.
  • Tax Administration: Calculate taxes, add hours to each pay period, file returns and set up direct deposit.
  • Mobile: Access information on W-2s, direct deposit and other important information. For organizations that want to use the solution’s attendance functionality, workers can easily punch in and out on the app. Run it on smartphones and tablets with iOS or Android. It requires iOS 12.0 or higher and an Android OS of 7.0 or higher to run.
  • Reporting: Comes with over 160 dashboards and reports. Access reporting for payroll journals, department summaries, notices of tax deposits and cash requirements. For businesses looking for more robust options, look into the workforce management options.
  • Multiple Versions: Choose from a variety of purchase options to select the option that best meets business needs. The packages include:
    • Small Business Payroll: Use for businesses with under 50 workers. Use payment processing and access to the mobile app. Calculate state, federal and local taxes. Finish onboarding, complete forms, edit personal info and see compensation data. Provide direct deposit, pay cards and paper check for payment options. For businesses with multiple worker types, offer payment hourly, by salary or by contract. Provide help with labor compliance, garnishment payments, new hire reporting and over 160 reports for analytics.
    • Mid-Sized Business Payroll: Use for businesses with 10 to 49 employees. Handle applicant tracking, attendance, recruiting, onboarding, hiring, health benefits, retirement, health insurance and other similar administrative tasks. Expand the platform HR capabilities by including HR record management, an events calendar and reporting and analytics for the department.
    • Enterprise Payroll Management: Use for 50 to over 1,000 workers. Provide more robust HR abilities in addition to compensation management. Works for hiring, recruiting, training, compliance, handling offboarding, applicant tracking, time and attendance, health benefits, HR record management, an events calendar, retirement and expanded HR analytics.
  • Benefits: Complete the benefits management process. Run enrollment and analyze data. Manage group health insurance, retirement, section 125 plans, FSAs, POPs, retirement and more. Update information in real time and change benefit data easily. Give employers more control over invoices, benefit costs and bill reconciliations. Work with financial advisers and educate staff about the retirement plan offerings.
  • Compliance: Keep up with new tax laws and determine the status of essential laws like the Affordable Care Act.
  • Workplace Analytics: Analyze data and create a staff and workforce strategy. Create reports for analytics, HR, payroll and benefits. Generate customized reports for more detail. Provide accountants, financial advisors or bookkeepers with the access they need. Access the quick answers function, giving info on total earnings, net pay, tax liability and hours without pulling a full report. View live reporting to see information as it happens. Export information in various file types, including CSV, fixed-width, PDF and XLS. Send data to third-party software where users can add fields, adjust formatting or even build graphs.
  • Time and Attendance: Provide several options for tracking time and clocking in and out. It integrates with other solutions to track labor costs.
    • Time Kiosk: Allow employers to turn a tablet into a time clock where employees can punch in and out, do job transfer and register lunches and breaks.
    • TrueShift: Offer a time clock that has automated tracking and reporting, making it easy to import to payroll. Use biometric technology to prevent buddy punching. Track up to 500 workers per clock and connect to up to 32 other clocks. Punch in via web or mobile and use a backup camera to verify punches and keep compliant. It can track overtime pay and other wage requirements. Print and email timecard reports and clock in or out with a fingerprint, proximity badge, web punch or PIN entry.
    • InVision Iris Recognition Time Clock: Use iris recognition to ensure employees are working. Integrate with the rest of the HR and time and attendance. Prevent rework and cut down on errors. It works with contacts, goggles, glasses and face masks up to 15 inches away. Track up to 50,000 workers. Unlike a retinal scanner, it doesn’t store images. Instead, encrypt templates to guarantee privacy.
  • Online Learning: Use the built-in learning system. Provide eight free courses to users and customize/build current training, classes, quizzes and videos. Promote skill acquisition, up-skilling and career development. Run classes for on and offsite students. Use the calendar to schedule an in-person training, track transcripts and create content. Access the additional content libraries for purchase and provide surveys so employers can get feedback. Subjects include business, HR compliance, leadership, management, sales, software and workplace safety.
  • Payment Options: Gives options for paying employees, including same-day ACH capability, direct deposit, paper checks and pay cards.
  • Accounting: Manage payment and HR data with the accounting-specific dashboard. Access a library of resources, including tax forms and CPE courses. Import files through the general ledger service and post payroll data through the enterprise solution. Integrate with Sage Intacct, QuickBooks and Xero. Upload or download many files for one or multiple companies from one location.
  • Workers Compensation: Handle workers’ compensation covering medical expenses and lost wages while still ensuring stable cash flow. Provide insurance plans from A-rated national carriers.
  • Onboarding: Give new employees paperwork to fill out online. Customize the experience with personalized messages, welcome videos or other information about the company culture.
  • Payroll Protection: Let managers extend funds from a bank account for up to seven days without services being interrupted or charges for insufficient funds. Process two same-day ACH requests for a last-minute payroll, correcting pay or adding an employee. Help build business credit, deal with fraud, gain small business loans and more.
Gusto
Gusto
Start Price
$40
Monthly
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request Pricing Request Demo

Why We Picked Gusto

Gusto is a well-reviewed payroll solution which many users enjoy for its good design and easy-to-use features. It’s UI and payroll processing abilities in particular make it a popular choice for automating payroll. Many also feel it handles benefits and PTO well. Some say it's an affordable choice given what it does while others note that it’s on the pricey side. The time tracking features aren’t universally loved. Users are split on the integration abilities with around 10% satisfied and around 10% dissatisfied. All in all, it appears to be a good solution for small and medium-sized businesses looking to streamline their payroll. Keep an eye on the price and, as always, demo extensively before buying.

