Top 9 Best Payroll Services for Small Businesses (2022): Compared & Reviewed
One of the most important functions of the business is to take care of their employees, the company needs to know exactly every detail that is a part of the transaction between the company and the employee. The payroll services are exactly for that.
A payroll service performs the functions like calculating payroll of the employees in an automated manner. These services apart from calculating the payroll also helps in printing cheques, delivering the details of the transaction, making the human resource reports etc.
One of the most important functions of payroll services is making management reports. These reports help in giving the bonus to the employees. The additional services of these vendors offer are automatic check signatures, envelope stuffing, and direct deposit of checks
It doesn’t matter if you are a small business or a multinational enterprise, it is mandatory for you to have a payroll service. There are plenty of payroll companies that are completely suitable for small businesses that will perform these crucial tasks in a budget.
Why payroll services?
That’s why any business gives extra time and energy to this complicated yet crucial payroll system. This hectic task also leads to higher costs and more clerical work. This is not a beneficial thing for any business. They can’t afford these higher costs.
This is the main reason why any successful business in the world depends on an automated payroll system. Small businesses need to understand that this is not a burden on their budget, but this is an investment for their business.
Payroll services are among the few biggest expenses of any business operation. True fact is it is expensive but the most important of the functions. Payroll is a very daunting task. It is a very tiring and long process. No matter how any business feels about this process, it is very important that it is done with the utmost of accuracy.
This is a process on which every government agency keeps a check. You can’t cut anyone’s salary without a reason, you can’t manipulate taxes and you have to take care of your employees’ taxes as well.
One of the most notable facts is that 1 in every 3 small business owners gets penalized by the IRS for payroll errors. They are then charged heavy fees and penalties. You know what happens ultimately, these businesses go into losses. These heavy fines and dues are not affordable for any business.
1. ADP
ADP is one of the oldest names in the payroll services. It has got a system that is very unique and requires heavy efficiency. It has got the system of PEO, professional employer organization.
In this system a business shares their employees with these organizations, which sounds very impossible but this great name has made it possible.
This company is the epitome of services; they share the organization's 50% employees and employ them under their company name. It means that the businesses will only have to bear the liability of 50 percent employees.
The few reasons that make ADP the industry leader, one of it is convenience. The employees can use the application for any kind of trouble or reporting they face. They can just use this application as a self-service. In this application they can apply for leave or part time.
They can also select the salary kind (if the primary company offers), track their targets and also choose what kind of benefits they want at the organization.
ADP mainly manages employees’ recruiting, hiring, and on boarding. It provides this feature in the best way possible. They have the HR specialist that will help you in hiring employees. They will also help you in managing the relations with your employees and many more.
Pros
Cons
Why do businesses like ADP?
Businesses like ADP because of it being one of the oldest companies in the market. This thing has allowed the businesses to establish their trust in the company because they have made their goodwill in the market in all these years. The businesses trust this company with their employees and human resource functions the most.
Another thing that the businesses like about this vendor is it being not liable to any payroll discrepancy and not having to worry about their pay dates. It is a known fact that the businesses worry the most about their payroll and taxes. The reviews have also shown that the businesses like the tax mechanism of the service.
Pricing of ADP-
The pricing of ADP is generally known to be higher than average but they never expose their plans. Contact the vendor for getting plans for your business.
2. PAYCHEX
Paychex strategy involves the idea recognizing that each and every business requires tailored services in terms of payroll and tax filing. The value that Paychex promotes is the most suitable factor when it comes to small business.
It features payroll services in the market. It is an integrative, cloud-based system that allows the access of Paychex from anywhere using any device with internet connection. It is a highly compatible solution that can be used with any device that has iOS, Windows, Android and MacOS.
Paychex is an easy to use self-service payroll mechanism, in Paychex you just need to enter your payroll information (such as salaries, hours worked and pay rates) and submit the data, the rest of the work is handled by the application itself.
The payroll schedule is quite flexible; you can make payments weekly, biweekly, semimonthly and monthly. The employee management mechanism of the service is also a flexible one; it can manage all types of employees including permanent and part time ones, interns, and external resources as well as other branches’ employees.
