Best Payroll and Benefits Vendors - 2024
These are the best payroll and benefits software vendors, hand-picked for enterprises and small businesses, along with benefits, pitfalls, pricing, and more.
Best Payroll and Benefits Software
While payroll processing and employee benefits go hand in hand, not all payroll software platforms handle employee benefits comprehensively. Payroll software's core function is to handle wage calculations, deductions, tax filings, and other payroll-related tasks, but many platforms also have an employee benefits management feature.
We’ve reviewed hundreds of payroll software tools since we started writing about such products in 2017. We’ve seen dozens of them with a remarkable benefits management module. This beckoned putting together a separate list, one for SMBs (<1,000) that would derive value from combining payroll and benefits into a single platform.
In addition to the best payroll and benefits software, we're also going to give you some advice about what to look for in these vendors, pitfalls that we've seen HR teams fall into, the key benefits, and some pricing guidelines.
To select the best payroll and benefits software and to ensure we specifically list products offering this combination of functionality rather than general payroll software, we did demos, conducted user interviews, and tested dozens of tools that met the basic requirement. The ones that made the cut excel particularly in three key factors: ease of use, payroll automation, and benefits packages.
- Ease of use: The sweet spot is a tool where everything is easy to figure out; you’re not overloaded with buttons and text, yet you don’t sacrifice robustness and capabilities. These tools are all remarkable in the way they solve this challenge.
- Payroll automation: Something is not quite right if a payroll tool doesn’t let you automate a good portion of the job with confidence. We prioritized vendors who are pushing the envelope here.
- Benefits packages: To be a best-in-class payroll and benefits tool, the benefits module needs to go beyond the basics. Tools that just do 1-2 benefits on top of payroll don’t cut it. We’re looking for those that offer good variety, and even for international teams, on top of a world-class payroll product.
To learn more about our process for vetting software companies, you can read this blog on how we evaluate HR tech vendors.
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Deel
Deel’s software was designed for payroll compliance in over 150 countries. It also incorporates some core HR features and has a notably easy-to-use interface.
PROS
- Deel excels in customer support, offering around-the-clock in-app help and an industry-leading 2-3 day onboarding speed. Users can also access local payroll experts across jurisdictions, which aids contractors in establishing themselves as LLCs, for instance.
- Integration with popular software like Quickbooks, Bamboo HR, and Greenhouse, along with customizable integrations, streamlines processes.
- Tech-enhanced self-service approach for quick setup. Identity verification is swift, often under 24 hours.
- Automated invoice generation for both company and contractor/employee sides.
- One of the best features of Deel is its customer service. They offer 24/7 in-app support and the fastest-in-class onboarding speed of 2-3 days. Users get access to local payroll experts in each jurisdiction, and support is available for contractors facing challenges setting themselves up as an LLC.
- Integrates seamlessly with common platforms like Quickbooks, Bamboo, Greenhouse, and more. They also offer custom integrations to automate and sync processes.
- Self-service approach; tech-enabled features so customers can jump in quickly and easily. Our user researchers found it quite easy to set up: the identity verification process consistently took less than 24 hours, and in some cases, it took mere minutes.
- Automated invoices, which are a breeze to do as long as they’re in English, both on the company and the contractor or employee’s side.
CONS
- The benefits offered could be considered basic compared to more specialized vendors.
- Certain modules like onboarding automation are only offered as add-ons at an additional cost.
- Flexibility is limited in modifying contracts or service agreements; changes often require addenda.
- A $5 payout fee is applicable.
- Invoice generation appears to be available exclusively in English.
- Some of Deel’s best and most powerful services, like onboarding automation, appear to be add-ons, which might be too costly for some companies
- There is little to no flexibility when it comes to altering their contracts or service agreements, so many changes would require an addendum.
- There is a $5 fee per payout
- As far as we’ve seen, it’s not possible to generate invoices in another language.
Deel is one of the top companies for international payroll. If you have an international team of remote workers, it’s a tool that’s worth looking into. You can use it to hire people as contractors or as full-time employees through either the EOR or PEO offerings.
The tool itself is quite easy to use and ever-expanding. Since we first became familiar with the tool, Deel has grown to include basic HR features, as well as a myriad of other hiring workflows. These include background checks, equity plans, flexible workspaces, employee onboarding, visa and immigration consulting, and more.
Deel's client list includes names like Brex, Google, Duffel, Andela, HomeLight, and Makerpad.
An interesting aspect of Deel is its free sign-up option, allowing you to explore the tool without any charges until you bring on your first team member. Afterward, Deel's pricing model takes shape as follows:
- Contractors: Priced at $49 per contractor per month, Deel handles payroll and compliance for contracts in 150 countries.
- Full-time: Starting from $500, this plan enables you to employ full-time team members in a new country without the need to establish a legal entity. Deel takes on the role of Employer of Record and manages the employee on your behalf.
Best For
Businesses with multi-country payroll needs; good for those that have a mixed bag of full-time employees, contractors, and freelancers overseas.
I utilized Deel due to its international capabilities for hiring remote workers without needing a physical presence. It assisted in managing expenses, payroll, benefits, PTO, and ensuring compliance with labor laws in different countries such as India, China, and England. Replit also engaged contractors through the platform and hired in that way. This helped organize us while Replit was on a few different HR platforms such as Justworks, Culture Amp, and Rippling. I enjoyed using Deel as it was straightforward, and the key workflows made sense to me. It was easy to understand, and if I had any questions, I could chat with the representative right away.
- I appreciated Deel for its user-friendly interface and straightforward usability.
- It was easy to navigate and intuitive, which made managing tasks efficient.
- The sales representative I interacted with was highly competent and responsive, which enhanced the overall experience of using the platform.
Replit bought Deel because of its global capacities, and I have used it for six months. It helped with the global side of payroll and compliance. It assisted in managing expenses when people onboarded, traveled, and took paid time off or leaves of absence. Other considerations included hiring contractors on their platform, which made it easier to hire people from different countries. This greatly diversified the workforce.
- I found Deel somewhat costly, and accessing the backend could be challenging if you weren't familiar with its setup.
- It takes time to get familiar with different systems.
- Keeping up with international laws was occasionally problematic and required multiple communications to align everyone. I appreciate that Deel is actively expanding its platform to address these issues.
Deel stands out due to its strong innovation and proactive market presence. Compared to Rippling, they were more responsive, which led me to believe that we should have onboarded everyone onto their platform. Deel's proactive approach to innovation kept them ahead in the market, offering solutions that were more responsive and tailored to our needs compared to Rippling. Their platform's capabilities and customer service exceeded expectations, making the transition smooth and efficient. Deel proved to be a valuable partner in streamlining operations and enhancing our business processes.
When considering Deel as an HR person, think about the specific needs of your organization, such as managing remote workers across different countries and ensuring compliance with international labor laws. Evaluate Deel's platform for its user-friendliness, scalability, and ability to handle payroll and contractor management efficiently. Consider the responsiveness and support provided by their customer service team, especially in resolving issues related to backend access and legal compliance. Assess Deel's pricing structure to ensure it aligns with your budget and provides value for the services offered.
Deel has continually adapted to meet users' evolving needs by enhancing its platform's functionality and user interface, making it more intuitive and user-friendly. They have expanded their global capabilities, allowing businesses to manage remote teams across diverse jurisdictions seamlessly. Deel's responsiveness to customer feedback has led to improvements in customer support and backend accessibility, ensuring smoother operations for HR professionals managing payroll and compliance tasks internationally. These advancements highlight Deel's commitment to evolving alongside the needs of modern businesses, facilitating efficient and compliant workforce management worldwide.
Deel is well-suited for small and medium-sized companies, offering capabilities that cater to their needs effectively. One standout feature is the ability to update people's compensation promptly, which proves beneficial for companies planning growth and scalability. This feature ensures that organizations can adapt quickly to changing circumstances and reward their workforce dynamically, fostering a supportive environment for ongoing expansion.
Deel may not be ideal for very large companies that require highly complex and customized HR solutions. Its streamlined approach and user-friendly interface are more suited to smaller and medium-sized businesses. Larger enterprises with extensive and intricate HR needs might find Deel's capabilities less flexible or scalable compared to enterprise-level solutions that offer more robust customization and integration options.
ADP
Possibly the longest-standing company in the payroll market, ADP deserves a mention. Their breadth of features includes many other HR workflows which fit enterprises and SMBs alike.
PROS
- Native, all-in-one technology suite for recruitment, payroll, and compliance.
- 17 RPO service centers in 14 countries and provide services in 42 different languages.
- Dedicated team of AIRS-certified recruiting professionals.
CONS
- Technology options outside ADP’s dedicated HR tools are limited.
ADP is perhaps the best known company in the payroll space. Given their scale, they can offer just about everything your business needs when it comes to payroll and benefits.
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Sometimes ADP has special offers, like getting 3 months free when you sign up for their small business payroll processing plan. However, they don't share the prices for their payroll packages, so you'd have to request a quote to move forward.
Best For
ADP is a good bet for companies of many sizes, but they’re certainly not the most self-service product out there. Their products are worth looking into if you’d prefer to have professionals work with you on setting up payroll.
I managed payroll, processed employee benefits, tracked time and attendance, and handled talent management functions. ADP's interface allowed me to easily navigate and input relevant data. This helped streamline day-to-day tasks.
Additionally, the reporting features helped me generate valuable insights into workforce analytics and compliance. Overall, ADP served as a comprehensive tool that supports our organization in various HR management aspects.
- I appreciate ADP's user-friendly interface to simplify complex HR processes.
- ADP's robust reporting capabilities provide valuable insights for strategic decision-making.
- The scalability of ADP allows seamless adaptation to the evolving needs of our growing organization.
One of the primary reasons ADP was selected was its reputation as a reliable HR solution provider. The platform is known for its ability to streamline payroll processes, manage employee benefits effectively, and ensure compliance with changing regulations.
