Personio takes the stress out of key payroll dates and ensures that employees are paid correctly and on time. Save time, avoid mistakes and receive accuracy through a well-maintained database. Remain on top of the wealth of information, including any updates because Personio automatically takes changes into account in its consolidated database. Build trust by delivering correct payroll slips month after month. Integrate employees in the processes, make payslips available for secure download. Learn more about Personio
Our Basic Payroll Software is designed for small business owners, not payroll experts. We’ve designed the screens to be straightforward and user-friendly, guiding you through each step of the payroll.
One-stop solution for HR in small and medium-sized companies: full customizability, European data privacy, excellent customer service Learn more about PersonioPersonio takes the stress out of key payroll dates and ensures that employees are paid correctly and on time. Save time, avoid mistakes and receive accuracy through a well-maintained database. Remain on top of the wealth of information, including any updates because Personio automatically takes changes into account in its consolidated database. Build trust by delivering correct payroll slips month after month. Integrate employees in the processes, make payslips available for secure download.
Keep Track of Your Payroll
Everyone loves payday—except, that is, the payroll administrator. Paying employees (and contractors, and freelancers) is the most complex element of any accounting system. It's also the scariest. Not only do you have to produce checks and direct deposits that are 100 percent accurate, but you also have to make certain that the underlying calculations—taxes and benefits and other withholding—are also correct, to the penny. Furthermore, you have to submit taxes and filings to the IRS and other taxing agencies.
Cloud-based payroll applications can help ensure that all of these obligations are met with precision and timeliness. I reviewed seven of the most popular: Gusto, Intuit Enhanced Payroll, OnPay, Patriot Software Full Service Payroll, Sage Payroll Essentials Plus, Square Payroll, and SurePayroll. All of these have been around for many years, except for Gusto and Square Payroll. And it's Gusto that wins the Editors' Choice again this year. It's the one we recommend small businesses consider first. Sometimes a fresh start can be a real advantage.
Precision Is Paramount
If you're still doing your company's payroll manually, you're well aware of how complex, exacting, and deadline-driven this process is. Your employees count on you to dispatch their paychecks and authorize direct deposits on scheduled paydays. They expect you to know how much to withhold for all the taxes you owe and the benefits you offer.
Taxing agencies can assess stiff fines if payroll filings and taxes aren't received by the scheduled dates. Benefits providers can cut off services like health insurance if you fall behind on payments.
That's an enormous amount of detail to track, especially if you're trying to do it all on paper. Mistakes aren't tolerated well by anyone involved.
Simplifying the Complex
Cloud-based payroll solutions can help you organize and automate this onerous task. They offer step-by-step wizards to guide you through the time-intensive process of creating records for employees and supplying the information needed for withholding. They let you establish your own payroll schedules. They do all the required calculations, and most actually submit your payroll taxes and filings to the appropriate agencies.
These sites walk you through each payroll run and tell you how much each run will cost you. They provide report templates. They offer online portals for employees that display current and historical paystub data. Not surprisingly, they're equipped with generous support options. And they're not overly expensive; they mostly run between roughly $25-40 per month for the base fee, and charge few extra dollars for each employee.
The benefits are obvious. You save time and minimize frustration. You don't have to keep up with payroll tax tables nor deal with the myriad compliance issues associated with employee compensation. You can modify your records quickly, and you have instant access to the smallest details. You're much less likely to make errors.
The Setup
Though each payroll site we looked at provides its own unique user experience, they all share similar structures. They begin with the setup process, which is by far the most time-consuming and detail-oriented element of paying your staff. Though the exact order varies, they all walk you through the pages of questions in an orderly, step-by-step fashion. They ask for information about your company, its address and Employee Identification Number (EIN). You'll have to select your payroll schedule (weekly, semi-monthly, etc.) and name your payroll administrator.
If your business offers benefits like health insurance and retirement plans, you'll name them and enter information about both the cost to employees and any company contributions. You must also create detailed records about each employee, like contact information, birthdate and Social Security number, salary or hourly pay rate, and number of allowances from the W-4 form. Since most of these sites submit your payroll taxes and support direct deposit of compensation, you'll be asked for bank account information to make a connection.