One of the best features of Paychex is that the employees can get their payment whenever they want. If the employee has the need to get paid before the date, he can access the money using the application. Another good feature about this application is that the employees can login in their application and see their year-end tax filing records.
Pros
Why do businesses like Paychex?
The major reason why businesses like Paychex is because of its cost and convenience. Cost in terms that it is always beneficial to pay for the application than to pay someone a much higher amount just to complete the payroll tasks. Also, the other benefits that we have mentioned above won’t be possible to be completed by just one person.
Businesses find Paychex very convenient as well; they can use the mobile application for any of their tasks. Not just the businesses we have also seen that the employees find this solution very convenient. Also, their customer support is one of the best in the industry. You can get in touch with the company 24/7.
Cons
Pricing of Paychex-
Paychex offers multiple tailored pricing plans as per the need of each and every business.
- The Express tier includes payroll processing and tax services, new-hire reporting, direct deposit, prepaid debit cards, an employee financial wellness program, and 24/7 customer support.
- The next plan is the Flex Select tier that offers additional dedicated payroll specialist, labor compliance poster kits and paper check options.
- The Flex Pro tier is an expansive version of the above; it comes with flex Select with wage garnishment payment services, on boarding tools and pre-employment background screening.
- Finally, the Flex Enterprise tier comprises custom analytics, reports and HR administration features.
3. GUSTO
Gusto, a cloud-based payroll service; is an intuitive payroll service that is one of the best choices in the market for small businesses. Gusto with its state-of-the-art features is capable of handling all payroll and payroll tax responsibilities.
This is software that is capable of handling all the kinds of employees and their payroll work. Their highly intuitive feature is boon for both the organization as well as the employees. Gusto can manage category W-2 employees, 1099 freelancers and contractors.
The cloud-based can easily complete the most tiring of tasks like direct deposit, an autopilot tool, and new-hire reporting and detailed payroll reports.
Using Gusto, you can automate the task of tax filing with the utmost of ease. Tax filing when done with the highest of accuracy can avoid heavy penalties and when done in an automated manner it saves a lot of time. If you want your organization to do the tax filing with accuracy and convenience, gusto is the way.
One of the most notable features of Gusto is that the employees can keep a record of their data even after leaving the company so that it is convenient for them as well as the organization, in terms of saving numerous amounts of data entry.
Gusto is among the most popular payroll software because it gives it all. There is nothing that goes against the needs of at least small businesses. It has got a free trial, great user interface, and a reasonable price for full-service payroll.
Pros
Cons
Why do businesses like Gusto?
Gusto is the best option in the market when it comes to tax automation and tax filing. It can create the documents with the utmost of accuracy which the businesses like the most. Even though this software is a bit pricey but the businesses prefer this over paying heavy dues for negligence to the IRS. Gusto’s strategy is simple; the owners should focus on running the businesses and not get stuck in these clerical works.
It has also got an autopilot feature that will complete the task of payroll in an automated manner. This will be convenient for the business as well as the employees.
Pricing of Gusto-
- Gusto offers four service plans that range from $19 to $149 per month.
- It also offers an additional $6 to $12 per employee per month.
- The company also offers services for businesses that work only with independent contractors. The upgraded plans come with better features.
4. PRIMEPAY
PrimePay is a cloud-based human resources and payroll management solution. It is mainly designed for small businesses. PrimePay has the strategy of making available these payroll services even to micro enterprises.
The features that it offers are payroll management, HR management, a time clock, benefits administration and compliance management. There are mainly two types of payroll services: online and hands-off.
The online system works through the web-based client and the hand off systems allows the payroll to handle all your payroll mechanism for you.
This payroll service is capable of filing federal, state and local taxes. The process of W2 is also done in an automated manner, in a convenient way. In addition to this PrimePay offers the businesses with the features of time and attendance solutions, legal compliance services, organization and employee insurance and credit card processing.
The time tracking solutions allows the organization to track employees’ working hours and base their compensation on this.