Pros & Cons

  • Easy to Use: Just under 70% of all reviewers found this product easy to use with 10% specifically praising the design.
  • Great Conflict Resolution: The customer service was noted for being helpful, knowledgeable and excellent at resolving errors.
  • Helpful Features: Around 40% of reviewers said they appreciated the functionality, particularly praising the tax system, deductions, payroll processing and multiple payment options.
  • Appropriate Pricing: Over 30% of users felt that the price was well worth the system.
  • Good for Small Business: This was called a good choice for small businesses in over 10% of reviews.
  • Issues with Certain Functionality: While around 40% felt the solution worked well, another 40% reported issues, especially with the time tracking and integration features.
  • Slow/Pushy Customer Support: Around 10% of users reported negative experiences with customer service. Of them around 50% felt the staff was pushy and trying to upsell them and 50% felt they had to wait too long for answers or couldn't get in touch with them online.

Key Features

  • Payroll Processing: Automatically calculate employee checks and file taxes while using online faxing, filing and signing technologies.
    • Payroll Reports: Send money out weekly, bi-weekly, twice a month or monthly. Calculate an employee’s gross pay before taxes by simply entering the amount they should receive. Figure out overtime pay for hourly workers whether they have one or multiple pay rates. Leverage other payroll capabilities such as calculating unlimited and off-cycle payrolls, employee reimbursements, bonuses and more.
    • Automated Taxes: Calculate, file and pay all payroll taxes per local and federal legislation through direct deposit. Generate and send 940, 941, 1099, 8974 and W-2 forms for full-time employees and independent contractors. Manage deductions, garnishments and send child support in all states except for South Carolina. Make adjustments, get support and enter claims for the Federal R&D Tax Credit, FLSA minimum wage requirements and the FICA Tip Credit tax.
    • E-Signatures: Sign and file important documents and forms such as W-2’s, 1099s, 940s, 941s and 8974s. Make it easier to get everyone’s ducks in a row, even when separated by thousands of miles.
    • Leave Tracking: Set up and monitor vacation time, time off and sick time. Choose federal holidays or create other holidays for organizations that accommodate different faiths, locations or cultures.
  • Benefits: Make the necessary deductions automatically for medical insurance, 401(K) contributions and more. Give employees dental, medical and vision insurance and help them find the appropriate plan. Provide other benefits such as 529 (college) savings, commuter perks, disability insurance, FSAs, HSAs, life insurance and workers’ compensation.
  • Wallet: Manage banking accounts, emergency funds, paychecks and savings. Create as many as five saving goals, which deduct funds automatically from the correlating spending accounts — transfer funds from savings to spending easily. Put paychecks in different accounts and let workers see checks and the specifics of deductions, hours and taxes. Give access to paystubs, the Wallet app and W-2s.
  • Worker Management: Give workers digital paystubs accessible by the payday email, account or Wallet app. Let employees send money to charities, organize workers into departments and set policies for PTO and sick leave. Customize and assign various permissions to ensure users can access the appropriate content but not sensitive data.
  • Self-Service: Let employees complete tasks like adding dependents, picking out plans and scheduling changes to plans based on personal details. Let them retain access to specific account information after termination to cut down on unnecessary content. Organize reports based on teams or departments and let workers sign essential documents like I-9s and W-4s.
  • New Employees: Report new hires to the government automatically. Send out onboarding papers before new staff members start so they can fill out bank details, contact information and W-4s. Use an onboarding to-do list for tasks like adding employees to the payroll, background checks, filling out an employee’s I-9, setting up benefits and signing forms.
  • Directory: Create an address book of employees with profile pictures and contact information. Give new workers org charts to see where they fit in the organization. Organize fun facts, t-shirt or merch orders, birthdays and communal coffee dates.
  • Calendar Sync: Track deadlines, birthdays and employee anniversaries and sync with other calendars in iCalendar, Google, and Outlook.
  • Integrations: Uses closed APIs. Integrate with platforms like Accelo, Asana, Box, Clover, Dropbox, Expensify, FreshBooks, Github, G Suite, Homebase, Microsoft 365, QuickBooks Online, Receipt Bank, Slack, SpotOn, TSheets, Veryfi, When I Work, Xero, Ximble, Zoom and more. Contact the vendor for custom connections.
  • Reporting and Analytics: Generate and download reports for benefits, payment history, bank transactions, PTO, contract work, tax payments and more

Pricing

License/Subscription Cost
  • Gusto offers the following pricing plans:
    • Basic
      • $6/month per person
      • $19/month base price Core
    • Core
      • $6/month per person
      • $39/month base price Core
    • Complete
      • $12/month per person
      • $39/month base price
    • Concierge
      • $12/month per person
      • $149/month base price
    • For independent contractors
      • $6/month per person with no base price
Maintenance Cost
  • There’s no maintenance fee mentioned on the pricing page.
Installation/Implementation Cost
  • There’s no implementation fee mentioned on the pricing page.
Customization Cost
  • Get customizable employee onboarding tools as part of the Complete and Concierge plans.
Data Migration Cost/Change Management/Upfront Switching Cost
  • Migration costs listed on the website.
Recurring/Renewal Costs
  • The cost appears equivalent to the monthly subscription fee.
TriNet PEO
TriNet PEO
Start Price
$80
Per Employee, Monthly
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request Pricing Request Demo