Additionally, ADP's scalability was a crucial factor. It accommodated the evolving needs of our workforce and provided the flexibility to handle increased employee numbers.
- I find occasional glitches in the user interface of ADP frustrating.
- The limitations in customization options can be restrictive for our specific needs.
- There's a concern about potential increased costs as our organization grows with the continued use of ADP.
ADP user-friendly interface makes HR tasks more accessible for our team, and the reporting features provide insights into workforce analytics. Also, the customer support from ADP has been consistently responsive and helpful.
Consider the tool's functionality to ensure it aligns with your HR needs, evaluate scalability for future growth, and assess integration capabilities with existing systems. You will need to scrutinize compliance, security, and the total cost of ownership. Additionally, research the vendor's reputation, inquire about the product's upgrade plans, and take advantage of trial periods to assess real-world performance before making a final decision.
ADP has evolved to meet user needs by enhancing its user interface and expanding its features to address a broader range of HR requirements. This would include payroll processing, benefits administration, and talent management. ADP's scalability has improved, accommodating the diverse needs of both small businesses and large enterprises. The platform's increased integration capabilities enable seamless connectivity with other systems, enhancing overall workflow. Over time, ADP has embraced mobile accessibility, allowing users to manage HR tasks remotely, reflecting its adaptability to changing work dynamics.
In my experience ADP is adaptable to the specific needs of growing companies. It is an excellent choice for users seeking a comprehensive HR solution, encompassing payroll processing, benefits administration, time and attendance tracking, and talent management. The platform is beneficial for those who prioritize user-friendly interfaces that require robust compliance features and reliable customer support. ADP is a valuable and supportive HR management solution.
ADP may not be an ideal fit for very small businesses with basic HR needs. Its comprehensive features may be more robust than necessary. Additionally, companies with an existing HR software system that is deeply ingrained in their processes may face challenges transitioning to ADP. Highly specialized industries with unique HR requirements might also find ADP less tailored to their specific needs.
Gusto
Gusto is a versatile solution: flexible pay schedule options, payroll deductions, automated tax filing, benefits, self-service, and more. SMB users particularly appreciate its compatibility for both W-2 employees and domestic and international contractors.
PROS
- Gusto payroll works for U.S.-based workers (W-2 employees and contractors) and for international contractors.
- The software supports online signatures and automated tax filing.
- Flexible payroll options accommodate different schedules and unlimited pay runs.
- Automatic deductions streamline benefits administration.
- Phone support, email, and customer service resources are available.
- Licensed benefits advisors are accessible to all plan users.
- Transparent pricing with no long-term contracts and no account setup fees.
- The dashboard feature keeps tabs on compliance tasks
- The hiring and onboarding sequence is nicely streamlined between HR and the new hire
- Post-offer, pre-start tasks are made easy with integrations like CorpNet (state tax set up) Checkr (background checks)
- Easy payroll for U.S.-based W-2 folks, domestic, and international contractors
- Person-to-person phone support, email, and other customer service resources
- The business model is responsive to customer needs
CONS
- No payroll support for international employees.
- There is no native accounting feature for tracking earnings and spending.
- Simple plan lacks native time tracking and online signatures, requiring third-party integrations.
- The analytics dashboard is basic.
- Federal/state compliance alerts and existing broker/health insurance integration require the Premium plan or add-ons.
- A free trial is not available.
- Gusto can support payments for international contractors, but not employees
- No native accounting feature to keep earning and spending under the same roof
- Analytics dashboard is simplistic
We have found Gusto to be a versatile payroll and benefits software that caters to the needs of small and medium-sized businesses.
One of the standout features of Gusto is its support for W-2 employees and domestic and international contractors. The software's capabilities extend beyond payroll, providing support for online signatures and automated tax filing, which streamline administrative tasks. We have a weak spot for flexibility, and Gusto doesn’t disappoint us by providing different pay schedules and unlimited pay runs.
Gusto has also known among HR folks for its support responsiveness. The platform provides phone support, email assistance, and licensed benefits advisors for all plan users to ensure that users can receive prompt service when needed. It also is praised for having a transparent pricing structure, eliminating long-term contracts and account setup fees.
However, it's important to note that Gusto does not currently support payroll for international employees. Additionally, the software lacks a native accounting or spend management features, so users must rely on third-party integrations.
The analytics dashboard, while functional, may be considered basic. And please be aware that federal/state compliance alerts and integration with existing brokers are exclusive to Gusto’s highest tier plan or available as add-ons.
A free trial is not an option here, limiting the opportunity for businesses to explore the tool before committing.
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Gusto offers flexible pricing options to cater to different business needs.
- The Simple plan is available at $40 per month plus $6 per person, while the Plus plan is currently on a limited-time sale at $60 per month plus $9 per person.
- For more customized solutions, the Premium plan offers tailored options and custom pricing.
- For businesses with contractor-only workers, Gusto provides a monthly plan at $6 per person.
Best For
Gusto offers an affordable basic plan, making it accessible for budget-strapped startups. Additionally, the top-tier Premium plan is an excellent choice for SMBs with available capital to invest in human resources, particularly if they have a small HR department.
Every two weeks, I use Gusto to run our payroll for our employees. I also use Gusto to onboard new employees. We also use Gusto to manage pay for our contractors. At the end of the year, Gusto makes it easy for us by processing our W-2 forms and 1099 forms. It's been great to have Gusto as a place where everything related to our employees' wages and benefits can be found in one spot.
The interface is extremely intuitive and easy to use. Everything for our employee pay and benefits is all in one place, so when a new employee joins, they can enroll in everything at once. Our employees have access to Gusto also, so if they need to make any updates to their information, it's easy for them to self-serve.
We've been using Gusto since 2021. We purchased Gusto because as a small start-up, we needed to have a full-service payroll provider that was intuitive to use and could also provide us with other services, such as 401K administration, worker's comp, and more. It was helpful for us to also have a service where they could alert us on any state-by-state requirements with regard to payroll and insurance, as we do have employees across many different states. I also really appreciate that Gusto helps to file all taxes related to payroll.
Some of the benefits via Gusto are administered via third parties (eg, worker's compensation, 401k), which means that for any detailed changes that we need to make, we have to work through a different point of contact. I wish that Gusto could help handle all of that for us. Also, Gusto doesn't have a customer service phone number that you can easily call, so if you need help, it is more cumbersome.
The user interface is significantly more user-friendly than other payroll providers like ADP.
You should consider if your payroll provider can help do payroll for other states or countries. You should also consider whether you want your payroll provider to help assist with other benefits. Also, consider how important high quality and speedy customer service is for you.
I've noticed that Gusto now offers assistance in registering with states, which is helpful for remote or distributed teams.
It's great for start-ups who may not have an HR team to figure out benefits administration.
Larger organizations that are growing quickly may find Gusto expensive. Also, small organizations who are hoping to opt into a large group healthcare plan won't be able to get that facilitated via Gusto.
Remote
Remote is an excellent choice for distributed teams who require a top-notch payroll and benefits service. Their customer care is outstanding: 24/7 live chat, free HR tools, local experts for employers, plus technical support for workers. They also operate as local entities in more than 60 countries.
PROS
- Benefits plans are locally curated. Health, dental, vision, life, mental health support, and disability are all covered, as is pension/401(k).
- Local entity ownership helps Remote have more control over service costs, resulting in more flexibility in its pricing and service.
- Transparent rates. No markups on benefits premiums.
- Self-service features are easy to navigate.
- 24/7 HR support from regional experts.
- Option to provide equity-based compensation to employees.
- Fast and compliant payroll in 170+ countries.
- Live chat support with local payroll experts.
- Flexible, localized benefit packages.
- Flat-rate pricing structure, no deposits or hidden fees.
- Mobile app streamlines expense reimbursement with autofill from receipt photos.
CONS
- Remote currently offers no off cycle payroll, and only wire transfers and direct deposit are available.
- Lacks phone support.
- Very few pre-built integrations (Greenhouse, BambooHR, and HiBob). Companies will likely rely on its custom API to connect their current ATS and other HR tools with Remote.
- Doesn’t have a free trial.
- Redundant for organizations solely recruiting within the U.S.
- Help center documentation isn’t easiest to understand.
Remote helps distributed teams provide a better experience for their workers via country-custom benefit plans and easy-to-access employee self-service features. Remote is one of a few providers that owns legal entities in the regions where it offers EOR services, which gives them an advantage by greater flexibility in services and lower costs for its customers. Both of these are significant features that companies who use third-party aggregator services ll cannot offer.
Remote’s benefits are offered without premium markups, and they offer everything from paid time off to holidays, health care, and life insurance. Remote gives you access to region-specific advice and support to help you finalize your benefits plans.
Remote offers a 15% discount for eligible startups and nonprofits for up to 12 months. They also offer free service for up to ten employees for companies who hire refugees.
The apps, though well-made and frequently updated, were surprisingly hard to find online.
Both the Android and iOS apps are easy to navigate and have essential features like submitting expenses, booking time off, accessing payslips, and, according to Remote, there’s more in the pipeline.
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- Contractor Management plan: $29/contractor/mo
- Employer of Record plan: $599/employee/mo (when paid annually)
- Global Payroll and Remote Enterprise plans: Custom prices – contact Remote.
- Startup and nonprofit discount: Eligible startups and nonprofits can get 15% off EOR and Contractor Management services for 12 months.
- Refugee discount: Up to 10 employees free when hiring refugees
Best For
Remote is best for teams with a globally distributed workforce. This tool makes it easy to hire, onboard, provide benefits for, pay, and retain top international talent.
It’s also a great option for startups, and nonprofits who can benefit from their 15% discount, and for those who hire refugees,
- I used Remote on a monthly basis for contract management when onboarding new contractors by inserting job-specific information, which Remote then used to draft contracts in compliance with relevant employment laws and taxes, mainly in the Philippines and the US.
- For payroll management, I set up profiles for new contractors, prompting them to submit banking details. Invoices were uploaded monthly for payment, with notifications received for review and authorization.
