Best Payroll Software: 9 Top Small Business Picks 2025
Seamless collaboration is just as important to accountants as to other professionals. Workful’s Pro program lets accountants and payroll professionals work together on a client’s payroll, including access and edit controls and shared billing management. Workful Pro makes it easy to integrate payroll with time tracking and expense reporting. Justworks’ partner program gives accountants access to a dedicated relationship manager and the company’s payroll experts. Its Advisor Dashboard makes it easy to access client data and integrate clients’ payroll with third-party accounting, compliance and HR apps. However, the range of integrations Justworks offers can’t match those available with Rippling, ADP and other payroll vendors.
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Those efficiency gains free you up to focus on more strategic and revenue-driving activities, like financial planning and analysis. The most common third-party payroll integrations are employee time and attendance tracking, scheduling, retirement plans and health benefits, recruiting, compensation management and general accounting systems. Many small businesses find it most effective to purchase their payroll and HR support services from the same vendor, such as Gusto or Rippling, both of which sell plans that combine the two functions. Others choose products that integrate payroll with other accounting operations such as QuickBooks Payroll and Wave Payroll. Look at the quality and quantity of features and integrations, customer support options, and additional benefits that can help you better meet your clients’ needs and grow your business. Modern software with an intuitive UI, mobility, and an easy-to-use dashboard that allows you to access client data quickly are additional things to keep in mind when choosing your payroll software.
Its HR platform integrates with accounting software, supports benefits administration, and provides a user-friendly employee portal. Patriot offers cloud-based payroll and accounting software for small businesses and accounting professionals. Its payroll service supports direct deposit, Online Payroll For Accountants handles payroll tax calculations, and offers optional full-service tax filing. Employers have access to unlimited payrolls and can generate W-2 and 1099 forms.
Powerful payroll solutions, all in one place
Currently use QuickBooks desktop as it’s cost-effective and not a ton of bells and whistles – clients are all relatively simple and all in one state. QBD is changing pricing significantly – to a point where I’m not comfortable passing on the increased cost to my clients. In addition, there are a few hiccups that I would say are more than minor that the support team was unable to resolve (further justification why I don’t want to pay the ridiculous cost).
Employee Self Service Portal
A major benefit of online payroll software is the ability to stay on top of tax reporting and remittance payments. As mentioned above, digital payments create virtual pay stubs which are easier to track and organize for future use. In the event of an audit, the stubs can be quickly retrieved through custom search parameters, no more digging around in file cabinets for hours without results. You should also closely guard the software’s permission settings and user access to protect your business from internal threats. Additionally, if your payroll software is self-hosted and not cloud-based, be sure to update it whenever new versions are released to patch any security holes and eliminate bugs.
However, to save you money, a few vendors, such as QuickBooks, offer bundle deals that include both accounting software and payroll software for a reduced price. Technology tools should help your company meet core business objectives, like improving your bottom line or hiring well-qualified job candidates. Payroll platforms can reduce costs while allowing your staff to streamline hiring and onboarding experiences.
GoCo Onboarding
The platform emphasizes the connection between accounting and payroll functions to create a more streamlined workflow. With the right software, you can easily track labor costs, forecast future expenses, and spot trends and anomalies. And you can quickly generate custom payroll reports to answer ad hoc questions. In short, payroll software gives you the insights you need to be a true strategic partner.
- All Intuit Online Payroll reports offer basic customization capability, with users able to export reports to Microsoft Excel if further customization is desired.
- Payroll penalties from the IRS can add up and cost your business hundreds or thousands of dollars each year to rectify.
- To achieve the objectives you identified in the previous step, you need to understand which payroll service features and resources will benefit your company the most.
- Additionally, if your payroll software is self-hosted and not cloud-based, be sure to update it whenever new versions are released to patch any security holes and eliminate bugs.
- We also like that its HR Support Center includes Ease and Employee Navigator integrations, simplifying new-hire reporting and benefits-related payroll deductions.
General ledger and time-tracking integrations eliminate the need to enter the same data more than once. In addition, many systems include new-hire reporting services, provide year-end tax filing and boast other tools to streamline HR and payroll processes. Small businesses with hourly workers and 1099 contractors will appreciate Square Payroll’s straightforward payroll processing platform.
- Manually entering this data into your accounting system is tedious and error-prone.
- Plans range from the starter-level Base Package—which includes invoicing, bill payment and cash reconciliations—to the pro-level Platinum Package, which is more like bringing a full-time CFO into your business.
- From smart automation to powerful API-backed integration, Staffology Bureau is designed by payroll experts for payroll experts.
- Patriot offers cloud-based payroll and accounting software for small businesses and accounting professionals.
Our hosted solutions offer remote software access, relieving you of IT burdens and providing industry standard security for you and your clients’ data. Easily create ACH direct deposit files in our application and send them to your bank or ACH provider to process employee and employer payments. With industry-leading support response times, you can trust Rippling to handle your clients’ most complex payroll requirements. She began her career as accountant and later made the switch to writing full time, concentrating on business and technology, with a focus on small business. A former QuickBooks beta tester, Mary has been a featured regular contributor to CPA Practice Advisor since 2002, and she has also been published in The Motley Fool, The Blueprint, and Property Manager.com. She currently writes a monthly accounting and technology-related blog for PLANERGY, and ghostwrites several blogs for various software companies.
Introduction to Payroll Software for Accountants
Easily add and manage unlimited number of employees for each client/company, accommodating growth and changes. Workday is an enterprise-level HCM platform providing payroll capabilities for larger organizations. The system is designed to handle complex payroll needs while integrating with broader HR and financial management functions. Gusto is a payroll platform that combines essential payroll functions with basic HR tools to provide a complete solution for smaller organizations. Paylocity is a web-based payroll and HR platform serving businesses of all sizes.