Why We Picked TriNet PEO

TriNet is a payroll and HR processing software that also offers PEO services and has many excellent reviews from satisfied consumers. The core features of the system such as payroll processing, PTO, benefits management and 401(k) plans. Many also enjoyed the TriNet marketplace that offers discounts and sales for various services. They also had good relationships with their customer service representatives. All in all, many felt the system allowed them to provide good benefits to small companies that wouldn’t have access to them otherwise.
The biggest complaint by far was about the price. Reviewers were unhappy with the overall price, described the structure as confusing or even “opaque,” didn’t like the annual jumps in the price for benefits and didn’t feel the company negotiated well enough with insurance companies. They also had trouble navigating the phone support and didn’t like the dated feeling of the UI. This solution is definitely best for small to medium-sized businesses, especially those looking for HR consulting in addition to payroll management.

Pros & Cons

  • Payroll Processing: A total of 95% of reviewers discussing the tool’s payroll processing were happy with the capabilities and felt it worked well.
  • Benefits Management: Over 90% of users who discussed the benefits felt it was worth the cost and were happy with the management and options it provided.
  • HR and PEO Services: Users were happy with the platform’s HR services as a Professional Employer Organization in over 90% of reviews that discussed it.
  • Small Businesses: People felt this system worked well for small businesses because of its ease-of-use and overall HR and payroll capabilities in more than 90% of reviews.
  • Open Enrollments: Over 80% of users felt that the solution made it easy to go through the open enrollment process.
  • Ease of Use: The UI was described as being intuitive and easy to navigate in more than 80% of cases.
  • Excellent Customer Service: Users were thrilled with their representatives and loved the customer service in over 80% of reviews who discussed this topic.
  • Consistent Rise in Prices: Nearly 80% of reviewers who mentioned price were unhappy with the annual jumps in cost, pricey insurance or simply felt it was too expensive overall.
  • Poor Phone Support: More than 70% of all reviews who mentioned contacting customer service by phone said it was slow and hard to get through to their representative.
  • Dated Look and Feel: While most like the UI, around 20% said the solution’s look was dated.

Key Features

  • Payroll Management: Manage payroll, taxes, hiring, direct deposit, visibility of pay stubs and W-2s, automated and estimated invoicing and more. Let employees view, modify or enroll in benefits, see tax forms and easily track PTO. Follow the entire employee lifecycle such as hiring, onboarding, promotion and offboarding.
  • Benefits:
    • Insurance: Manage insurance for employees, spouses and pets such as health insurance, retirement, critical accident and illness, auto and home insurance, commuter benefits, dental and vision. Use insurance partners like Aetna, Aflac, Blue Shield of California, Kaiser Permanente, Mass Mutual, MetLife, Transamerica and UnitedHealth Group.
    • Retirement: Manage 401(k) plans to attract top talent and handle the contributions, data management compliance testing, investing, loan process and more. Invest in a mix of active and passive funds from more than one company.
  • Company Size: Operates at different company sizes — five to 19 employees, 20 to 29 employees, 100 to 499 employees and 500 to over 1,000 workers.
  • Integrations: Use the open API and a few pre-configured integrations to coordinate with accounting software, general ledger systems, data productivity and more. Some of the integrations include BambooHR, Google Cloud, Microsoft, Netsuite, Okta, Sage Intacct and Xero.
  • Time and Attendance: Handle scheduling, overtime, project expenses, clocking in and out, PTO and time-off requests and more. Give supervisors a comprehensive overview of worker hours whenever they need it.
  • Reporting and Analytics: Provides insight into benefits, HR, payroll, expenses and more. Choose from premade reports and export them into CSV, Excel or PDF formats. See the highest costs, overtime, fees and figure out how to control them. Understand how the organization is growing, turnover rates, benchmarks and sort by function, location or role. Use template options like pre-formatted, flex and customized reports.
  • Compliance: Improve compliance with reporting for ACA standards, required forms and automatic submissions.
  • Manage Expenses: Monitor expenses and examine receipts, cash flow, mileage and other issues. Accessible from phones so employees can accurately report expenses from anywhere.
  • Other Services: Use software for different subjects and HR consulting services such as talent management, recruiting, performance reviews and a learning management system.
Dayforce
Dayforce
Start Price
$6
Per Employee, Monthly
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request Pricing Request Demo

Why We Picked Dayforce

Dayforce, a popular AI-powered HCM solution, caters to businesses across various industries on a global scale. It’s perfect for large teams and companies needing a scalable and adaptable platform. Most of its features are user-friendly, making it relatively easy to learn and navigate.

Dayforce stands out with its mobile time-off requests, smart benefit enrollment recommendations, TeamRelate, Dayforce Wallet and automated payroll calculations. It also offers robust support for day-to-day operations, including reports and dashboards, org charts, shift trades, and compliance.