- The finance department loaded funds into the system, and Remote handled currency conversion and payment release to the contractors.
- Remote drafts contracts to ensure compliance with employment laws in countries such as the Philippines and Portugal.
- The system's navigation is easy and seamless, saving time.
- Notifications update HR and line managers for approval once invoices are submitted, ensuring timely contractor payments.
- The reporting tool allows for the review of previous invoices and payments made to contractors.
My previous employer, Competitive Capabilities International, already had this tool in place when I joined, and I used the system for six months while employed there. The previous payroll processing system, SAGE VIP, was not as effective as the Remote platform for contractor payments. Remote also streamlined the drafting of contracts, ensuring compliance with employment laws without the need for legal counsel, which was time-consuming. This tool addressed the pain points of inefficiency and compliance, providing a more robust and automated solution for managing contractor payments and contracts.
- The limited usage of the tool makes it difficult to comment on any significant cons.
- I was satisfied with the required functions of the Remote system.
- There were no notable issues during my use of the tool.
I haven’t worked with a similar system for contractors before using Remote, but I was quite impressed with its functionality and ease of use.
- Usability and training: The system should be easy to use and navigate. I grasped the Remote system in a day.
- Compliance: Ensuring the tool adheres to employment laws and best practices is crucial to avoid fines.
- Security: The system should have multi-factor authentication to protect user data.
- Cost-effectiveness: Remote is more cost-effective than employing an individual for these services, allowing focus on more critical tasks instead of manual admin work.
The functionality and usage remained the same for me during my six-month period of use.
Remote is ideal for organizations with a remote workforce employed globally. It provides peace of mind by ensuring payroll and contracting compliance with each country's specific legislation. It benefits HR from contracting, onboarding, and payroll perspectives, and may also benefit finance departments depending on who handles payments.
Organizations with full-time, in-office staff or companies that do not have remote staff in different locations or countries would not benefit from this tool.
Paycor
Paycor is the go-to option for U.S.-based businesses because it goes beyond the average payroll and benefits solution by offering recruiting and employee performance in one place.
PROS
- Paycor is a very user-friendly payroll solution. The interface is simple and intuitive, and easy to navigate.
- The self-service employee portal lets employees access their HR information and benefits online.
- Offers multiple subscription options, making the tool more accessible to businesses of different sizes.
- No limit to the number of payrolls you run each month.
- Frequently runs discount offers with set-up fees waived on all plans.
- A free trial is available per request.
- Offers on-demand payment options in all plans.
- Accessible via mobile devices.
- Paycor payroll solution and mobile app are both straightforward to use.
- Intuitive self-service employee portal.
- Offers multiple modules for small businesses and custom plans for teams with 50-1000 employees.
- Unlimited payrolls.
- Offers discounts frequently. Though not listed on their site, a free trial is available to those who contact the support team directly.
- On-demand pay is available for all plans.
- With the acquisition of the people development platform Verb, it has improved its employee learning experience.
CONS
- Paycor offers various support options, including phone, email, and chat. However, they aren’t very responsive to customers’ queries.
- Undisclosed pricing.
- It provides time tracking as a paid add-on.
- The reporting functionality can be challenging to use, as data is sometimes unavailable.
- Can be challenging to customize the software if you have a unique set of requirements.
- Undisclosed pricing.
- Customer support is reported to be slow at times.
- It is not a good fit for teams with 1000+ employees or those requiring advanced customization to meet their unique requirements.
Paycor is featured here because it’s flexible and feature-rich. Users can purchase Paycor’s payroll alone and upgrade for onboarding, time-off management, and other HR functions as needed.
The first thing that caught our eye was Paycor's payroll. The solution can handle all-state and global payrolls, but please note that their global payroll services are outsourced to third-party services by location.
Available payment options are in pretty good shape. They offer on-demand pay, direct deposit, Paycor wallet, and access to Autorun, and each of these features is available on the basic plan.
Running payroll on Paycor is straightforward. The UI is simplistic, and navigation is intuitive for most users.
Employees can make benefits selections via the web or mobile apps. Both offer access to self-service payroll, onboarding, and attendance. As a security measure, changes to employee data are reported immediately to admin users.
However, rather than making this information available to any website visitor, Paycor only offers benefits guides, calculations, and other resources to their customers. Their data reporting capabilities left something to be desired, especially on the lower-tier plans.
Customer service being sometimes difficult to reach is also a disappointment, especially considering how critical prompt support is when it comes to payroll.
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Fees vary depending on the number of employees and features selected.
Best For
Paycor is particularly well-suited for organizations operating within the United States and employing up to 1,000 individuals. Its strengths shine particularly for sectors such as manufacturing, healthcare, food and beverage, nonprofits, and professional sports organizations.
We use Paycor for attendance tracking, which includes a scheduling and punch clock functionality. This is important for us as most of our employees are hourly. We also use Paycor for time off management, benefit accrual tracking, and payroll.
- Our employees find their interface user-friendly
- Employment taxes are filed without any effort from us (the employer)
- It's one of the only HR software suites that has functionality for hourly employees
We bought Paycor when we needed a payroll solution that would work with employees in multiple states. Paycor allows us to process multi-state payroll, and they file the necessary taxes in each state and municipality.
We decided on Paycor for these reasons, and our staff found the UI to be the easiest to navigate. We have been using the platform for 4 years.
A great many things, unfortunately.
- Support is practically non-existent
- The payroll workflow is jumbled and doesn't make sense. Instead of a seamless flow in which you approve time card and move on to payroll in the same workflow, you do these things separately
- Their punch clock isn't very intelligent. I have to manually fix several punches a week that shouldn't have been allowed in the first place (e.g. an employee has two punch-in records in a row, with no punch-out record in between)
- There are a lot of reports, which is great. But, ironically, I can never find a report for what I need.
- It's impossible to manage what I would consider basic configurations. For example, our office manager retired last year, but she remains the manager for all employees in Paycor because the setting cannot be changed, even though her Paycor employee profile is no longer active
- Did I mention that support doesn't exist? Send in a ticket and you're unlikely to get a response.
The biggest difference we found is that Paycor has functionality (or modules) for a wide variety of employment situations. In our case, it was one of the only suites that could accommodate hourly employees, meaning it has punch clock and scheduling features.
My staff believes their UI is better, too. However, I don't believe that to be the case from an employer standpoint.
Firstly, if needed, are you prepared to wait for a response from support that may never come? Because that is a reality of Paycor.
Secondly, what functionality do you need? There are a lot of HR suites, and Paycor was our choice because it had functionality that many others did not. If you don't need time management (punch clock) or scheduling, then you should take the time to compare all of your options. Paycor may not be right for you.
Thirdly is the cost. In our second year, they changed their entire price structure. They gave us 30 days' notice. Our monthly costs went up, but we could do little as it takes many months to evaluate other options and several more months to facilitate the migration. The point being, we were stuck and had to deal with the rate change.
I would say very little during the four years we have used Paycor. They've made some UI changes but nothing impactful.
I am sure there is a scenario in which Paycor is a suitable solution for companies of all sizes. Their suite has a lot to offer and can accommodate a variety of employment situations. That said, based on my experience, I wouldn't think Paycor is best suited for companies with many employees. I have a hard enough time managing five employees in Paycor.
Companies with many employees or companies that employ people only in one state. There are certainly better options for employers who don't need multi-state payroll.
OnPay
We love OnPay because it takes less than one hour to setup and is the lowest cost option on the market.
PROS
- Free tax form handling for W-2 employees and 1099 contractors.
- Some HR services included within the plan at no additional cost.
- 30-day free trial available (starts after OnPay verification).
- Well-developed online help resources.
CONS
- Poor functioned employee mobile app.
- Requires payment four days before payday for direct deposit.
- Doesn’t support automatic payroll.
- Customer support sometimes hard to reach.
OnPay is perfect for smaller companies (500 employees or less) who want a simple and straight-forward payroll process, plus help with HR. Onpay customers love the customer service and the transparent pricing - it’s one monthly fee for everything. They offer benefits management in all 50 states including medical, dental, vision, and 401k retirement plans.
OnPay charges a base fee of $36, plus $4 per employee per month. They also offer a one month free trial.
Best For
OnPay is a great solution for smaller, budget conscious companies that also want a basic HRIS in addition to payroll.
We use Onpay for all our payroll needs. We process payroll every two weeks and appreciate that they offer unlimited payroll runs. We manage both contracted and full-time workers, and Onpay makes handling both types simple. Tracking and completing payroll is easy, which has saved us significant time in managing payroll tasks. It has freed up a lot of time on our backend for more efficient time management.
The process of adding a new employee to the payroll system is straightforward and efficient. The system alerts are manageable and provide proactive notifications of any potential issues before payroll is finalized. Additionally, tax documents and year-end statements are mailed automatically without any extra fees, making it a hassle-free service.
We decided to switch to Onpay because it had a strong reputation. During our research, many recommendations pointed toward this system. Once we began learning it, we found it very easy to use. We appreciated that it offered a comprehensive package for all our payroll needs. A bonus was that it’s a cloud-based program with lifetime access, which is crucial for HR as we often need to access past records. Onpay is affordable and overall very user-friendly.
The manual check process can be time-consuming for companies that issue a lot of manual checks. Setting up 401(k) deductions can be confusing if there are unusual requests. Payroll education and support for new employees could be improved with better FAQs or online tutorials.
Onpay is very easy to navigate, and the cloud-based functionality adds extra convenience and security. I prefer cloud-based services as they offer better protection, especially in case of risks to your HRIS systems or databases.
Consider how many paychecks are processed each month and the total number of employees. Are your current processes streamlined, and how complex are your payroll deductions? It's also important to review how many errors typically occur during payroll runs and whether the tool can minimize those.
Onpay listens to user suggestions and continuously adapts to improve over time.
Onpay is ideal for medium-sized organizations with fewer than 1,000 employees.