Additional to all that PrimePay is also a document management solution that allows for the document processing in partially automated manner. It can be integrated with the major solutions like Microsoft, Zapier, Drive, iCloud etc. This is one of the most unique features of the payroll system.
Pros
Cons
What do businesses like about PrimePay?
Even though prime pay doesn’t have a good user base as compared to above ones but those of few who use it, finds its user interface one of the best things about the payroll service. The users can easily navigate through anything that promotes convenience and efficiency.
Higher the efficiency in paying the employees, the better will be the working mechanism of them. If there are issues in the payment mechanism, it ought to disappoint the employees.
Another thing that the users like about PrimePay is its state-of-the-art tax calculation. This point can’t be emphasized more that the users feel a lot less burdened when they find that the tax is being paid with compliance of authorities and there cannot be any fines in the future. Its integrative ability has already been mentioned, which of course the business likes to use whenever it comes to documentation.
Pricing of PrimePay-
- The average cost starts at $40 per pay period, plus $2.40 per check.
- Though it offers plans as per each and every business, for further information please contact the vendor. It recognizes that each and every business requires the plans as per their needs and budget.
Square Payroll is one of the most simplistic payroll services in the market. Its main function is to quickly and affordably pay your contractors and send them their tax forms at the end of the year.
It is very basic and doesn’t perform complex functions of data analytics and reporting. This is the most suitable payroll service for those businesses that hire freelancers or get their work done through contractors.
With its basic system, the employees that are hired on an hourly basis, these employees can clock in and out in the online register and their data will automatically get imported in the payment section of the software.
Square Payroll has the capacity to handle all types of tax liabilities in terms of employee taxation. If you have a small business organization and you are looking to complete the basic tasks of payroll in an automated manner then this is the best option.
This is the most suitable option for the companies that hire contractors because, the contractors pay their own taxes businesses don’t need to invest their time in complex tax calculation and tax filing process. Square also has the feature to send out 1099 forms to your contractors at the end of the year and has the feature of filing 1099-MISC tax forms with the IRS too.
Pros
Cons
What small business owners like about Square Payroll?
Businesses found that square is the most transparent about their pricing and services. Users said that square publishes all of the information that the businesses require to establish their trust on the company.
Small businesses like the simplistic feature of this payroll service because their whole working mechanism is simple and basic. Square’s whole functioning is suitable as per the needs of the small businesses.
Users found Square to be easy and user friendly. Square Payroll is highly intuitive and is completely beneficial for retail businesses. The contractors also find this software very convenient for themselves because of its easy functioning.
Contractor’s payment gets processed in an automated manner so that they can receive their payments without manual interruption.
Pricing of Square Payroll-
- Square Payroll charges $5 per payee per month.
- This comes with unlimited payroll runs.
- There are no monthly fixed charges.
- For further information- contact the vendor. They provide customized plans for the business.
QuickBooks is mainly popular for its accounting management solutions but its payroll services are also state-of-the-art service in the industry. They have three types of payroll services that have multiple levels of integration ability and compatibility.
The intuit payroll service can very easily be integrated with QuickBooks payment. It is considered to be among the market leaders in the industry.
Intuit QuickBooks Payroll is the best option for small businesses because it can integrate with its own state of the art accounting software. This accounting software is also one of the most popular accounting mechanisms.
The QuickBooks Payroll service collects the data and makes the reports of all payroll taxes with the help of a variety of tools. QuickBooks Payroll provides some of the most flexible payroll features in the market.
Its features are suitable in terms of its HR solutions and payroll services. When talking about small businesses it is obvious that they don’t have a huge HR department for handling all the HR functioning, thus this is the best option in terms of that as well.
QuickBooks offer three types of small business payroll plan whose features ranges from the payroll basics to white glove automated payroll and tax management. All these plans with the best of features come in a combination of packages with their popular accounting software; QuickBooks Online, which is considered as one of the best accounting software.
