Best Small Business Payroll Software for 2022

If you’d prefer a system that takes care of everything with minimal effort on your part, a pricier but comprehensive full-service payroll plan is a better solution . To rate each payroll software program, we assessed payroll and HR features, ease of use, price, plan scalability, and customer service reviews.

Be aware that the Basic level does not include tax filing and depositing. These features are included at the Full Service level, which bumps the monthly base fee to $37 — but keeps the per-employee fee low at $4 per month. Patriot guarantees to file your tax obligations on time and accurately, or they will pay the penalties and interest.

Big business benefits on a small business budget

All of ADP’s payroll plans include direct deposit, automatic payroll tax filing, and W-2 submissions. Even the cheapest plan, Core Payroll, includes HR perks like employee onboarding, health care compliance forms, and a regular HR checkup. And if you want more than the HR basics to support your growing team, ADP’s more expensive plans include employee background checks, ZipRecruiter assistance, and dedicated HR assistance. We gave priority to those that offer multiple pay options, two-day direct deposits, tax payments and filings, year-end reporting (W-2s and 1099s), and a penalty-free tax guarantee.

• The full payroll service costs $37 per month with the same $4 extra per user.
• Payroll services handle all of your payroll processing and payroll tax needs.
• Paycor’s HCM pricing tier starts at $199 + $12/employee/month and adds more advanced features, such as automated workflows, document management, performance reviews, and more.
• Then you have to submit payroll taxes and filings to the IRS and other tax agencies on time and for the correct amounts or face penalties.
• There are no fees to use Payroll4Free unless you have more than 25 employees or you want Payroll4Free to file your payroll taxes for you.

Deluxe only offers custom pricing and requires a consultation with a sales representative. Best Payroll Software for Small Businesses OnPay’s customer service was among the best we encountered during our research.

What Is a Small Business Payroll Software Solution?

Of the three plans offered, the least expensive is the Essentials plan at $8 per month per employee. The Growth plan is $14 per month per employee and the Zen plan is $21 per month per employee. Choosing payroll software for your small business is a weighty decision because paying your employees accurately and on time is important to retaining a high-functioning team. There’s a wide range of payroll software available on the market from free payroll apps with barebones features to full-service payroll systems with HR add-ons. We also looked at the quality of their customer support across phone, email, and chat, along with the documentation available for learning.

ADP Payroll is a comprehensive payroll solution that provides flexibility for businesses in managing payroll, benefits, and other aspects of human resources. This software is excellent for growing businesses because it is engineered for businesses that plan to scale. Wave is an easy-to-use, reliable money management tool for freelancers and small business owners. So it’s no shocker that Wave Payroll is an easy-to-use, reliable tool for making sure your team gets paid.

Uzio HR and Payroll (opens in new tab)

If you run a business, there are a lot of obvious advantages to using payroll software. For example, you’ll be able to work out payroll calculations and make deductions quicker, generate accurate payslips, and calculate bonuses, expenses, and holiday pay with minimum effort. These tools can help you simplify HR-related tasks, payroll management, attendance tracking, and more. You can use a tool like Payroll4free.com but with every single free tool you are going to run into headaches down the road.

The same rule applies to finding out what’s the best general HR software for you. CPC helps employers who hire individuals from eligible target groups with significant barriers to employment receive a tax credit under the Work Opportunity Tax Credit feature. You can create and customize your company policies regarding vacations and leaves – time off requests, holiday calendars, sick leaves, and many more – which can be managed through a single interface.

Best HRIS Software for Start-Ups

The software makes records of all changes made and approvals requested within the system to automatically create workflows that can keep everyone informed every step of the way. Eddy is an all-in-one HR software system, including payroll features, that is meant for use by small businesses. This small business Payroll provider was founded by Travis Hansen, a former professional basketball player who later turned to being an entrepreneur. The company’s focus is on providing excellent customer service and on meeting the needs of deskless workforces.

However, you get a lot more for the price, which makes it our top choice for small business owners trying to simplify payroll and human resources. Rather than removing direct deposit for the low-priced plan, Gusto increases the convenience of direct deposit the more expensive your plan. For example, direct deposit takes up to four days to clear for the lowest plan, but the high-tier plans get next-day direct deposit.

Rippling: Best for International Payroll Systems

It’s a good idea to choose a payroll service that can grow with your business, though, if only so you can avoid migrating data to a different service in the future. ADP makes that possible with its ADP RUN service, which is best for businesses with fewer than 50 employees. Small businesses, in particular, know how important it is to run payroll in a way that helps them retain their hard-earned money. With free payroll solutions, small businesses can save on monthly subscription fees and allow themselves more room to invest money in other areas of their business. Rippling is more than just payroll software — it bills itself as an employee management platform. While Rippling does allow you to run global payroll, it also boasts HR and IT management resources that let you sync your data across all systems and automate time-consuming administrative tasks. Paylocity offers three payroll tiers (Effortless Payroll, Efficient Tech, and Modern Workplace.) The price varies by feature access, not by the number of employees.