Onpay may not be suitable for large organizations with many different paycheck types and pay periods.
Paychex
Paychex offers three different plans that can serve the needs of various types of small businesses, all focused on payroll processing and featuring some HR tools as you go up in range.
PROS
- Pay-as-you-go plans for various business scenarios.
- Plan upgrades offer enhanced features like performance management, employee screening, and benefits services.
- 48-hour onboarding with personalized payroll guidance for Select and Pro plans.
- Experienced payroll and benefits administrator for 740,000 US companies.
- Timecard processing can be fully automated.
- Integrates well with benefits providers like Benetrac for benefits management.
- User-friendly interface for reviewing W2s and paystubs.
CONS
- Users struggled to get timely help due to frequent payroll contact changes and long wait times.
- Some reported payroll errors and tax inaccuracies which caused compliance issues.
- Separate departments in Paychex for payroll, HR, and benefits hinder integration, customization, and support for small businesses.
- Limited third-party integrations.
- Some users reported slow app login.
- Less modern looking compared to competitors.
We quickly understood why Paychex is so popular among U.S. businesses after diving into its automations.
The auto payroll tax filing, for example, is nicely done. It can handle the whole tax filing process, which is super handy for multi-state teams in minimizing errors and avoiding penalties. Additionally, the employee onboarding feature is one of the most robust we have tried, with easy-to-complete online forms and personalized messages.
We also got a good impression of Paychex’s time tracking, as this tool not only supports touchless employee clock-ins but is agile enough for both medium and large teams.
On top of that, the availability of PEO services means Paychex users can gain access to specialized support for health benefits, compliance, and onboarding without the hassle of finding a whole new tool.
Paychex might be a bit trickier to use and get support than ADP but its strong automation focus is a boon and its HR tools are high quality.
However, if top-notch design is important to you, a fair warning: Paychex’s UI isn’t very good. Perhaps due to its abundant feature set, the payroll platform’s interface gives off a rather cluttered feeling.
Cluttered interface aside, we found the customer support team to be underwhelming. It's tough to get hold of someone on the phone and, when it comes to email support, this vendor can take hours and even weeks to respond. We're also not big fans of the frequent changes in Paychex's customer success managers' contacts, either. This, according to several users we spoke to, has made it even tougher to get assistance.
740,000+ companies, including ESET, Funnelbox Inc., Smile Cafe, H.Y.P.E. Counseling Services, ASG, and Pet Partners.
- Flex Essentials plan costs $39/month + $5/employee/month.
- Flex Select and Flex Pro plans have custom pricing.
- Some features like recruiting, document management, and time tracking are charged separately.
Best For
Medium—and large-sized U.S. businesses that face the intricacies of employing and paying workers across state lines.
https://www.paychex.com/?ssrid=ssr
https://vendors.selectsoftwarereviews.com/ssrclick/1698684836431x774463618503147500
https://appwiki.nl/link/brand/SPeEP7L6xrycynwn6TEQyUM20RHgm9MC
Payroll Solution for US & Europe
PayChex is a top player in HR software for SMBs, with an offering that includes PEO, 401(k) management, benefits, and of course, easy payroll.
Paychex was a great payroll service to use since the company is a medium sized business. It helped us compliantly garnish child support and work around loans with the pay stub being very detailed for the employee. The continuous articles in regards to new HR standards were great to keep up to date with new laws. The employee portal was a great tool so employees could manage their personal plans, alleviating extra work for the payroll department. The onboarding feature was also convenient to cut down on errors that are all too common with new hire paperwork. Being able to perform background checks on potential management was also a wonderful feature.
The multiple blogs on the ever changing employment laws was a huge benefit to the company. Being able to have employees manage their deductions and plans is also a great way to alleviate pressure off the payroll department. Customer service was also very kind and helpful when questions or issues would arise. Being able to have a company calculate and file taxes was also a great way to reduce accounting labor.
We used Paychex for approximately 7 years to streamline the payroll process between multiple restaurants. After many years of self service payroll, Paychex helped us make payroll more error proof. It was used in organizing employee compliance and benefits. It was also great for tracking taxes and being able to send needed info to the accounting department. It was easy to use when garnishing child support from employees' paychecks.
Paychex sales team is not as knowledgeable or fluid as their customer service staff members were. We did encounter login issues frequently. It usually was rectified with opening and closing the program but it was still time consuming. As pleasant as customer service is, I would like to be able to make minor changes without having to call a specialist.
Paychex is a good service for smaller companies. I feel that integration and reports were not as easy to use as other programs such as Toast or 7shifts.
The cost is fair although the tool can be time consuming. It is a great tool to keep up to date with employee relations and laws. I feel Paychex is continuing to grow and be better but I would compare other companies before signing a contract.
Paychex has evolved with the changing labor laws and requirements and keeps their clients up to date. I also feel that they are streamlining scheduling and AR/AP into the application
Small offices or businesses.
Large companies or companies who do not have much time to devote to completing weekly payrolls.
QuickBooks
Quickbooks is a trusted name in financial tracking, payroll, expense reports, and even time and attendance software for small businesses.
PROS
- Unlimited pay runs, auto full-service payroll, and same-day deposits included.
- Supports unscheduled payrolls and automatic year-end tax filings.
- Reminders for tax readiness provided.
- Pricing transparency. 30-day free trial available.
CONS
- No employer app.
- More expensive than some competitors like Patriot.
- Limited third-party integrations.
- No global payroll features.
Many small businesses use Quickbooks for their accounting and financial reporting. They know that small business owners may not have enough time to be doing payroll, so their solution focuses a lot on running things automatically and freeing up your time. The same goes for taxes, as they'll calculate, file, and pay your payroll taxes for you, in some cases.
For payroll, Quickbooks has three plans:
- Core: The basics to pay your team and have payroll taxes done for you at $22.50 per month
- Premium: Manage your team's payroll with HR support and some employee services for $37.50 per month
- Elite: This plan provides access to on-demand experts in order to simplify payroll to the max. It starts at $62.50 per month.
QuickBooks often offers discounts for its plans. They currently have a 50% discount on all plans for the first three months of subscription.
Best For
SMBs with a fairly simple payroll structure but little time to handle it all themselves.
First and foremost, we utilize the invoicing functionality to create and send professional invoices to our clients. This feature allows us to track payments, send reminders, and easily manage our accounts receivable.
In addition, QuickBooks helps us with tax tracking by enabling us to categorize income and expenses appropriately, making tax preparation more efficient. This feature ensures that we have accurate records and can easily generate reports for tax purposes.
Another important aspect of our QuickBooks usage is the mileage and expense tracking. We utilize the built-in tools to record and categorize our business-related mileage and expenses, ensuring that we have a comprehensive record for reimbursement or tax deductions.
The reporting capabilities are vital to our organization as well. We leverage the various reporting options available to gain insights into our financial performance, monitor cash flow, track profitability, and make informed business decisions based on real-time data.
Finally, QuickBooks serves as our central hub for transaction tracking. We record and categorize all our financial transactions, including sales, purchases, and payments, in order to maintain accurate and up-to-date financial records.
- QuickBooks integrates seamlessly with other business tools and software
- It allows us to customize our needs and only pay for what we use
- It integrates with other vendors to help us streamline processes
I have used it for almost 3 years and tried different versions. I chose QuickBooks because it provides a user-friendly interface, comprehensive features, industry recognition, seamless integration capabilities, and scalability options—all of which contribute to efficient financial management and supports the organization's needs.
It is easy to switch between versions as business needs change (add or remove payroll option, etc). One of the primary reasons we selected QuickBooks is its widespread adoption and industry recognition. QuickBooks is widely regarded as a leading accounting software solution, trusted by millions of businesses worldwide. This reputation reassured us of its reliability and stability.
It offers scalable options that can accommodate our organization's growth and evolving needs. As we expand, QuickBooks provides the flexibility to add additional features or upgrade to more advanced versions to support our changing requirements, ensuring long-term viability for our financial management system.
- There are so many versions and it's hard to find directions for the one that we use at that time
- It is nearly impossible to talk to a human being
- During the sales process they will give you as much attention as you need but as soon as you are in, you are pretty much on your own
- Quickbooks offers many different options and they will cater to your business needs (just make sure you do your due diligence at the beginning before they close the deal)
- EVERYONE knows about Quickbooks so it's easy to use and clients have no problem paying you via QB
- However, many other similar tools will offer live support or even a dedicated account manager. Even though it may cost a little more but this might be a dealbreaker to some businesses.
- Know exactly what you need it to do for you and clearly specify it during the sales process. Make sure you do not overpay for something you will not use
- Make sure you stay within budget and pay attention to special pricing as most plans will offer discounted costs but only for the first few months.
- Check that your bank and other third-party vendors will integrate with QB. While a lot of them do, not all.
They evolve all the time by adding new versions to accommodate everyone's needs (last time I checked there were 45).
Small to Medium, independent contractors, startups.
This helps us explain it better to readers of the review, and proves you are a customer of the product with access to the tool
Paycom
Paycom offers online payroll services and HR software solutions for both big and small businesses to manage the entire employment life cycle.
PROS
- Paycom's payroll system is easy to use and customize.
- They now have a Global HCM offering with the aim of expanding access to users in over 180 countries.
- Customers have praised the responsiveness of the support team and their willingness to help with any issues that arise.
- Paycom assigns each account a dedicated rep who can provide support and answer questions.
- Paycom is constantly updating its software with new features and improvements.
- It has a reasonably functioning mobile app.
CONS
- Paycom does not integrate directly with QuickBooks, so users that use both systems must manually enter data into Paycom.
- Some customers have experienced slow access to tax reports.
- Some of the members on the customer support team are new and at times, don’t have answers to questions or solutions to issues.
- Paycom price has increased in recent years.
- No free trial.
- Integrations are limited.
We recommend Paycom for medium to large businesses since the platform provides payroll and HR solutions, which from our experience, are comprehensive and user-friendly.