The mobile app and self-service platform give employees the freedom to handle tasks like accessing pay stubs, viewing schedules, and submitting time-off requests independently, which reduces the need for admin intervention.

Dayforce tackles common HR challenges like managing varied payroll and compliance needs, dealing with tricky reporting, and making employee self-service easier. While users appreciate its mobile features and schedule management, they’ve mentioned that reporting can be a bit complex and time-consuming, sometimes leading to long waits for customer support.

The demo reveals a comprehensive hub serving as a centralized dashboard, providing news updates, team objectives, pending tasks, and recommended applications like performance management and recruiting.

Personally, I thought the scheduling module looked a little cluttered/complicated for beginners, but you can use filters to narrow down results and make it look less busy/cleaner.

Payroll processing demands a hawk's eye when it comes to details. I thought Dayforce had a reasonably straightforward payroll design.

Engagement surveys offer compact insights into employee sentiment and effectiveness, while customizable dashboards and scorecards display key metrics on workforce dynamics, such as availability, recruitment metrics, and turnover rates.

Automated alerts and integration with job boards enhance recruiting, and self-service features support career development, HR and benefits enrollment.

The chatbot provided a brief welcome and directed me to the Help Center after I chose support. The chat ended there, and I encountered the issue of the conversation not clearing when the page was reopened.

Pricing is competitive, based on user numbers and selected modules (charged per month).

Overall, Dayforce is a comprehensive HCM software that effectively supports managing people, pay and compliance.

Pros & Cons

  • Easy PTO Tracking: Dayforce simplifies requesting and viewing PTO and tracking employee hours.
  • User-Friendly Interface and Features: Dayforce receives praise for being easy to set up and navigate.
  • Comprehensive: Dayforce is effective for managing payroll, benefits, and workforce management (WFM), providing real-time data and streamlined record-keeping. Custom reporting, time management and compensation planning are highlighted as strong features.
  • Consistency: The system integrates well across various functions such as HR, payroll, and time management, helping to consolidate processes and improve efficiency.
  • Reporting: Report creation can be cumbersome and not very user-friendly. The ability to convert fixed reports into customizable formats and access more diverse formats is limited.
  • Outdated Employee Self-Service: Some users found this feature outdated without improved auditing and traceability features for payroll elections.
  • Frequent Updates: Some updates lead to slow down and create a learning curve for some users.
  • Implementation Process: Users reported implementation can have high up-front costs, take longer than expected and cause frustration.
  • Customer Support: Users experienced long response times and additional fees.

Key Features

  • Core HR: Centralize employee info, manage performance, carry out recruiting, oversee payroll and get reports for data-driven decision-making.
  • Employee Self-Service (ESS): Let users enroll in benefits, view pay details, update personal information, access learning resources and stay current on announcements.
  • Payroll: Roll out a variety of payroll tasks, including tax management, employee verification and data entry for unique situations like retroactive payments. Dashboards provide insights and reporting tools support payroll reconciliation.
  • Benefits: Fast track enrollment by letting employees independently enroll for coverage. Admins can access enrollment totals, a library of qualification rules, on-demand calculations and streamlined COBRA management. It also integrates with hundreds of carriers and incorporates features to ensure ACA compliance.
  • Talent Management: Manage every phase of an employee lifecycle, from recruiting and onboarding to succession planning. Track performance in a holistic view, plan budgets effectively and reskill current employees with AI talent tools.
  • Workforce Management: Process payroll, manage sick days or vacation time, and view reports on key trends like spending for proactive planning.
  • Compliance Support: Safeguard sensitive information with role-based access and ease multi-jurisdictional tax filings with tax services for federal, state and local jurisdictions.
  • Customer Support: Get help with questions and concerns through live chat or phone. Access additional resources on the website like the help center and webinars.
  • Dayforce Wallet: Provide employees access to their earned wages before payday. This flexibility improves financial wellness and reduces employee stress associated with waiting for a paycheck. It also provides functionalities such as budgeting tools and financial planning resources. Note: The amount available depends on completed shifts and standard transfer time is between 1-3 business days. Faster transfers require additional fees.
TriNet
TriNet
Start Price
$8
Monthly
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request Pricing Request Demo

Why We Picked TriNet

In HR, you're responsible for a lot of paperwork for core functions like recruiting, tax filing, payroll and performance management (just to name a few). Trying to keep every document organized and secure the old-fashioned way might feel like managing the Smithsonian.;

TriNet can alleviate your document management woes by keeping everything in one place in the cloud.

Its platform includes HR management and administration tools, recruiting, payroll and benefits. Overall, I found the design practical and simple. It didn't leave me guessing where to find things.;

Manage access to folders and documents, create custom folders and specify which employees have access. In the upper right corner, you'll find your profile along with an arrow that reveals menu options. The top right also features your inbox, notifications, help and a handy search bar.

It has separate tabs for worker and company documents. Creating folders to stay organized is easy with the bright orange "Create New Folder" option. Each document allows you to hover over it, where you can click the pencil icon to edit or the trash can icon to delete.