You'll also need to enter any payroll history that exists if you've already been compensating employees. This can be an arduous chore, one that may require assistance from the sites' onboarding specialists.
If you offer additional payroll types like Paid Time Off (PTO) and sick pay, you can define your policies for accruing these benefits; the sites will keep track of them for you. Bonuses and commissions can also be paid during a regular pay run, or you can issue them by creating an 'off-cycle' payroll. Need to include garnishments like child support on paychecks? These sites support such withholding. In fact, most offer custom pay types, so you can create your own--sometimes, when you're in the middle of a pay run.
Running Payroll
Once you've completed setup, you generally can't return to these dedicated setup tools, so get it right the first time. That said every service we've looked at has a comprehensive Settings section where you can modify and add to the payroll information you've already entered.
Setup done, you're ready to run your first payroll. This is the easy part. Though there are some differences, these sites function similarly during the actual pay run. When you launch a payroll, they display a list of employees, along with their pay rates. You first check to make sure the pay period and pay date are correct. Then, you simply enter the number of hours worked (where applicable), in the appropriate pay type boxes (regular, overtime, vacation, and so on). Most sites let you add dollars for other earnings types and reimbursements on this same page.
Once you complete everything necessary on that screen, you advance to the next to see a preview of your payroll. Everyone handles this slightly differently, but you'll be able to see each employee's gross and net pay, withholding for taxes, benefits, and their net pay, along with any company contributions. You should also see on this page—or the next—the total amount of money the site will take from your bank account for direct deposits and taxes, along with the exact date it will be debited.
After you approve your payroll, you'll have access to additional tables or reports that display absolutely every detail of the pay run.
If you have few employees or a very simply payroll, it shouldn't take more than a few minutes to do the actual processing. Depending on which site you're using, you may be able to let payroll process automatically (assuming, of course, that there are no changes from the previous run).
What's Not Included
Though many of these sites offer HR support in addition to payroll, we only looked at their payroll capabilities for these reviews. Zenefits Z2, however, which recently won an Editors' Choice for Benefits Administration, offers payroll processing, but it's considered an add-on. In fact, Zenefits supports integration with other payroll websites in addition to providing its own.
Unlike the other solutions reviewed here, you can't isolate Zenefits' payroll capabilities, because setup and administration of elements like benefits and time off are handled on other parts of the site. Everything is intertwined, which can be a good thing: You only enter employee data, for example, once, and it's used throughout the website.
The core payroll features are handled in an isolated section of the website. Here, you can view your dashboard and timeline, work with employee records, run a payroll, and link to the Time Off and Time and Attendance add-ons. You can also set up taxes, pay schedules, and pay types. But you have to visit other areas of Zenefits to set up benefits and deductions.
Zenefits offers an exceptional user experience and an impressive set of tools for managing benefits and payroll. But if you're looking at it as a payroll-only solution, there are better options, like Editors' Choice winner Gusto.
In larger companies, payroll and human resources/benefits administration are usually handled by separate departments. In your small business, though, both of those responsibilities may land on your desk or that of another employee or two. Fortunately, there are several online HR services that integrate with payroll applications to manage tasks like:
- Applicant tracking
- Benefits administration
- Scheduling and shift planning
- Performance management
- Online learning
To learn more about these and to see which ones were designated as Editors' Choices, click the links above to read roundups of services dedicated to those services, or go straight to our HR software roundup to read about services that round up all of the above.
Many Similarities
The Payroll services reviewed here all come from reputable companies with years or even decades of experience behind their tools. I wouldn't hesitate to trust any of them with this complex task. They all share similar parts, though their user experiences are very different, and each has a slightly different set of extras.
They're all designed for general small business use, though SurePayroll goes above and beyond by offering versions designed specifically for use by, for example, restaurants, nonprofit organizations, and churches. Sage Payroll Essentials Plus supports households and nonprofits in addition to more typical companies.