Paycom impressed us with its guided self-service technology, Beti, which is accessible on browsers and mobile devices. The Android app received positive feedback for its user-friendly interface and comprehensive employee self-service features, including time clock punching, time-off requests, accessing pay stubs and benefits, reviewing paychecks, and submitting receipts for reimbursement.
As an admin, you can customize employees’ access to these features and manage HR tasks on the go. Employees have control over their HR data, including earnings and personal details. However, Paycom currently offers only direct deposit and paper checks, with no available pay card option.
While originally focused on serving the U.S. market, Paycom has expanded its reach with the introduction of their Global HCM, enabling users in over 180 countries to access its services. This enhancement demonstrates Paycom's dedication to addressing the needs of global teams, further solidifying its value-for-money proposition.
While Paycom has its strengths, we noticed there are a few areas where it falls short. Integration options remain limited, relying solely on API integrations, which can prolong implementation and require IT involvement. The connection with third-party software, like QuickBooks, is not seamless, resulting in manual data entry. Additionally, customer support quality varies, with some representatives lacking system knowledge, leading to delayed issue resolution or multiple follow-ups.
The pricing of Paycom’s plans isn’t disclosed on the website. You do have to contact their sales team to get a custom quote.
Best For
Paycom’s full-service payroll makes it a great solution for midsize and large businesses to have a full suite of payroll and HR services.
I used Paycom every day. I utilized the electronic personnel files that helped ensure that I had all onboarding documents correct during this process. I also used the recruiting function. I had many hires and Paycom offers a great function to keep track of all of your recruiting needs. Including where you are at in the interview process, applications, interview questions, and many more!
I love the aspect of streamlining Paycom and Payroll. Another pro to utilizing Paycom is the electronic version of personnel files. The recruiting tool in Paycom is another great tool to help with any organization's recruiting and hiring needs!
Our organization originally did not have a HRIS system. One of the major selling points to the organization is that Paycom offers a seamless transition to make all of our HR personnel files digital along with many other HR options to help streamline all HR processes. In addition, we added a function within Paycom to ensure our payroll was efficient and easy to work through each pay period. Paycom also offered our hourly employees an app to help make it easier to clock in and out during the work shift. This was a key function as many employees were offsite and other locations other than headquarters.
There has been a few times were the dedicated account manager took longer to get back to specific questions that I would have liked.
Paycom offers a lot more functionally. The implementation process was not too difficult company-wise. And the price is a vary fair investment.
If your organization is thinking about utilizing its first HRIS system. If your company wants a user-friendly payroll system.
It has added many functions, including pieces of training, performance reviews, and tracking attendance.
Any organization that is mid-sized or a corporation.
Smaller businesses
Rippling
Rippling is a great choice for SMBs who want payroll to be a seamless and highly accurate process they don’t have to worry about.
PROS
- All-in-one platform for payroll, employee management + PEO services offered, and even a suite of other IT products
- With 500 integrations, they likely integrate with other key tools from your tech stack.
- All-in-one platform for employee management + PEO services offered, and even a suite of other IT products
- With 500 integrations, it’s very likely that they integrate with other key tools from your tech stack.
- Operates globally with any currency
- Workflow automation
- Analytics opportunities
- Provides a holistic view of company outflows—headcount costs included
CONS
- Very SMB focused
- Decent prices for the core HR tools, yet extra features (sold as add-ons) can be too pricey for some.
- Some shortcomings are reported with benefit carriers, and users may be limited to their partner ecosystem.
- Total buy-in to Rippling is essential
- Very SMB-oriented, in case you’re a larger company.
- New features tend to be buggy in ways that tech teams are not accustomed to fixing
Rippling was started by Zenefits alumni. They focus on helping small and medium organizations extinguish HR and IT busywork with one solution. The tool is built to be used, with ease, across every department.
Their product aligns with what you’d expect from a Silicon Valley-based startup: a great UI, eye-catching design, and fast performance. Notably, they have over 500 integrations (and counting) so they are likely to be able to meet any team where they are at, technically speaking.
Proxy, Dwell, Superhuman, Expensify, Checkr
Rippling’s pricing starts at $8 per month per user and will vary depending on which modules you’d like to use (or if you want the whole platform) and for how many people.
Best For
SMBs with a strong need for automation in HR processes.
We use Rippling for single sign on, benefits admin, FSA/HSA, time and attendance tracking, PTO requests and more. We also use Rippling for payroll, onboarding/offboarding, compliance and tax, IT device management and more.
Rippling is a one stop shop for our employees. We enjoy the ease and flexibility of the tool. It is also highly customizable to our needs. Payroll processing is straightforward. It takes care of all the compliance, reporting and tax matters we have. The customer support is exceptional and I always get to speak with a real agent when I have a question.
To bring a single source of truth and information hub to the company, we implemented Rippling. We've had Rippling in place since January of 2022. We wanted a tool that supports single sign on, benefits admin, time and attendance tracking, PTO requests and more. We also use Rippling for payroll, onboarding/offboarding, compliance and tax, IT device management and more.
Paying for workflows was a surprise. In order to create custom workflows or approvals you have to upgrade your package.
Rippling truly offers everything you might need. You can pick and choose the features and services you'd like to have, which I appreciate. As a smaller business, we don't need every feature, but we use quite a few and we are very satisfied with what they offer. They also integrate with several other tools which makes it easy to keep all of your platforms connected and speaking to one another.
What are you trying to solve for your company? Make a list of ways an HRIS could simplify your life, for employees, managers and HR. Look at what tools you currently use and see if Rippling could replace those. Or if those tools could integrate with Rippling.
They add new capabilities all the time. They now have a global payroll feature so you could pay all of your contractors and employees from one place. They have headcount planning features now. They also offer compensation banding.
Rippling is good for companies of all sizes and stages. It could be used to manage a team of 15 or a team of 50,000. It is flexible and customizable. I can't think of a company Rippling wouldn't be good for.
PapayaGlobal
Papaya Global stands out in the realm of payroll software for enabling seamless, secure payments to contractors and employees in 160+ countries, backed by robust security and compliance measures.
PROS
- Papaya ensures prompt payouts within 72 hours across 160+ countries.
- Transparent pricing with a 60-day money-back guarantee.
- Dedicated customer success managers in your time zone, providing localized assistance without extra charges.
- The starter monthly fee is reduced to $12 per employee for full-service payroll.
- Offers comprehensive solutions (data and insights, benefits, immigration, payment services, employee data management) at an accessible entry price.
- Papaya Global packs the EOR services you need to do global payroll and employment compliantly in over 160 countries.
- Automated payments in over 100 currencies, 80 of them directly to the worker's bank account through its global banking partners.
- Dedicated customer support providing locations-specific knowledge regarding employment and payroll.
- End-to-end payroll guaranteed payouts in 72 hours.
- Offers four standalone solutions: data and insights, supplemental benefits & immigration support, payment services, and employee data management, making the platform more affordable and scalable.
CONS
- Lacks local entities in service countries; no tax penalty guarantee information available.
- No free trial or plan is offered.
- Additional fees include setup, onboarding, cycle per employee, year-end fees, and a required deposit.
- Limited existing integrations, but free use of pre-built APIs and custom API integrations.
- No free trial or free plan.
- Doesn’t own entities in all the countries it serves. The platform forms relationships with existing local in-country partners to handle employment in a specific region on the client’s behalf.
- BI analytics reports and global immigration services cost additional fees.
- Charges extra fees for setup, onboarding, employee cycle, and tax filing. Also requires a refundable deposit.
- Built-in integration options aren’t very robust. However, the platform does offer pre-built APIs, SFTP, and custom API integrations for free.
Papaya Global is highly favored by both users we've engaged with and our editorial team. We’ve been familiar with the tool since early 2021, and it immediately stood out for its transparent pricing, comprehensive HR tools, robust BI analytics, and local customer support.
The platform caters to employers and staff alike, providing unified access to payroll, payments, and workforce analytics. It ensures automated payments in local currency, customized benefit packages, and multilingual pay slips across 160+ countries. Additionally, AI-powered engines scrutinize invoices for precision.
In-house benefits experts are at your service for location-specific advice at no extra cost. Employees benefit from a user-friendly self-service portal for onboarding, time off requests, document checks, and payslip reviews. The recently launched mobile app (as of February 2023) offers even greater accessibility, allowing access to payment calendars, bank details, and company announcements on the go.
They also offer a unique global equity management feature, enabling equity distribution to employees, regardless of location. The platform excels in providing dynamic visual insights for payroll and HR, billing, and administrative data.
There are critical factors to consider when evaluating Papaya Global for your company’s needs. For example, depending on the service region, Papaya may or may not have its own local entity set up, which means they will rely on third-party local partners. Additionally, though pricing transparency is a strength, additional expenses like setup fees per location, onboarding fees, cycle fees per employee, year-end tax filing fees, and a refundable deposit should be considered. We advise evaluating and outlining all the ins and outs specific to your team’s needs and then meeting with Papaya Global’s team for a comprehensive quote tailored to you.
Fiverr, Toyota, Wix, Deezer, Intel, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft
- Full-Service Payroll service: Starts at $12 per employee per month, with flexible options based on operational needs.
- Payroll Platform License service: Begins at $3 per employee per location for tech upgrades.
- Data and Insights Platform License service: From $150 per employee per month, offering real-time analytics on payroll costs and headcount.
- Payments-as-a-Service service: Starting at $3 per employee per month, delivering a dedicated workforce payment platform.
- Global EOR plan: Ranges from $650 to $1000 per employee per month for comprehensive EOR management.
- Contractor Management & IC Compliance plan: Tailored services for outsourced contractors, starting at $2 per contractor per month.
- Global expertise services: Starting at $190 per month per employee, this lets you add the global health plan, immigration support, and global equity for employees.
Best For
Papaya Global is a good choice for streamlining global payroll and benefits operations in countries with established entities. It's particularly valuable for businesses with international hires within Papaya Global’s extensive country coverage.