Manage employees’ benefits eligibility, view benefit costs and change enrollment details. Scroll down and see everything covered under your plan, from dental and vision to life insurance. To get employees on board, set your open enrollment dates and automate notifications.;

Customize email invites, preview the employee experience and ensure no one misses enrollment – once it’s open, they’ll see it as a task at the top of their dashboard.;

There’s no guessing when it comes to employee costs, the company contribution and total because it’s laid out clearly in the monthly cost breakdown. Plus, when enrollment time rolls around, there’s a start renewal link, side-by-side plan comparisons and a quoting tool.;

My favorite feature is the step-by-step guide because even if you’ve gone through the labyrinth of benefits enrollment seemingly a hundred times, there’s still a lot of ground to cover, which makes setting everything up less overwhelming. Make your enrollment setup unforgettable with benefits checklists that ensure employees don’t miss important options.

The payroll module is reasonably straightforward. The layout is on the simple side, featuring main menu optionhs including Overviews, People, Timeline, Reports, Taxes, Forms and Settings.;

Just like conveniently passing by a coffee shop on your way to work, essentially every payroll task you have to check off is connected and easy to find. Manage employee notifications, download payroll reports and approve payroll — all in one place.;

The candidate landing page is simple. It shows the person’s name to the very left; on the right, you can view their contact info (there’s a phone icon and email icon), location, workflow status, source (like your career page) and the date they applied.


So, what happens after clicking a candidate's name? You get directed to their profile and, from there, view their resume, scorecard, assessments, emails and documents. There are options at the top to reject or advance candidates. Once they move to hiring, you select their start date and press hire candidate, and ta-da — you’re greeted with virtual confetti.;

I like that there are conveniently automated communication options like sending text messages. It's especially helpful if you’re hiring multiple people and don’t want to lose track of candidates or get anyone stuck in one of the hiring steps.;

While everyone learns things at their own pace, from my perspective, I found TriNet a good fit for beginners.;

Pros & Cons

  • Ease of Use: Many users find the platform simple to navigate, making it easy to view paychecks, track time and attendance, manage payroll, and administer benefits.
  • Automation: Payroll and benefits processes are largely automated, reducing manual tasks and improving efficiency.
  • Customer Support: The support team is often praised for being professional, friendly and helpful. There are various support options available, including chat and phone and the ability to track case submissions.
  • Smooth Benefits Enrollment: Most users like its insurance options (especially with it being all integrated right into the platform), including re-enrollment options, multiple language support and mobile enrollment. Overall, the majority found the process hassle-free.
  • Basic Functionality: Users find the platform design on the basic side, which can be a double-edged sword. While it simplifies navigation, it may feel less intuitive.
  • Customer Support Wait Times: Some users reported long wait times and the need to connect with multiple support representatives. There are designated support representatives, but the availability depends on the plan you opt for.
  • Integration Challenges: There have been difficulties linking multiple companies within the platform, complicating things like time-off approvals.

Key Features

  • Payroll: Log on, go to your payroll overview, and you'll see tasks you need to complete at the top. Click open payroll and review and approve your next pay run. There are also indicators that let you know if anything looks off to prevent payroll errors.
    • Pay Cycle Tracking: Monitor pay cycles and important dates categorized by employee groups (exempt vs non-exempt) with downloadable calendar views.
    • Advanced Issue Notifications: Receive indicators for potential payroll issues prior to final approval, with advanced filters for insights (location, department, job code).
    • Reimbursements: Make reimbursements easy. Choose the type (like driving) and enter the amount right on the platform.
  • Integrations: Integrate with popular accounting software platforms like Xero and QuickBooks.
  • Benefits Administration: Offer standard medical, dental and vision benefits, along with life and disability insurance. Additionally, there are commuter benefits, COBRA administration, workers comp, FSA and HSA. Filter from hundreds of providers for easy comparison and manage their information from a dashboard.
    • Transparent Pricing: Know where your money's going with monthly cost breakdowns that lay out all the details, from dental to life insurance.
  • Time Management: Keep an eye on clock-in/out times and hours worked with real-time dashboards. Set up customizable PTO policies, streamline workflows, view calendars, approve requests with a click and let employees manage their sick days/time-off requests.
  • TimeKeeper iPad App: Protect against fraud and time theft by taking pictures of employees when they check in or out.
  • Performance Management: Leverage goal management, meetings, action items and performance tracking. Run peer and 360-degree reviews using prebuilt templates and customizable questions.
  • Document Management: Centralize employee documents, create custom folders and specify which employees have access.
  • Recruiting and Hiring: Handle all your hiring tasks digitally, fast track completing offer letters with templates and run background checks.
    • Job Post Sharing: Share job listings on free job boards and social media, or boost them on paid channels with just a few clicks.
    • Automated Communication: Send automated texts, emails and notifications to prevent candidates from getting stuck in one step of the hiring process.
    • Candidate Profiles: Click on a candidate's name to access their profile, where you can view their resume, scorecard, assessments, emails, and documents all in one place. Easily reject or advance candidates with just a click from their profile.
    • Seamless Hiring: Once you select a candidate for hire, simply choose their start date and hit "hire." Celebrate when they’re officially onboarded.
  • Onboarding: New hire info syncs across the suite, so you won't have to enter it twice (or worry about double entry). New employees can also manage their part of the process to keep everything accurate and on time.
    • Employee Progress Dashboard: Track who’s completed enrollment and send reminders or invitations to new hires.
  • Compliance Assistant: Use this built-in tool to track federal HR deadlines and set custom reminders. You’ll find detailed explanations of compliance deadlines that could affect your business and sync reminders with your personal calendar. There are also resources to provide a better understanding of regulatory requirements, including ACA, COBRA, EEOC and I-9 compliance.