But Gusto takes the top spot again this year. It hits the sweet spot for payroll, offering enough functionality to please a wide variety of small businesses, while not overwhelming with additional features and fees. Its user interface and navigation system are among the best, and its new three-tiered pricing structure gives potential users new options. In a tough group of competitors, it's the best choice.
And once you get your payroll running smoothly, take a look at our online accounting services and tax software roundups.
Featured Online Payroll Software Reviews:
![Software Software](https://fitsmallbusiness.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/6-Best-Payroll-Software-for-2018.png)
Gusto Review
MSRP: $39.00Pros: Excellent user interface and navigation system. Flexible, thorough employee records. Offers good automation. Can create separate payroll for contractors. Good preview options. Strong reports.Cons: Limited to four pre-scheduled payrolls. No weekend support. Weak dashboard.Bottom Line: Gusto has a special appeal for small businesspeople new to payroll because of its usability. Even experienced payroll administrators will appreciate Gusto for its solid set of payroll setup, processing, and reporting tools.Read ReviewOnPay Review
MSRP: $36.00Pros: Fast. Helpful setup wizard. Well-designed dashboard. Customizable pay types and flexible pay frequency. Unlimited payrolls.Cons: Site sprawls, requiring extra scrolling. Problems viewing some mobile data.Bottom Line: OnPay's flexibility and depth make payroll processing understandable and fast. It's an excellent choice for many small businesses, and even those with advanced needs.Read ReviewIntuit QuickBooks Payroll Review
MSRP: $35.00Pros: Clean, simple user interface. Onboarding support. Smooth payroll process. Understandable language.Cons: High price. Slim employee portals. No custom fields in employee records. Online help files focused on QuickBooks Online. Extra charge for 1099s. Mobile apps don't replicate desktop experience.Bottom Line: QuickBooks Payroll provides the tools required to manage your company's payroll tasks. The software is exceptionally easy to use, but it lacks some functionality and flexibility.Read ReviewPatriot Software Full Service Payroll Review
MSRP: $30.00Pros: Good setup wizard. Excellent guidance for new users. Inexpensive. Offers basic accounting add-on features for a small fee.Cons: High price, with many add-on fees for standard features. Doesn't display debit total after payroll run. Combining payroll and accounting tools is confusing for payroll-only users.Bottom Line: Patriot Software Full Service Payroll offers good features and top-notch support, but its blending of accounting and payroll can be confusing. The user experience is subpar, too.Read ReviewSurePayroll Review
MSRP: $30.95Pros: Excellent recordkeeping and payroll-processing tools. Highly customizable. Supports multiple vertical payroll types. Integrates with numerous accounting sites. Good mobile apps for employer and employees.Cons: Site loads slowly. Dated design. Extra charge for W-2 and 1099 forms. Incomplete enrollment tool.Bottom Line: SurePayroll is a thorough, flexible payroll website with good support and excellent reporting. Boasting a new lower price and a free trial, the service is more appealing than in past years.Read ReviewSage Payroll Essentials Plus Review
MSRP: $49.95Pros: Inexpensive. Lets you define user access permissions. Exceptionally detailed customer and employee records. Dozens of reports.Cons: Outdated, unfriendly interface. Complex, confusing payroll process. No mobile apps.Bottom Line: Sage Payroll Essentials is affordable and detailed, and it offers a rich collection of reports, too. Unfortunately, its unfriendly interface complicates the process of paying your staff.Read ReviewSquare Payroll Review
MSRP: $29.00Pros: Contractor-only pricing option. Unlimited payrolls. Automated payroll option. Good integration with other Square apps. New mobile apps.Cons: Limited earnings types. Some navigation awkward. Lacks preformatted reports. Rudimentary setup tool. Only supports PTO or sick pay.Bottom Line: Square Payroll checks most of the boxes for paying your staff and sports a simple user experience. It integrates well with other Square apps, but lacks the depth and customizability of its competitors.Read Review