Do It Yourself Payroll Software The DIY payroll software has become popular recently because of the many benefits that it gives to small business owners.
If you are looking for the best do it yourself payroll software then look no further. We’ve compiled a list of do it yourself payroll companies that are affordable, fast, easy to use, and most importantly they’re safe.
Payroll4Free: Best overall
Best overall free payroll softwarePayroll4Free
3.9
- How it’s free: In-software ads, paid plan options
Employee self-service portal and payslip access
Pre-filled end-of-year tax forms
Direct deposit and paycheck printing
PTO and vacation time tracking
Payroll4Free is a master in the free payroll software genre. For one thing, it’s chock-full of functions that are often enjoyed only in premium, top-tier platforms. Some of these perks include:
- Paycheck calculations
- 1099 contract and W-2 employee payments
- Direct deposit and paper check options
- Federal, state, and local payroll tax calculations
- Pre-filled tax form access
- Reports on taxes, benefits, payroll statistics, and more
- Employee self-service portal
- Paid time off, vacation, and sick time accruals
- Accounting software integration, including QuickBooks
Payroll4Free’s reporting and paid time off (PTO) tracking features are particularly impressive. (Even many paid providers don’t include those features with their cheapest plans.) And while Payroll4Free can’t file your payroll taxes for free, it calculates payroll tax deductions and autofills the tax forms. You have to do the actual filing, but form filling is easily the most time-intensive part of the process.
Don’t worry though if you’d prefer to let someone else handle taxes: the company offers full-service tax filing for a below-average $15 monthly fee.
Now that you know the good stuff, here’s the catch. The platform is barebones, so most of the features mentioned above require patience and some basic administrative knowledge. Afterall, the title’s made for getting the job done at no cost, so you get what you pay for when it comes to user-friendliness and visual allure.
That leads to our next point. Payroll4Free is only gratis because it’s loaded with advertisements. This might feel distracting and cumbersome, although this marathon of marketing doesn’t fundamentally alter your payroll process.
Best for international businesses: HR.my
2.9
- How it’s free: Crowdfunding, in-app ads
Employee self-service portal and payslip access
Paycheck printing (no direct deposit)
PTO and vacation time tracking
No pre-filled end-of-year tax forms
Unlike the majority of payroll software—both free and paid—HR.my’s payroll software is available in 65 different languages. Beyond its multiple tongues, the title serves up comprehensive payroll-processing features that compare to both TimeTrex’s and Payroll4Free’s. Some noteworthy perks include:
- PTO management
- Attendance management and time clock integration
- Automatically generated payslips
- Multiple pay schedules, including weekly, biweekly, semi-monthly, and monthly
- Leave approval
- Unlimited users, including employees and managers
- Unlimited employee web accounts for pay stub access and PTO requests
- Mobile payroll app (Android and iOS) for employers and employees
There are some downsides, though. First, every language translation except for English and Chinese relies entirely on Google Translate with no human oversight. This makes the translation quality hit or miss.
Also, HR.my is based in Malaysia, which could be a problem for US-based customers who need customer service support during regular business hours. Plus, HR.my’s site is the sparsest we’ve reviewed. It lists a lot of features and includes a handy user guide for getting started, but we’re a little wary of its lack of product details.
Best for Office 360 users: ExcelPayroll
Best for Microsoft Office usersExcelPayroll
3.0
How it’s free: Integrates with paid Excel software
Payslip printing (no employee self-service access)
Paycheck printing (no direct deposit)
Pre-filled end-of-year tax forms
Limited PTO or vacation time tracking
ExcelPayroll is a free third-party payroll software and pay stub creator that integrates directly with Microsoft Excel’s spreadsheet software. Along with calculating paycheck amounts and payroll tax withholdings, ExcelPayroll lets you tackle these tasks in Excel:
- Creating pre-filled tax forms, including W-2s
- Printing checks
- Generating workers compensation reports
- Logging bookkeeping journal entries
Keep in mind that although ExcelPayroll is free, Excel itself isn’t. The Microsoft Office suite (known as Office 365) now operates largely as a cloud-based service instead of desktop software. This means you’ll have to pay a monthly fee to use it, instead of a one-time upfront charge.
Still, Microsoft Office 365 is worth considering since it starts at an affordable $5 monthly fee and includes PowerPoint and Word, as well.
Most affordable self-service payroll: Patriot Software
Most affordable self-service payrollPatriot
4.0
Starting at $10.00/mo. + $4.00/mo./payee
Employee self-service portal and payslip access
Pre-filled end-of-year tax forms
Direct deposit and paycheck printing
PTO and vacation time tracking
Data as of 9/07/21. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
Patriot Software’s Basic Payroll plan starts at $10 a month plus $4 per month per payee (including contractors and W-2 employees). The self-service plan doesn’t include automatic tax filing, but it does include direct deposit, unlimited customizable payroll runs, W-2 forms, employee pay stub access, and free payroll setup if you’re switching providers.