COMPARE THE BEST Small Business Payroll Software

Select up to 2 Products from the list below to compare

 
Product
Score
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SelectHub’s Analyst Rating is based on data from our 400+ point analysis of Small Business Payroll Software, user reviews, and our own crowd-sourced data from our free software selection platform. Scores are periodically updated via ongoing selection projects and user activity within our platform.
Start Price
Free Trial
Company Size
Deployment
Platform
Logo
ADP RUN
$79
Monthly
Yes
Small Medium Large
Cloud On-Premise
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
ADP RUN
Paycom
$25
Per Employee, Monthly
No
Small Medium Large
Cloud On-Premise
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Paycom
Paylocity
$19
Per Employee, Monthly
No
Small Medium Large
Cloud On-Premise
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Paylocity
Paychex
$39
Monthly
Yes
Small Medium Large
Cloud On-Premise
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Paychex
UKG Ready
$21
Per Employee, Monthly
No
Small Medium Large
Cloud On-Premise
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
UKG Ready
Paychex Flex
$39
Monthly
Yes
Small Medium Large
Cloud On-Premise
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Paychex Flex
Gusto
$40
Monthly
Yes
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Cloud On-Premise
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Gusto
TriNet PEO
$80
Per Employee, Monthly
Yes
Small Medium Large
Cloud On-Premise
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
TriNet PEO
Dayforce
$6
Per Employee, Monthly
No
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Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Dayforce
TriNet
$8
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Yes
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TriNet

All Small Business Payroll Software (82 found)

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Buyer's Guide

The Best Small Business Payroll Software Is About Ensuring Compliance and Accuracy

By Olivia Edens, Technical Writer at SelectHub

Small Business Payroll Software BG Intro

Every skyscraper starts as a simple idea, just like the start of a new business venture.

As exciting as building a business from the ground up is, much like constructing a major building, you won’t get far without a solid foundation. Forming and maintaining a successful business, regardless of your industry, comes down to one key aspect — your HR department.

Your HR team has a lot on their plate, especially when it comes to managing payroll. Luckily, payroll software is readily available, ensuring compliance and protecting you, your employees and your business.

In this buyer’s guide, we’ll explain what you need to know before investing in a new small business payroll solution, from features and pricing to top solutions and questions.

Executive Summary

  • Small business payroll software is a payroll solution helping ensure compliance, automate payroll processes, track employee time and provide error-free payroll.
  • Benefits of using a small business payroll solution include saving time by reducing manual tasks, ensuring compliance and developing infrastructure.
  • Key features include compliance and tax filing, managing payments, benefits enrollment, payroll reporting, time and attendance tracking, and talent management.
  • Before committing to a purchase, ask potential vendors questions about the software.
What This Guide Covers:

What Is Small Business Payroll Software?

Small business payroll software is a payroll solution for managing payments, ensuring compliance and automating payroll processes for small businesses. Manage and streamline core payroll tasks like calculating employee wages and tax withholdings.

Your staff relies on you to deliver payroll quickly, especially with 60% of workers in America living paycheck to paycheck as of January 2023. Small business payroll software helps HR managers, payroll administrators and employees automate core HR processes and ensure on-time, error-free payroll.

Plus, self-service payroll platforms enhance organization with accessible features like fast access to paystubs and tax documents securely online instead of locked away in a filing cabinet. You’ll likely be understaffed when starting out — small business payroll software helps fill those gaps.

Primary Benefits

Just like a superhero needs a sidekick, small business owners need payroll tools to help navigate through the highs and lows of payroll processes.

For many small businesses, managing and approving payroll is far more time-consuming than HR managers initially realize and adding a software solution alleviates your workload. From saving time to ensuring compliance and accuracy, an effective payroll solution is a valuable investment that assists in every step of the process.

Small Business Payroll Benefits

Save Time

Processing payroll each week is a deceptively complicated task. It requires an efficient system for processing payments, up-to-date knowledge of current regulations and tax law, and the time to complete all the calculations involved in determining pay.

Even for the smallest organizations, the process is incredibly lengthy and intricate. Multitasking is crucial for small business owners, but they risk burning out when one person takes on too many tasks. Fortunately, implementing a small business payroll solution streamlines direct deposits, tax filing, compliance and time tracking, ultimately lightening your manual effort.

Improve Time and Attendance Tracking

Most payroll solutions offer time and attendance functionality and integrations, allowing the system to automatically calculate how many hours employees worked to determine how much pay they should receive for any given pay period.

In addition to calculating hours worked, many solutions account for varying pay rates, including overtime pay and shift differentials for certain shifts.

Automating time tracking also eliminates human error in payroll, saving time spent correcting mistakes and providing peace of mind knowing employee paychecks are accurate and timely.

Ensure Compliance

Payroll involves much more than just writing checks to your employees. You also need knowledge of compensation regulations, properly deducting taxes and filing them annually. If this sounds daunting, that’s because it is.

Tax laws change frequently and can be difficult to understand, making deducting taxes from employee paychecks incredibly difficult for anyone without a complete understanding of the laws and regulations that apply to payroll.