I primarily used Papaya Global to ensure we were hiring the right people globally while complying with local labor laws. It was invaluable when onboarding new employees, making sure everyone felt welcome and informed, no matter their location. The tool’s reporting capabilities were also extremely useful, particularly when reviewing compensation to ensure fair and competitive pay.
Additionally, it helped manage day-to-day HR tasks like monitoring employee well-being and managing benefits. It was essential in keeping everything organized and transparent across the company, regardless of where employees were based. I used it frequently, as it was like a Swiss Army knife for all HR tasks, especially for managing global operations.
I liked the main dashboard because it was user-friendly, allowing me to access important information quickly. Papaya Global integrated well with the client's existing HR tools, making it easier for everyone and ensuring smooth data flow. The reporting was accurate, providing the exact details needed for decision-making. Lastly, the tool had great scalability, adapting to the client’s needs as they grew without any issues.
I used Papaya Global while working with a client as a freelancer in HR. They started using it because managing HR tasks across different countries was becoming overly complicated and time-consuming. They struggled to keep up with the various labor laws and maintain communication with their team spread around the globe. The tool was a lifesaver, providing a single platform to handle everything and keep everyone aligned.
Personally, I’ve been using it for about two years, and it has been incredibly helpful. It automates repetitive tasks that used to take up a lot of my time, all with the click of a button. It also integrates seamlessly with their other HR systems, allowing information to flow smoothly. It has saved both me and the client significant time and effort.
One major downside is that Papaya Global is quite expensive for what it offers. It doesn’t have enough advanced features to fully justify the cost. Additionally, it’s not very customizable, so it can be difficult to adapt it to specific business needs. While it automates some tasks, many actions still need to be done manually, which is disappointing considering the price. It also has a steep learning curve, so new users might struggle to get accustomed to it quickly, which can slow down adoption. Finally, customer support is not very responsive, which can disrupt workflows when issues arise.
Papaya Global stands out for its Employer of Record feature, which is especially helpful for managing legal compliance overseas. It effectively handles the regulatory challenges of working across different countries, providing peace of mind without the need for a large legal team. Although I haven’t used other tools, this one excels in handling international employment and compliance. The biggest advantage is the confidence it offers in ensuring compliance globally. Managing complex HR tasks across different countries is much easier with this tool, making it invaluable to our company.
When considering a tool like Papaya Global, it’s crucial to assess your company’s global footprint and ensure the tool can handle payroll, legal matters, and hiring across multiple countries. It’s also important to choose a tool that works in locations where you don’t have an office, as this helps you stay compliant with local laws.
Usability is another key factor; a user-friendly tool will help your HR team get up to speed quickly and keep operations running smoothly. Lastly, verify that the tool integrates well with your existing HR systems to allow for seamless data transfer.
By expanding to more countries, Papaya Global has stayed ahead of the competition. It now offers a broader range of services, helping companies manage global offices effectively. Over time, it has improved its legal compliance capabilities, which is critical when dealing with different countries' regulations. The tool has also become smarter with automation and reporting, streamlining processes and freeing up users to focus on more important decisions.
In addition, the platform has been enhanced to make navigation easier, even as it grows more powerful. This has made it a go-to choice for companies with employees spread across the globe.
Let's not forget about the look and feel of the thing. Papaya Global has put a lot of effort into making sure that using their platform is as easy as pie. It's all about making it simple to understand and navigate, even as it gets bigger and more powerful. This has turned it into a go-to choice for companies with employees scattered across the globe.
Papaya Global is ideal for large businesses that deal with complex salary management, especially when they operate in multiple countries. It’s perfect for companies with a diverse global workforce that need a robust system to comply with various labor laws and regulations.
Businesses that value seamless integration with existing HR systems and require advanced technology to handle complex tasks will find this tool especially beneficial. Even if a company doesn’t have offices in every country they hire from, this tool can manage payroll effortlessly.
Papaya Global might not be the best pick for companies with basic payroll needs because it could come with more bells and whistles than they actually need. If you're a small business with a tight wallet, the price might seem a bit steep, especially if you're not looking to manage payroll across different countries.
Plus, if your team isn't full of tech personnel or HR minded individuals, you might find it a bit tricky to use and might not get the most out of all its fancy features. For places like that, something simpler and easier on the budget might be the way to go.
Zenefits
Zenefits is known for effortless payroll and a self-service experience that's intuitive and simple. They're also known for a full HRIS, benefits management, onboarding, and more.
PROS
- Zenefits shines as a leading name in HR tech and payroll software tailored for small American businesses.
- Among its sector peers, Zenefits boasts an intuitive platform with an exceptional visual design, making it easy to navigate.
- The scalability of Zenefits is a plus. Its flexible pricing structure enables you to adjust and customize as your needs evolve, seamlessly adding or removing modules to suit your requirements.
- It’s one of the top names in HR tech and payroll software for American small businesses.
- Their platform is one of the best-looking and easiest to figure out among the sector.
- Zenefits can grow with you. Its pricing plans allow you to pay and tweak as you go, add certain modules when you need them, or get rid of them if you don’t.
CONS
- While catering to small businesses, Zenefits lacks the option to craft a personalized bundle of services or modules. For instance, it doesn't offer a standalone ACA module, necessitating the purchase of a complete HRIS plan to access it.
- Targeted at small to mid-sized enterprises, Zenefits might not be the optimal choice for large-scale organizations.
- Primarily focused on the US market, Zenefits may not be the best fit for modules like payroll and benefits if your team operates primarily in another country and requires localized expertise.
- As oriented to small businesses as the tool is, it doesn’t give you the chance to create a custom bundle of the services and/or modules you’d like to have. For instance, Zenefits does not offer a standalone ACA module. Therefore, you will need to purchase an entire HRIS plan if you want to access that offering.
- In addition, Zenefits focuses on small to mid sized companies. If you're an enterprise organization, you may want to consider another option.
- Zenefits is also rather focused on the US market at this point. So, if your team is mostly in another country and you need more of a local know-how, it might not be the best bet for certain modules like payroll and benefits.
Zenefits is best known for their product experience with an effortless payroll and a self-service benefits experience. They work with companies that are as small as 1-employee to companies with up to 1,000 employees.
Quora, Goals for Autism, Universal Group, Reddit, Asana
Zenefits' Payroll tool starts at $6 per month per employee.
Best For
SMBs and companies with less than 1,000 team members.
I use Zenefits for payroll and tax reporting for employees and contractors. I process payroll biweekly but log into Zenefits weekly for updates. We also enter our health insurance and retirement info into Zenefits, although we have external brokers. Another way we use this HRIS is to view and download payroll reports for our Accountant to use. I access and download these reports monthly.
Zenefits is user friendly. The reporting documents are displayed in a way that is easy to read and follow. The policy templates are helpful. The cost for a small business is reasonable.
We purchased Zenefits because we needed to hire a team of contractors and after trying out a few options we preferred Zenefits. Zenefits handles payroll and employment tax reporting for us. Zenefits also has a suite of HR policies and forms we can use or customize. We have used this HRIS for 2 years now. I work for a client as their HR Manager but use a different HRIS than Zenefits for my own company because Zenefits's customer service is less than desirable.
Zenefits has very poor customer support. We often have to speak with 2 or 3 different reps to get an issue resolved, and it takes days to weeks. Zenefits also does not offer 24/7 support. Reps are not always helpful and often seem to be unfamiliar with basic HR fundamentals. Improving their customer service would resolve all 3 of these issues.
Zenefits is very easy to use and the dashboard is displayed in a very appealing way, making it easy to find what I am looking for. For example, all things related to payroll can be found under the payroll button. All reports can be found under reports tab, etc.
People should consider their budget as Zenefits is a pay per employee service. People should also consider if they are likely to need regular customer support. I advise anyone considering Zenefits to schedule and view the demo to determine if the system may be a good fit.
Zenefits was purchased by TriNet and the customer service has been horrible since then. I can't think of any improvements.
Small businesses who won't need a great deal of customer service support, or who won't need a lot of immediate assistance.
Businesses that require a ton of customer support.
Namely
Namely provides a quick and easy payroll solution with modern design and UX. Their all-in-one HR platform can be used by any company really, though they pay close attention to mid-market companies.
PROS
- Namely's user interface is highly praised by users. It is clean and quite intuitive despite the platform's comprehensive feature coverage.
- The employee onboarding module includes a user-friendly wizard that effectively guides new hires through necessary steps and tasks.
- Along with Namely’s built-in features for data management, recruiting, onboarding, time off tracking, payroll, and benefits administration, Namely offers managed payroll and benefits administration services for those needing extra assistance.
- The majority of users are able to navigate Namely without any issues. They find the UI to be intuitive and clean, despite the fact that the platform has lots of features.
- Namely’s employee onboarding module gets a alot of praise from users. It features an easy-to-follow wizard, which helps new hires get on quickly and be clear on what they need to do.
- Besides the platform’s built in features for data management, recruiting, onboarding, time off tracking, payroll and benefits administration, there are also managed payroll and benefits administration services you can opt for to reduce the burden on your internal teams.
CONS
- Namely primarily caters to U.S.-based companies, which makes it unsuitable for organizations needing to manage pay and benefits for employees in other countries.
- The implementation process of Namely can be time-consuming, typically taking a minimum of 6-8 weeks.
- Despite how big of a player Namely is in the HR space, it lacks employee development features like skill training, career pathing, and succession planning.
- Before purchasing Namely, it is essential to ensure compatibility with your current benefits provider, as there have been reported instances of Namely's team encouraging users to switch to more expensive providers.
- Namely primarily operates in the U.S., which means if you’re looking for a global payroll and benefits provider, this platform isn’t for you.
- Though many praise the platform’s ease of use, it does take long to implement it. Namely’s own team says that an average implementation takes between 6-8 weeks.