Pros
Cons
What business owners like about QuickBooks Payroll
One of the biggest reasons why businesses choose this payroll is because of its ease of use. We may think that a payroll service combined with a complex accounting feature will be very complex, but this isn’t the case. The accounting, tax filing and payroll functions, all can be done with utmost of ease without facing the complexities of each and every task
Its attractive pricing is another feature that sets QuickBooks apart from the rest of the services. It has got the best plans in the market that are very competitive with its counterparts. Small businesses find the pricing of this service very attractive.
Pricing of intuit QuickBooks-
- Intuit Basic, for $20/month plus $2 per employee/month, will run your payroll instantly and calculate your taxes. This plan will not fill the forms form for you and also will not file those taxes.
- Enhanced, $31.20/month has the features that will help you in adding taxes, completing forms and making payments.
- Full Service option will run payroll entirely, transfer data from other payroll services, and guarantee its accuracy will come for just $79/month.
7. ONPAY
OnPay’s strategy is that it has to provide the services in simple manner without having any complicated features which aren’t a need as a basic feature of payroll. It believes in elimination rather than addition.
Small businesses face a lot of budget and time crunch thus if you need a simple payroll service for your business, OnPay is the best choice for you. Small businesses cannot afford to lose time and they also cannot afford a big technical HR team to manage all this. In order to reduce HR costs and save time OnPay is the best option you got.
OnPay is a highly compatible and integrative payroll service that doesn’t need a separate platform for accessing it.
Its application can be used using any device that is capable of completing the formalities of W-2 as well as 1099. If your businesses face heavy accounting complexities, this software can be integrated with the best accounting software that is available in the market.
OnPay also offers the best HR solutions like generating employee appointment letters, communication, notices as well as the HR templates for the businesses. OnPay is a cloud based self-service application that can be used by the employees without any manual approval or intervention.
You can also integrate this application with the major timesheet application so as to develop schedules for the employees and their targets.
Pros
Cons
Why do businesses like OnPay?
The main reason behind why businesses like OnPay is its simplicity, even though we have explained several cons of this feature but still. Simplicity cannot ever take a back seat when to come deciding the driving factors of the software. Ease of access and good user interface go hand in hand, thus businesses like the simplistic features of OnPay despite facing lack of customization.
Pricing of OnPay-
- OnPay only offers one plan. This is done for its strategy of providing simple yet effective prices for the small businesses.
- The plan comes at a monthly base fee plus a user fee i.e. $36 per month plus $4 respectively.
- OnPay could still manage bigger employees’ numbers for $1 per month for each extra employee, starting with your 11th employee.
8. SUREPAYROLL
SurePayroll is mainly designed for small businesses. If your business has less than 10 staff then this can automate the whole process of HR hiring as well as payments. The application includes the features to complete tax reporting and remittance. SurePayroll can be accessed with a mobile app. It is supported in iOS and Android.
SurePayroll has the feature of direct deposit payment mechanism; it has got the data analytics feature of new-employee reporting as well. In terms of scheduling there is a time and attendance tracking feature.
This self-service application can be integrated with the major third-party application coming from vendors like MS, Google etc.
SurePayroll has an easy to access payroll dashboard using which you can go to all payroll features. The application-based payroll service has a very simplified payroll entry process that has been developed with keeping in mind the objective of minimizing the amount of data entry needed. The self-service application also provides the employees with the option of an automated payroll option.
SurePayroll comes with two plans one is a self-service plan that comes with basic payroll features but does not include tax reporting and filing. The second plan is the full-service plan that comes with all the basic features of payroll services, full tax services as well as the whole range of HR solutions.
The full-service plan has the ability to create employee databases and other functions. Even though it doesn’t have a good data analytics feature.
Pros
Cons
Why do businesses like SurePayroll?
This point cannot be emphasized more that the simplicity of this application is the best thing about the company. The businesses find this software very easy to use which helps them get their tasks done in a convenient manner. It saves a lot of time, manual labor as well as other costs.
Apart from businesses, domestic setups also like to use this system because of its intricate and unique feature of domestic help management. The SurePayroll can manage pay and taxes of the employees. These employees can use the self-service option to look at their payments as well as year-end tax reports.