Benefits administration (401s available in all 50 states; health benefits are available in 38 states and Washington, D.C.). Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate us. This may influence which products we write about and where and how the product appears on a page. Leeron is a New York-based writer with experience covering technology and politics. Her work has appeared in publications such as Quartz, the Village Voice, Gothamist, and Slate. If you have employees spread across different states or around the globe, you will need to meet more regulations. With hybrid and remote work becoming commonplace as a result of the pandemic, you must consider if you might have people working from different locations in the future.

Paychex Flex Select, Paychex Flex Pro, and Paychex Flex Enterprise, which offer more robust features, are available at quote-based pricing. OnPay may https://www.bookstime.com/ be a great option for you to consider when you want free help switching payroll companies, including the migration of prior period payroll data.

Payroll4free offers a surprising number of features at no cost, including tax forms, reporting, direct deposits, and an employee portal. The tradeoff is that the software is ad-supported, although you aren’t inundated with advertisements. The UI could also use a refresh, but at this price point, it isn’t a huge issue. There are a large number of payroll solutions that are suitable for different business sizes. Small businesses usually need a payroll software solution with basic capabilities such as payroll processing, time tracking, and tax filing. Patriot Payroll offers an affordable suite of well-regarded products covering accounting and payroll, with add-ons that can cover HR and time and attendance reporting. For price-conscious companies looking for a single, integrated package, it’s worth a look.

Each contract is different, but most contracts require a 12-month commitment and are paid upfront. There is no termination fee, but there are no refunds for canceled contracts. Patriot Payroll is designed for businesses with up to 100 employees. It may not work for you if you currently have more than 100 workers or expect to exceed that amount in the near future. QuickBooks Payroll is the best fit for business owners who use QuickBooks accounting software.

Why are payroll services important for small businesses?

This allows for flexibility, especially when you are running on a tight budget. With this solution, you don’t need to be tied-in to a long-term contract and are free to suspend your account at any time.

• The platform offers easy-to-read reports, unlimited runs, same-day direct deposit, time tracking, and an employee self-service portal with all pricing plans.
• Make sure if your company does not currently use Windows payroll, then you will probably want a program that is compatible with the operating system you’re using.
• You can even easily undertake one-off payments, such as expense reimbursements, commissions, and bonuses to one person or whole departments.
• ADP is the biggest name in the world of PEOs, or professional employer organizations.
• Roll takes full advantage of newer mobile-first technologies while retaining the useful features and reliability of ADP, a payroll industry stalwart.

For smaller businesses (or those looking for low-cost software), Rippling is likely overkill. User reviews also indicate that there is a steep learning curve, and setup can be a bit complicated, so beginners may want to search for an easier, straightforward payroll software option. SurePayroll is the best payroll system for overlooked industries and very small businesses. SurePayroll works best for small businesses that need easy-to-use software with basic payroll processing features.

Benefits to Hiring a Payroll Provider

Uzio also offers a high level of employee self-service access too. Is a Paychex-owned Professional Employer Organization and provides a full range of full HR solutions for business, to cover the entire employee lifecycle, including of course Payroll. For ease of use, affordability, and useful benefits for business owners with one or more employees, we recommend OnPay. If you want the full-service option, the cost bumps up to a $37 base price plus $4 per payee. With Homebase Payroll, you can process payroll in three easy clicks. Scoring 3.71 out of 5 in our evaluation, Paycor received high marks in nearly all of our criteria with perfect scores in reporting, HR features, and popularity among users.

Additionally, while Gusto has more employee add-ons than many other online payroll systems, it’s not a total HR management solution. Our Gusto HR review can tell you more, but if you need more than the most basic HR, you’ll want to look elsewhere—like Paychex, ADP, or even an HR-focused service like Zenefits. Platforms such as Gusto and Wave can gather all the information for you, calculate required tax withholdings and initiate payments to employees directly. Using payroll systems like these can be an easy and cost-effective way to take this process off your plate, particularly for small businesses that do not want to outsource this service. Get access to payroll for W-2 and 1099 workers, automatic tax payments and filing and an employee self-service portal for self-onboarding, documents and PTO tracking.

There’s a dedicated self-service portal that allows employees to view and access their information, such as PTO requests, benefits, and tax withholdings, leave balance, etc. Having been in the game since 1996, APS is an established payroll services provider with a powerful cloud-based solution for managing your workforce. You can automatically sync your payroll option with other HR functions, including new hire onboarding, time tracking, and benefit deductions. On the platform, you’ll find all the payroll solutions you need to support your small or medium-sized business.