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Best Payroll Software For Accountants

June 2, 2021
Bill Kimball

payroll accounting software

One of its main strengths is security – your payroll information in the cloud is fully encrypted, and user access permissions can be customized to ensure data security and integrity. Paychex is one of the most popular payroll software for small business but also one of the more expensive solutions, mostly due to public demand. Rumor around the accounting department’s water cooler is that Paychex is robust but not simple, easy to use, or set up. That can be a huge factor for small businesses when they’re looking for the best payroll software. Paychex requires a lot of personal information to get started and running reports comes with its share of red tape and added costs. IOP is best for bookkeepers or payroll services companies that run payroll for many clients. It acts as a payroll center for all of a bookkeeper’s accounts manageable from one place and easily integrates with our Quickbooks and Intuit software.

GetPayroll features a flat-rate pricing structure that doesn’t include per-employee fees. It also offers Simon, a complete paperless payroll system that runs on mobile devices and is designed for microbusinesses with fewer than 10 employees. OnPay’s online payroll services allow small businesses to run an unlimited number of payrolls each month and pay employees by direct deposit or paper check. The online system is user-friendly and manages paid time off . Paychex offers multiple pricing plans that are suitable for businesses of various sizes and needs. Pricing for each plan is based on your specific needs. The next plan is the Flex Select tier, which adds a dedicated payroll specialist, labor compliance poster kits and paper check options.

payroll accounting software

They also charge for other services like W-2 and 1099 tax filing or wage garnishment processing. Paychex’s payroll and HR software for accounting professionals offers technology and partnerships that help you provide excellent service for your clients. It starts with a client portal where you can work with clients to run payroll or run it yourself. Next, it adds tools to help you provide financial advice. Then, it includes partnerships with AICPA/CPA.com, a dedicated account services team of accountant relationship managers, and reference centers for you and your clients. Overall, we chose QuickBooks Payroll for Accountants as the best payroll company.

Intuit Quickbooks Payroll: Best Overall Online Payroll Software For Small Businesses

Namely is a comprehensive human resources suite that combines functionalities for payroll, benefits, and talent management. It has been the platform of choice for about 400 companies with some 60,000 employees worldwide.

  • It can handle multiple compensation types such as hourly, salary, per-diem, contract, and more.
  • The first three months of payroll service are free.
  • That is what payroll software excels in, but if you’re paying your employees on an hourly basis, it does require you to use a software that excels in tracking employee work time.
  • The least expensive plan, the Essentials plan, is $10 per month per employee, while the Growth plan is $18 per month per employee, and the Zen plan is $27 per month per employee.

If you want to know more about the features you can easily sign up for a Sage 50cloud free trial. Apart from its clean, intuitive interface, Eddy consolidates all HR functions in one cloud-based hub.

Researching Each Service

To save money on payroll, consider outsourcing your payroll tasks. When managing it yourself, you may not do it correctly or on time – and mistakes or late processing can result in hefty penalties and fines. You may also consider looking for a free payroll service. However, most free payroll services don’t offer all of the features and tools paid offerings do. Depending on your business’s needs, you may benefit from selecting a payroll company that offers additional services, such as a time-and-attendance system and HR solutions. Most payroll services provide either a dedicated mobile app for iOS and Android devices or a mobile-friendly website, thus ensuring the payroll software can be accessed from smartphones and tablets. Many payroll services can complete and file the required paperwork each time you hire a new employee.

“I pay $85 per month for a very smart, integrated accounting and payroll service,” Hoskins said. To determine the best payroll services for businesses, we started with a pool of more than 70 online payroll service providers. Following preliminary research of other best-picks lists, we interviewed small business owners to discover new providers to add to our list. Some payroll services allow employers to run payroll as many times as they want each month, thus giving them the freedom to determine the pay periods that make the most sense for their employees.

Intuit’s free paycheck calculator takes the guesswork out of payroll taxes makes it easy to calculate paychecks for both your hourly and salary employees. It can crunch the numbers and factor in overtime, bonuses, or commissions to give you a rundown of exactly how much to pay your employees and how much to deduct for taxes. The payroll feature connects with everything else you manage in Zenefits, automatically updating itself whenever changes are made. You will be able to do time entry and approval processes, reduce errors, and ensure that your hourly employees are paid accurately and on time. The platform lets employees view and manage their pay information anywhere at all times via web or mobile access. Employees can view pay breakdown through graphs, or access their full statement of earnings pay history for additional detail.

Then, we looked at what the payroll offered clients and accountants as far as pay runs, tax filing, and HR tools. Finally, we considered the price for clients and accountants.

In this article, we’ll go over the 20 best payroll software for payroll service providers and accountants that we have here at FinancesOnline. You’ll get an overview of the offerings, features and benefits of the leading payroll products available out there.

How Can You Save Money On Payroll?

Zoho Books is a smart online accounting solution built for small and mid-sized businesses to handle their finances and keep them in control of their cash flow. It is the pioneer accounting product of an established software provider noted for its quality products, uptime, support, and security. Payroll services built right into your software make it easier to pay employees, track benefits, and report taxes. The good thing is that acquiring payroll software does not need deep pockets these days especially with SaaS and cloud options; some are even offered for free with basic features.

payroll accounting software

Paychex Flex is the most scalable payroll product for growing businesses. OnPay Payroll is the best payroll option for businesses with hourly and contract workers. If you use QuickBooks for your clients, then we highly recommend QuickBooks’ Intuit Online Payroll for Accountants. With it, your clients can run payroll themselves or work with you.

It is also ideal for companies looking to digitize and automate how they file and process tax forms. The vendor also provides an HR consultant for one-on-one customer assistance. While this isn’t part of the premium support, this is an optional service that’s open for any EPAY Systems customer. All this backed by Paycor’s reputation as a key partner of more than 30,000 small businesses since 2005. The vendor offers a great free trial that lets you try out all the key features first. You can easily sign up for an OnPay free trial. QuickBooks Payroll offers an inventory tracker for accountants that handle expanded bookkeeping tools for retail shops, restaurants, cafes, and merchandisers.

With Patriot, I have all the info at my fingertips for payroll, tax payments, and receivables. Having both the payroll and accounting software for the same price I was paying for just payroll services through another provider made it a very easy decision to switch. MMC creates comprehensive, customized HR solutions for its clients covering payroll, taxes, risk management, legal compliance and more.

In case you get caught off-guard, knowing the penalties for such offenses can be of great help. If these unwanted scenarios do not prompt you to immediately get a payroll software, then you may face the prospect of becoming part of those statistics. Payroll software is a system that automates and streamlines the process of paying a company’s employees. Payroll software simplifies and automates the aforementioned tasks to shorten cycle times and reduce manual errors. Once you get your payroll running smoothly, take a look at our online accounting services and tax software roundups. All of the payroll services reviewed here come from reputable companies with years or even decades of experience behind their tools. I wouldn’t hesitate to trust any of them with this critical task.

In addition, some payroll companies charge extra for year-end tax service and initial setup fees. Because of the flexible payroll options for small businesses, we chose QuickBooks Payroll as our pick for the best payroll service for small businesses. OnPay meets very small business owners at the right level with a simple, easy-to-use solution. Managing payroll can be tedious and time-consuming, but it doesn’t have to be. Run your payroll in minutes, with 100% guaranteed accuracy, and say goodbye to the unnecessary stress of payroll taxes. If you’re a small business owner looking for help on all things payroll—from handling payroll taxes to choosing the right payroll system to understanding payroll forms—this guide is for you.