Pricing of SurePayroll-
- The Self-Service plan runs $19.99/month plus a $4 per employee fee. This plan comes with basic payroll features and doesn’t offer tax solutions
- The Full-Service plan is $29.99/month, plus a $5 per employee fee. It is a complete package of payroll service, tax solutions and the HR solutions.
- The pricing of this payroll service is one of the most competitive pricing schemes in the market.
9. NAMELY
Namely is not just a payroll service but a great HR solution. It comes with the basic features of payroll services but with the best features of HR solutions. Namely is the biggest HR service in the market.
It is so capable in terms of providing the HR solutions that the payroll service just looks like a very small part of it. It is most suited for saving time and saving the manual resources for clerical work. Right from employees’ employment letter to their pay service, it covers it all.
Small businesses find this most intriguing because they can work as a big business at least in terms of human resources.
It has also got an option of employee benefit management. It can manage insurance, health schemes, allowances etc. of the employees. This is convenient for the organization as well as the employees.
You can integrate this solution with major third-party services as well. You can integrate it with MS Office and Google services, major scheduling services and the organization’s mail. Its highly integrative characteristic is a major advantage for any business. You can set meetings, targets of each employee etc. using this software.
Pros
Cons
Pricing-
Contact vendor for the pricing scheme. The solution provides customized pricing schemes adhering to customized needs of each and every solution.
Factors affecting selection of payroll services-
There are multiple factors that affect the selection of any payroll services. It is upon the owner or the organization to choose what software is best for them. It all depends on the size of the business, the kind of business they are in, type of employees etc.
Some of the prominent factors that affect the selection of the payroll services are-
1. Legality- The main reason why businesses choose a payroll service is to be on the right track with their taxes. It is very crucial that the tax calculation and tax filing features of the software are in accordance with the laws of the land. Any discrepancy in the tax filing of the organization as well as the businesses will attract the IRS. This minute factor can become a reason for you to pay heavy fines.
2. Pricing- When it comes to small businesses, pricing is the second most important factor that drives the selection of the payroll service. Small businesses function on a tight budget, thus they have to keep every expense on check. Any expense should not be a burden on the budget. The payroll services vary from $20 to $50. It depends completely on you as to what is right for you.
3. Easy to use- It is an obvious fact that the small businesses won’t be able to afford the technician of each and every task. It is mandatory for them that they have the employees that are generally acquainted with the functioning of the services. Thus, while selecting the software, the businesses should take care that the software is easy to adopt and easy to use.
4. Customer service- When a small business operates on any software, they expect that the software vendor will always have the support whenever they face any issues with the software. It is very necessary that the small businesses look for customer service when they are selecting the payroll services. Good customer service will always be a driving factor for selection of any payroll service.
5. Benefit management- Many businesses give their employees salary in cash and in kind. The kind means the benefits that they offer to their employees like insurance, health plans, discounts etc. Any payroll service should have the features that will also do the benefit management, so as to cover everything that is related to money or has any monetary value.
Conclusion
When it comes to businesses it is crucial that the software adheres to the needs of each and every business. There should not be any restriction as to range of features, plans, customization etc. Software should be capable enough to establish the business identity; if it is not able to do so then it will automatically lose a lot of market share.
When the small businesses look for solutions; be it of any kind, they require that they will be able to customize the solution as per the needs of their brand identification. The brand identification means the brand logos, brand names etc.
This may seem a very small decision in terms of business solution but it is a very crucial decision. Payroll solution needs to be decided by seeing all the above-mentioned factors. Payroll solution provides automated processes for payroll and HR solutions. You need to purchase that solution that will be beneficial for your businesses as well as employees.
They need to be able to access their salaries, their salaries’ data, their datasheet as well as their tax filings. You should also look for saving time in terms of data entry and development of data sheets for creating your employee database.
What needs to be done is to get done with the mentality of seeing these solutions as heavy costs, what you need to realize is that it is an investment. It is an investment that will save you from heavy dues, heavy fines and penalties from the IRS. These solutions give the best accuracy in terms of tax filing and tax payments.
When these things are done in an automated manner, it will prove to be beneficial for your business in the long term. Invest in the safety of your business and invest in the solution that will help you gain trust of the people.