Interested in more than payroll calculations? At $30 a month plus $4 per payee, Patriot is also one of the cheapest full-service payroll providers. With the $30 plan, Patriot calculates tax withholding and automatically remits federal, state, and local taxes along with all end-of-year tax forms.
You’ll only get a good deal if you pay staffers in one state, though. That’s because automated tax filing for each additional US state costs $12 a piece, which can quickly send costs skyrocketing. Instead, we’d recommend Gusto, which includes all 50 states for free.
TimeTrex
Best Overall Free Payroll Software for Small Businesses
PROS
- Automatic pay runs with free direct deposits
- Offers a feature-rich free plan; comes with payroll, time tracking, scheduling, and HR management tools
- Integrates with other payroll tools like QuickBooks, ADP, and Paychex
CONS
- Its dashboard looks somewhat dated
- Details about the free option and paid plans are difficult to find on its website; pricing isn’t transparent
- Doesn’t handle payroll tax filings
Overall Score5.00OUT OF5
| RATING CRITERIA | PRICING | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 |
| POPULARITY | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| REPORTING | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| PAYROLL FEATURES | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| EASE OF USE | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 |
TimeTrex is the best free payroll software for small businesses, because it does more than Payroll4Free.com and HR.my. Scoring 5 out of 5 in our evaluation, it has time tracking, scheduling, payroll, and HR management tools that you can access for free. You even get an online time clock that lets your employees clock-in/out through web browsers.
TimeTrex also generates tax forms (like W-2s and 1099s) and calculates federal, state, and local taxes. However, it doesn’t file taxes on your behalf. You may want to consider Payroll4Free.com if you need tax filing services, but it isn’t free—you have to pay $15 per month.
In terms of user reviews, those who left feedback on G2 and Capterra said that they appreciate its automations that help streamline time tracking and payroll processing. Others mentioned that while its platform is easy to use, learning how to navigate through all of its features is a bit confusing for new users.
TimeTrex has a payroll wizard to help guide you through the process.
Aside from payroll processing, TimeTrex has robust time tracking capabilities—making it one of our recommended time and attendance software for small businesses. If you want to learn more about its functionalities, check out our TimeTrex review.
TimeTrex Pricing
You can access TimeTrex’s free payroll software through its Community Edition solution, which is a downloadable open source workforce management platform. What’s great about it is that there are no employee limits, and you get basic HR and payroll tools for free.
TimeTrex also has three paid product editions (Professional, Corporate, and Enterprise), which come with additional features like facial recognition tablet time clocks, document management, applicant tracking, invoicing, and expense monitoring. However, pricing isn’t transparent—you have to call the provider to request a quote.
The representative we contacted said that pricing is based on the number of employees you have and the system deployment option selected (cloud-hosted or on-site). For a cloud-based version of its Professional Edition, you have to pay $3 per employee monthly for 10 employees. There’s also an account activation fee of $99.
TimeTrex Standout Features
- Feature-rich free tier: Even at its free level, TimeTrex grants you access to several integrated solutions designed to help you manage your workforce. You get online tools to create schedules, capture clock-ins/outs, track attendance, monitor paid time-off (PTO), pay employees, conduct performance reviews, and record staff information in a centralized database. This is more than what Payroll4Free.com offers (it doesn’t have free HR tools) and what HR.my provides as part of its forever-free solution (which doesn’t have performance reviews).
- Online time tracking: TimeTrex’s web browser-based time clock allows you to turn computers into employee time tracking devices. However, geofencing capabilities, facial recognition time clocks, and mobile time tracking apps aren’t included in its free Community Edition. If you require geolocation and face verification tools to prevent buddy punching, we recommend HR.my as it offers the said functionalities for free.
- Efficient pay processing: With TimeTrex’s efficient payroll tools, you don’t have to worry about doing payroll yourself. In addition to automatic payroll runs, it automatically calculates taxes and custom deductions like garnishments, PTO accruals, and benefits. It also offers electronic pay stubs, free direct deposits, and pay checks that you can print in several different formats.
- Third-party software integrations: TimeTrex seamlessly integrates with other payroll software like QuickBooks, ADP, Paychex, Ceridian, and Sage. Note that HR.my doesn’t have this functionality, while Payroll4Free.com has limited options and connects with other software through payroll data exports and time data imports.
- Custom reporting: Aside from standard payroll, HR, and employee reports, you are granted access to built-in templates that you can customize.
Rippling
Rippling makes it easy to manage your company’s Payroll, Benefits, HR, and IT—all in one, modern platform. It brings all of your employee systems and data together, and helps automate your busy work. Take onboarding, for example. With Rippling, you can just click a button, and in 90 seconds set up a new hires’ payroll, health insurance, 401K, work computer, and third-party apps — like Slack, Zoom, and Office 365 — 100% online and paperlessly.
Conclusion
So you are starting a business, but the last thing you want to deal with is filing payroll taxes. You need to take care of everything else that running a business requires. For example, you are not sure how to file payroll taxes. The last thing you want to do right now is waste your time learning how to do the taxes yourself.