- For a platform of Namely’s size, there currently aren’t any features that focus on employee development such as skill training, career pathing, succession planning etc.
- You’ll need to check beforehand if Namely can work with your existing benefits provider, if you have one. There have been a few reports (but not few enough to ignore) about Namely’s team convincing customers to change their benefits provider to providers that charged them more.
Namely’s all-in-one platform comes with a payroll module for processing salaries on time and without any errors. It can help you with a lot, including calculating wages, deductions, and taxes, and generating pay stubs for your employees. The platform is also always up-to-date with the ever-changing payroll regulations and tax laws to ensure you don’t get penalized and that everything pertaining to your employees’ payments is above board.
We like any product with employee self-service features and Namely checks that box of ours. Your staff can log in to a dedicated dashboard to access and manage their payroll information, update personal details, and view pay stubs whenever needed. Namely also packs a robust reporting module to get a holistic view of your company’s payroll and valuable statistics to make informed decisions.
Greenhouse, Bevi, and Workwave are among Namely’s 1000+ customers.
Namely has custom pricing that varies according to the extent of your need. You can contact the Sales team for an estimate.
Best For
Namely predominantly serves mid-sized companies across different verticals.
I used Namely daily. We utilized the HR module for onboarding and offboarding employees, and the e-signature functionality to speed up the onboarding process. The payroll and time modules were heavily used to manage staff hours and pay. We also relied on the performance management module to handle the probationary period and conduct performance reviews.
The HR system was easy to use and set up, making the transition from our previous, more disorganized HR processes smooth. The employee self-service feature was excellent, reducing the amount of data entry and admin work for our HR team. The continuous feedback appraisal system allowed us to appraise staff more regularly with minimal increases in administrative tasks.
There wasn’t a significant problem driving the decision. The organization had been managing HR through payroll software, Excel files, and Word documents. As the company grew, it wanted to consolidate and centralize HR into a single system that could be accessed online. Namely provided an all-in-one HR solution that handled payroll, HR records, and talent management. We used Namely for about a year or two.
Customer support wasn’t as responsive as it could have been. The reporting features are somewhat limited and don’t fully meet our needs, requiring us to do a fair amount of manual reporting. The portal is not as intuitive as other HR tools I’ve used.
The user interface and workflow are not as intuitive as some competitors. However, I appreciate the integration with payroll and timesheets, which not many systems do well. I also like that it offers managed services add-ons, such as payroll and benefits, which become more relevant as the business grows and becomes more complex.
Ensure the tool has a comprehensive records system and both employee and manager self-service features. Efficient onboarding and offboarding functionality are essential, as these processes can be time-consuming. A continuous appraisal feedback system is also important, as this approach to performance management is becoming the norm.
There has been better integration between its modules.
Namely is suitable for all kinds of organizations but particularly good for smaller organizations due to its affordable entry-level pricing.
Namely may not be the best fit for massive corporations.
Paylocity
Paylocity is among the top payroll vendors in the US market thanks to its ease of use and excellent customer support. It’s also quite comprehensive, offering a range of tools from tax to global payroll management, and benefits administration.
PROS
- Paylocity’s customer support is highly rated for always being available to answer questions.
- Global payroll support for 100+ countries.
- Provides free and unlimited training modules on the website.
- Paylocity’s mobile app has a good UI and functionality
- The tool is easy to use for both employees and employers.
- Has 350+ pre-built integrations.
- Paylocity’s customer support is highly rated for always being available to answer questions.
- Global payroll support for 100+ countries.
- Provides free and unlimited training modules on the website.
- Paylocity’s mobile app has a good UI and functionality
- The tool is easy to use for both employees and employers.
- Has 350+ pre-built integrations.
CONS
- Undisclosed pricing.
- It doesn’t have a free trial or free plan.
- Support is available in English only.
- It isn’t the best solution for remote teams looking for a tool to manage payroll and benefits for their contractors.
- Undisclosed pricing.
- It doesn’t have a free trial or free plan.
- Support is available in English only.
- It isn’t the best solution for remote teams looking for a tool to manage payroll and benefits for their contractors.
Paylocity is one of the largest payroll providers in the United States but that’s not the main reason we were drawn to it. Our top deciding factors, instead, are its customer service, user-friendliness, and affordability.
We have heard a lot about Paylocity’s customer support, so we wanted to see it for ourselves. We got in touch with the Paylocity team to book a demo, and we really enjoyed the punctuality as they answered our questions and guided us through the software’s setup.
Paylocity is very user-friendly. We like that the ease of use applies not only to the web version but to the mobile app. It is particularly helpful for employees to access the self-service from anywhere to do a quick check on their payroll and benefits, make changes, and submit claims.
While not as advanced as some top enterprise-oriented payroll and benefits vendors, Paylocity’s reporting capabilities can be of benefit to mid-sized teams. There are a few reporting options to choose from or customize to track your benefits costs and see how employees are using their benefits. This information can be helpful enough in making decisions about benefit plans.
Though Paylocity doesn’t disclose its pricing on the website, businesses have praised the platform for its affordability compared to similar options in the marketplace.
Momentus, Watters, Weigel’s, ILC, Upward, HMC, Polywood.
The exact pricing of Paylocity's offering is not publicly-disclosed.
Best For
Paylocity is a great option for companies, ideally midsized, looking for an established payroll and benefits software tool that is budget-friendly, user-friendly, and has great customer service.
We use Paylocity for various purposes, such as payroll, onboarding, and managing employees' work hours and wages. Our payroll processing is done weekly. Each week, we review the hours reported by our employees in Paylocity to ensure that the final payment is accurate and make any necessary adjustments for deductions, such as child support, health insurance, paid time off, or pending payments.
The onboarding module is used once or twice per week, depending on the number of new employees. With the module, you can add an employee's basic information, employee earnings, PTO, deductions, and simultaneously send a candidate a link to access the Paylocity platform, where they can review and sign necessary documents such as policies, NDA, and handbooks. This helps us streamline the onboarding process, ensuring that new employees have all the required documents and knowledge for their first day of work.
- Their customer service is quick and easy to reach.
- You can integrate modules and customize them according to the company's needs.
- The payroll module integrates with the workforce time management module, allowing employees to clock in and out and generating reports for payments.
- They keep you informed about changes in federal and state employee laws, especially those related to taxes and changes that may affect your company's payroll.
We are a growing company and can no longer manage payroll manually. In 2020, we started using Paylocity. It has greatly improved the time it takes to process payroll and the accuracy of the payments, particularly for our hourly employees. Additionally, our onboarding was done manually. We spent a lot of time sending emails, attaching documents, and transcribing applicants' information into our system. This task could take a full day and did not allow the HR team to focus on other tasks.
To address this problem, the company decided to purchase the onboarding module. It helped us automate the process and save time. Now, on one platform, employees can authenticate, sign, and submit documents, as well as input their information. This has reduced the need for printing and handling physical documents. I have used Paylocity for the past four years, and I believe it is an excellent tool worth the investment.
- The platform is challenging to navigate.
- You still need to add information manually to the payroll, such as holiday pay.
- The employee clock-in and clock-out system sometimes freezes or stops working without reason, requiring a reinstallation of the app.
I have worked with several tools, most of which are similar, but the workforce time management module stands out. It effectively tracks employee hours worked daily and is simple to use. It also integrates seamlessly with the payroll module, offering an advantage that no other HR system provides.
If you are looking for an efficient HR system that you can customize according to the organization's needs, Paylocity is a great tool. Also, if you are looking for payroll software but know that you will need performance appraisal or another HR process in the future, Paylocity allows you to acquire and integrate more modules.
Paylocity continuously changes to offer a better experience to its customers, especially HR departments. When I started working with them, some processes were still manual, but over time, they improved and automated these processes, saving us time that we can now invest in other tasks.
Paylocity is a valuable tool for companies with hourly workers as it allows for easy tracking and control of their time.
Paylocity is an excellent tool for any organization. It is important to define the company's priorities to understand which modules are correct for the organization.
Why use Payroll and Benefits Software?
There are a few apparent use cases for payroll and benefits software. However, we also wanted to explain some of the benefits that may not be as self-evident. Here is the “why” behind buying new payroll and benefits software:
- Pain-free payroll: These solutions will run payroll for you in a streamlined way that reduces your time and effort. To teams using outdated systems or completing operations manually, this could mean hours or even days saved per pay period.
- Simplify health benefits: These solutions guide you through the benefits selection process, sometimes with a trusted consultant who recommends packages that fit your company well. Your employees can then choose which option is right for them during open enrollment, qualifying events, or onboarding.
- Access to experts: Managing benefits and payroll internally can be complicated, especially if this is not your day-to-day focus. You must be aware of and keep up-to-date with a wide range of regulations and requirements, as they can change frequently! To assist with this, the best benefits and payroll solutions offer day-to-day customer support and will work closely with you when making strategic decisions and regulatory updates.
- Access to better health plans: The best payroll and benefits solutions provide you with greater access to competitive benefits plans to create a package that makes the most sense for your employees. You will also be able to compare plans from different providers more easily and therefore ensure you have selected the best package for your business’s needs.
- Cost-effective: Using an external vendor for payroll and benefits will help decrease the number of employees you need for this function and help save on costs in technology, support, and training.
- Save time: On average, 19% of small businesses spend 80+ hours a year on federal taxes alone. Small and medium businesses that arm themselves with the right solution to handle payroll and efficiently manage benefits save a lot of time, resulting in their ability to allocate time to their core business and product.
- Ease of use: Software solutions today are serious about their product experience. They have built their platforms with their various end users in mind and provide them with a simple-to-use, mobile-friendly, and feature-rich experience. Your employees can now look up co-pays on mobile when at the doctor, or request time off in a given pay period.
- Increase employee retention: Benefits and payroll are paramount to retaining your employees. With greater access to a wide range of health, dental, and vision insurance, plus retirement plans such as 401k and 529 savings plans, you will be able to ensure that your employees feel taken care of. Naturally, this has a considerable sway towards employee retention.