Fortunately, payroll software can assist with all of this, keeping your compliance in mind.

Lastly, centralize important forms to boost accessibility using an online payroll provider or mobile app, not stuffed away in a filing cabinet.

Streamline Tax Filing

Tax filing is rarely fun, especially when you're in the start-up stage of your business. Alleviate the stress of tax filing and ensure accuracy with a payroll solution. Payroll software includes payroll processing, accessibility to various tax forms and compliance tools and automatically calculating employee tax withholdings.

Some systems even file and pay taxes automatically — ensuring on-time annual taxes. Compliance tools check for updates in legislation, ensuring you’re always in compliance with the most current regulations.

Automate Calculations

Even if you're a mathematical wiz, calculating various aspects of payroll is overwhelming and time-consuming. Automating manual calculations and core data entry helps process your payroll quickly and accurately, freeing up time for you to focus on other essential business operations. Also, automating calculating wages, deductions and taxes eliminates human error.

You may be short-staffed while launching your business. Payroll tools provide support, automate tasks, reduce manual effort, increase accuracy and save money.

Small Business Payroll Software Categories

Develop Infrastructure

The final benefit of investing in a small business payroll software is the infrastructure it helps you to implement, which supports the growth of your enterprise. Many small business products are scalable so that as your organization grows, your solution can grow too.

So, no matter how big your team becomes, you’ll never have to switch products, ensuring a smooth transition from a small to a medium-sized business and beyond.

Key Features & Functionality

Compliance and Tax Filing

Get updates on changing tax laws and regulations to ensure compliance and protect your business from legal issues. Tax filing services save you time and ensure accuracy, reducing your risk of legal issues and penalties.
Payment Management

Automatically calculate employee pay, simplifying your payroll process. Set up direct deposits and say goodbye to paper checks. Use secure self-service payroll platforms to access pay stubs and tax forms without the wait.
Payroll Reports

Get easy access to employee information like wages and deductions, customize reports and even automate scheduled reports. That way, you’ll have the information you need when audits or worker’s compensation claims arise.
Benefits Enrollment

Keep track of expense reports, overtime hours and holiday pay. Provide an online way for benefits enrollment, making it easier to customize plans.
Time and Attendance Tracking

Integrate payroll with time tracking to streamline core HR processes. Make manual timesheets a thing of the past with time clocks or mobile time-punching apps.

Automatically track your employee's hours worked, saving time on manual timesheets and ensuring error-free payroll. Time tracking also tracks the time spent closing out projects to create future deadlines accordingly.
Talent Management

Talent management enhances accountability and overall productivity. Gain insight into hours worked on a project, view repeat absences and potential bottlenecks in productivity for performance reviews.

Software Comparison Strategy

Like a game of Where's Waldo, researching your business's best small business payroll provider may be time-consuming and even frustrating, especially when similar features blend together.

A great first step is considering what your business needs most. Have you heard of a common workplace problem through the grapevine? Take any current shortcomings and list them out to ensure your payroll solution bridges any shortcomings.

Next, consider how many employees will use the platform and how much training they need. How much time can you delegate for training?

Another key aspect is your vendor. When evaluating vendors, reference online reviews, industry guides and colleague recommendations. Some vendors offer free trials, letting you try before you buy!

Assessing your needs helps you develop a list of requirements to evaluate your top payroll software for small businesses. Build your list of must-have features with our requirements template. Lastly, check out our Lean Selection methodology for further support in your search!

Cost & Pricing Considerations

With small business payroll software, there’s either a yearly or monthly subscription fee or a one-time upfront cost.

The cost of most payroll plans depends on the number of active users. Other key elements that may contribute to your final cost are data migration and whether you opt for any customization. Making a bullet point list is a helpful way of comparing and contrasting pricing details to decide the best option within your budget.

The Most Popular Payroll Software for Small Businesses

An overwhelming number of payroll vendors are on the market today, and it may feel like finding a needle in a haystack sometimes. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of our top picks for small business payroll software based on research from our expert analysts. Check out the top five small business payroll providers listed below (in no particular order).

Patriot Payroll

Patriot Payroll is a cloud-based solution with customizable options, allowing users to enter employees’ worked hours, approve amounts and process paychecks. View all employee payroll deductions and employer contributions scheduled for any given pay date range, including future payroll dates. Calculate pre- and post-tax deductions, including wage garnishments, federal income taxes and 401k contributions.

Directly add tips to paychecks and simplify the process of reporting added compensation to ensure everything gets included in your year-end tax documents. Update employee information, view and print pay stubs and manage time punches through the employee portal, also accessible through mobile devices connected to the internet.

Patriot Payroll

Patriot Payroll Dashboard.

QuickBooks Payroll

QuickBooks Payroll is a cloud-based solution from Intuit for processing payroll and providing tax assistance. Synchronize accounting and payroll processes, conduct time tracking feature to manage employee’s time from any internet-connected device and boost accessibility for employees to access their pay information, like past pay stubs.

QuickBooks Payroll prepares and mails W-2s and 1099s directly to employees and contractors when filing year-end taxes, supporting additional tax forms, including forms 940, 941, 1096 and W-3s. The report suite generates various reports and export data as needed in multiple formats, like Excel documents.

QuickBooks Payroll

QuickBooks Payroll Reports Dashboard.

Paycor

Paycor is a full HCM suite providing customizable functionalities for small businesses assisting with core HR tasks, reporting, time and attendance, recruiting and onboarding tools. Access and update pay information through the employee self-service portal, calculate compensation premiums and get assistance filing reports.

Paycor also maintains payroll records ensuring compliance with labor and tax laws. The all-in-one reporting suite helps managers build and complete reports with vital HR data like turnover rates, headcounts, overtime and benefits. Paycor also includes a biometric time clock enabling employees to use their fingerprint to clock in for shifts, reducing the risk of time theft and buddy punching errors.

Paycor

Paycor Mobile Payroll. Source

OnPay

Onpay is a cloud-based payroll solution providing a variety of payroll, HR and employee management tools with employee self-onboarding, lifetime accounts, and new hire and customized reports. Update personal information, opt-in to 401(k) plans, file and pay taxes, access pay stubs, and track PTO through the self-service portal.

Automate withholdings, match contributions, manage investments and manage employee tax credits. Boost organization with the document retention feature, automate the tax process by setting the default filing status as “single” per IRS guidelines, and make status updates as needed.

OnPay

OnPay Run Payroll Dashboard.

Gusto

Gusto helps facilitate core payroll tasks and includes integrations like employee self-service, accounting, point of sales, expense management and time tracking. Fully automate payroll filings and tax payments, check federal and local state tax regulations, and file W-2s and 1099s for employees and contractors.

The time tracking tool automatically calculates team hours, time off and holidays into payroll — or users can opt to integrate with an additional time tracking system for more robust functionalities. Also, manage paychecks to be deposited directly into employee accounts, enabling employees to make charitable contributions through automatic deductions.

Gusto

Gusto Time off Dashboard.

 

 

Questions To Ask Yourself

Get a better understanding of your company’s software requirements by asking yourself the following guiding questions.

  • What’s my budget?
  • Should I have a subscription or a one-time payment upfront?
  • How many employees will use the software?
  • Will my employees need training?
  • How much time can I provide for training?
  • What are the key pain points I’m facing with payroll tasks?
  • What features do I need the most to address those pain points?
  • What problems will this software help solve?

Small Business Payroll Key Questions

 

 

 

Questions To Ask Vendors

Evaluating vendors is also important, ensuring you meet your perfect match. Learn more about the software and vendor use the following questions.

About the Software

  • What data security features does the software offer?
  • What training do you offer?
  • Is the software customizable to specific business needs?
  • What customer support is provided? What’s your customer service availability?
  • What integrations are available?
  • What are the core strengths of the software?
  • To what extent can the software automate repetitive tasks?
  • What’s your product roadmap?

About the Vendor

  • How many years of experience do you have in the industry?
  • What customer support and training do you offer?
  • Is the software customizable to specific business needs?
  • Do you have experience working with businesses in our industry?
  • What company sizes do you typically work with?
  • How can your software’s capabilities benefit companies in my industry?
  • How does your technical support team handle help requests?
  • How long does onboarding typically take for your product?

Next Steps

Just like plants need water and sunlight to grow, your small business needs reliable payroll and HR practices to thrive in any environment.

Even if you love multitasking, running a small business is a lot of work. Save time automating tasks, stay updated on changing labor laws and alleviate the daunting task of triple-checking payroll with small business payroll software.

From managing bonuses to automating wages, small business payroll software has you covered. If you’re ready to take the next step, check out our free comparison guide for more information on the top small business payroll solutions. Good luck!

Product Comparisons

Additional Resources

About The Contributors

The following expert team members are responsible for creating, reviewing, and fact checking the accuracy of this content.

Olivia
By Olivia Edens
Technical Content Writer
As a SelectHub Technical Writer, Olivia Edens loves helping readers navigate through the world of HR, payroll, field service, PSA, and time and attendance software. Olivia earned a B.A. in English from the University of Phoenix. When she's not researching or editing, she loves rewatching The Office, scootering around the city and taking her cat for a walk. Fun fact: In high school, she won an award for most ideas per minute.
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Aayushi Kishor
Technical Research By Aayushi Kishor Sharma
Senior Analyst
Aayushi Kishor Sharma has been part of SelectHub since 2021, working on categories like HR, EHR and Marketing, for which she also earned an MBA. A self-described "social butterfly," she loves meeting people, exploring and trying new things.
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Jaisri
Technical Review By Jaisri Narasimman
Principal Analyst
A graduate of NTU Singapore, Jaisri Narasimman honed her data mining and curation skills during her post-graduate education, focusing on developing strategies to help businesses make the most of their data. In her role at SelectHub, her research spans categories like HR, CRM and EHR.
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Joe
Edited By Joe Evans
Content Editor
Joe Evans is an Editor and Senior Market Analyst at SelectHub. A seasoned professional wordsmith, he has a bachelor's degree in journalism and electronic media and a decade of professional expertise in crafting top-tier digital content for niche online brands. He leads his small yet formidable team in producing helpful, compelling content in vital categories like HR, payroll, talent management, performance management, marketing automation home health, MES. When not editing and writing, he enjoys sports, quality time with family and dogs, and remains constantly in pursuit of something new and interesting to read or listen to.
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