- Aids in your talent strategy: The right payroll and benefits software helps you attract talent by offering the best and most comprehensive benefits packages. An AICPA survey found that 80% of those polled would choose a role with a comprehensive benefits package versus a position with a much higher salary but no benefits.
- Enhanced security benefits: Most top payroll and benefits vendors will have high levels of security that contemplate HIPPA and have varying levels of SOC compliance.
- Compliance guarantee: The IRS has stated that an estimated 40% of small and medium businesses are fined for late or incorrect filings and payments. Payroll and benefits software have access to the most up-to-date information which means that you never have to worry about missing tax notices and other regulatory notices. This is a huge benefit as you will help protect your company and reduce your risk of compliance-related expenditures.
Some Pitfalls to Avoid
We’ve identified the most common mistakes people make when purchasing and implementing payroll and benefits software. Here’s how to avoid them:
- Choose a payroll service that has a track record for serving companies of your size.
- Remember, change management requires a team effort. You may need to involve a few different teams during the buying and implementation process including your operations, HR/recruiting, information technology, and communications teams.
- Core features that you probably already have and that employees/HR are used to, like direct deposit, automated pay stub distribution, and payroll taxes need to be in any future offering you use.
- Don’t forget about integrations! It’s important that any new system can sync with the rest of the tools in your tech stack at least in some sense.
- Make sure the vendor that you choose can operate in all of your office locations (don’t forget your remote employees). Several of the vendors we’ve outlined here are among the best global payroll providers, but many do have a heavier focus on the United States.
- Documentation is paramount— get your ducks in a row in advance to help streamline implementation and prevent any delays that could have a negative impact on employees. Nobody’s going to be that excited about the new payroll and benefits system if the next checks or deposits are going to be late.
- Choose a vendor that is compliant with the most recent regulations and that takes data privacy very seriously. HIPAA and tax payment violations can be extremely costly.
- If you already have an insurance broker with whom you like to work, make sure that your new vendor allows for this— not all of them do, and those that do may charge an additional fee.
- If you are moving to benefits with a provider, remember to report any employees who are on COBRA to the new provider and make sure to ask if they assist in COBRA administration.
- Lastly, choose a vendor that you can grow with. Make sure that the vendor is confident in their ability to work with you based on your targeted employee growth rates as a company.
ROI of the right Payroll and Benefits Solution
While there are costs associated with these tools, the rationale for partnering with the right vendor is pretty clear. The average salary for a benefits administrator is ~$58,000 per year and a payroll administrator’s average salary is about $55,000 per year. The ability to remove one to two FTEs from your headcount at these rates will pay for your solution several times over.
Another way of looking at the return on investment for a payroll and benefits solution is man hours. The best vendors have bet heavily on automation during the last couple of years. Hence, if implemented right, these tools can save thousands of dollars if the same workflows are getting done in significantly fewer hours. Your people can spend that time serving the company elsewhere, perhaps in more impactful and innovative endeavors.
Lastly, of course, there’s the whole subject of the benefits package. Many of these companies can take care of that for you entirely, which eliminates much of the cost of designing one yourself from scratch. This doesn’t mean you can’t tweak it to suit your employees’ expectations and attract top candidates, but you’ll have the help of experts in that field along with a software tool to keep track of everything.
Payroll Services Pricing
Pricing for payroll and benefits providers is typically done on a per-employee per-month basis. Therefore, larger organizations should expect to pay more. Pricing also depends on the feature set you are looking for. Only running payroll and benefits is far more affordable than adding on employee onboarding, and other feature sets typically found in a more robust HRIS including an employee directory, performance management, etc. So, there is typically a base price that grows with more features.
See below for an example pricing chart that includes a base monthly price for a few company sizes. Most providers have multiple base plans with add-on options. Contracts are typically monthly or annual (annual contracts will include a discount on pricing). Please note that this is an example only and you should consult with each vendor as many factors go into pricing for your specific use (for example, these figures do not include benefits premiums.)
*Note: Some vendors charge a base monthly rate plus a monthly rate per employee. Others charge only a monthly rate per employee. As you grow, the per-employee rate may decrease depending on the vendor.
Two last points; you can often negotiate away the initial setup fee, and some vendors will be beyond these ranges (PEOs, full HCM suite)— but you get what you pay for so don’t be turned off initially by much larger price ranges for a given vendor. Also, make sure you ask about any other fees that will come up during the year. Some vendors charge for filing W-9s and 1099s - and these costs can add up!
Key Features of Payroll Software
The majority of the top-rated benefits and payroll vendors provide feature-rich offerings that are wrapped into an intuitive user experience. Business owners and HR teams alike need to be aware of these key features. While we’ve focused on payroll and benefits, there are additional add-ons that you may also be interested in, especially if you do not currently have another solution in place. Many of these also map to the demo questions we have suggested below:
Payroll Features:
- Automated and Unlimited Payroll Runs (plus contractor & vendor payments, tips reporting)
- Off-Schedule Payroll Runs
- All Tax Filing/Payments
- Multiple Pay-Rates and Schedules
- Reporting including Year-end Payroll Reporting
- Direct deposit
Employee Benefits Features:
- Employee Self-Service (including self-service benefits enrollment and changes)
- Benefits Administration & COBRA administration (Health, Dental, Vision)
- Additional Benefits Options including 401k/retirement, life insurance & disability, FSA, HSA, commuter and additional supplemental benefits
Other Important Features:
- Time Tracking & Paid Time Off
- HR Documentation & PTO Policies
- Employee Directory & Surveys
- Workers’ Compensation & Risk Mitigation
- New Hire Onboarding
- HR Expertise (varied based on level)
- Online Resource Center (best practices, FAQs, and more)
- Mobile Friendly and/or Mobile App
Choosing the right vendor - questions to ask on demos
Once you have chosen a few vendors to demo, it is imperative to ask pertinent questions. Here is a list of questions we think you should ask on demos.
Support:
- Who will be on my support team during implementation, how will that change after I’m setup?
- What the the specific steps our company will have to go through to get this setup and how long does each take?
- What internal stakeholders do I need to bring into this?
- What are the support SLAs?
- How big is your biggest customer and how small is your smallest customer? What is the size of your average customer?
- What are the most common reasons that companies don’t succeed?
- How will our pricing change as we scale?
Tech & Security:
- Can you walk me through the typical workflows that HR would go through? Employees?
- What is the mobile experience for HR and employees?
- What’s on your product roadmap?
- Do you support multi-factor authentication?
- Do you support single-sign-on?
- Are you SOC 2 compliant?
- What is your security audit process?
- How do you keep our data safe?
Regulatory & Compliance:
- Do you have a regulatory compliance team?
- Who handles regulatory updates for taxes, HR, or benefits?
- How will I get updated on regulatory changes relevant to my business?
- Do you handle payroll in my state (within U.S.)?
- Do you handle international payroll (if you operate internationally)?
- Are you GDPR compliant?
- How are tax filings handled? Is there an extra charge for this?
- Do you handle new hire onboarding reporting and forms?
- Are you ACA compliant? What about HIPAA and ERISA?
- How will you handle benefits for my employees in different states and, if applicable, remote employees?
- How can my accountant or finance team access the relevant files?
Integrations and Process:
- Is your offering full-service payroll or a tool that I will use to run my own payroll?
- How are payroll taxes handled? How are tax forms generated?
- What standard integrations do you support? Do you integrate to my existing technologies (accounting software, HRIS, ATS)?
- How will direct deposit work with our employee bank accounts?
Payroll Services Implementation
The great part about moving forward with one of our top picks is that they make it quite simple for you to get up and running (especially for small businesses). If you are switching from one software to another, or if this is your first time, you will have slightly different implementation processes.
Timelines will depend on how readily available your relevant documents may be (such as employee information like names, departments, positions, salary information, etc.) and how many employees you have. The smaller the company, the quicker the implementation.
Sample documentation that will be required can include:
- Basic company information such as your EIN (employer identification number)
- Basic employee information such as employees’ names, SSNs (social security numbers), mailing addresses, and salaries
- Payroll and taxes information that you’ve already paid for the year (if you are switching providers mid-year)
Thus, implementation could take as little as one day for small businesses, or for larger companies, a couple of weeks.
The identified vendors all include implementation services and can assist in guiding you through this process. Once you’re a customer, they have a very strong incentive to make sure you are successful and will do whatever it takes to get you through the process expeditiously.
Payroll Software FAQs
What is payroll software?
Payroll software is a solution designed to manage, automate, record and organize payment of a company’s employees.
What is benefits software?
Benefits software is a solution designed to take over all administrative benefits tasks, including managing and organizing health insurance, retirement programs, time off and leave.
Can my company do payroll and benefits without software?
Yes, your company can process payroll and benefits without the assistance of software. However, manually taking care of payroll and benefits requires a lot of time and effort. On average, over 20% of small businesses spend 120+ hours dealing just with federal employee taxes. That’s before even considering benefits management. That time is better spent perfecting your business or product, therefore automating payroll is a worthy investment.
Do software providers offer both payroll and benefits software together?
Yes, many payroll vendors offer a benefits solution and vice versa.
Final Advice on Buying Payroll Software
For most HR teams, it’s a matter of who to partner with, not if it should be explored in the first place. Partnering with a top payroll and benefits solution can save your team a lot of time and money. Our hope is that this page will arm you with the information you need to make the right decision, and guide you towards the top vendors in the space.
From here, we’d then advise that you jump into demos with 2-3 vendors to get started. Remember to stay organized as you tick through the feature sets that matter to you on demos. Good luck and let us know how it goes!
About Us
- Our goal at SSR is to help HR and recruiting teams to find and buy the right software for their needs.
- Our site is free to use as some vendors will pay us for web traffic.
- SSR lists all companies we feel are top vendors - not just those who pay us - in our comprehensive directories full of the advice needed to make the right purchase decision for your HR team.