Best Payroll Programs for Small Business

Top Best Payroll programs for Small Business, the payroll software based on human resources software, which aims to develop customer trust and achieve customer success.

Our list of the best payroll programs for small business was carefully researched and has been reviewed by our editors. It offers a comprehensive overview of the field’s leading accounting solutions, including both online and desktop software.

Gusto

Easy to use and compatible with requirements in all 50 states, Gusto makes payroll management easy. This software for payroll comes fully loaded with a number of important features. It can handle benefits, healthcare plans, taxes, 401(k) plans, and time tracking. It’s also fully compatible with most accounting software platforms, including the big names like FreshBooks, QuickBooks, and Xero. Small businesses can opt for the most basic Core plan when just starting off, levelling up to the more full-service options as your business grows. At the higher Concierge level, Gusto’s plan includes HR features including onboarding and surveys.

Gusto Payroll

Nothing affects the length of time spent on payroll management like the application user experience. The word on the bookkeeping street is that Gusto is the most user-friendly solution available on the market right now, which makes Gusto one of the front-runners in the category. This is one of the reasons we expect to see Gusto grow its share on the market.

Key Features:

Benefits management

Check printing

Direct Deposit

Electronic forms

Employee database

Document management

Pros & Cons

Great user experience

Users complain the customer support is unresponsive

Pricing:

The Core plan has a $39/month base fee with an additional $6/user per month.

Free trial: No

Free plan: No

What We Like

  • Unlimited pay runs
  • Automated payroll tax payments and filings with year-end reporting
  • Affordably priced for small businesses

What’s Missing

  • Health insurance limited to 39 states
  • Time tracking is included only in premium plans
  • No dedicated payroll specialist

Gusto Pricing

  • Core: $39 per month + $6 per employee monthly
  • Complete: $39 per month + $12 per employee monthly
  • Concierge: $149 per month + $12 per employee monthly
  • Contractor-only plan: $6 per person monthly

Read Full ReviewVisit Gusto

Gusto ranked high among its competitors for its full-service payroll, benefits options, and HR support at an affordable price. It enables small businesses to operate with the structure and amenities that some larger companies offer. In addition to running payroll on autopilot, plus offering direct deposit and pay card options, it sends out an onboarding email notice to each new hire so they can complete the required paperwork before coming into the office. A range of benefits is available, and if you’re in one of the 39 states where it offers insurance, you can offer national health insurance plans to your employees.

Scoring 4.66 out of 5 in our evaluation, Gusto earned perfect scores in pricing, reporting, and popularity among users. However, the limited coverage of its health insurance and having to subscribe to one of its higher tiers to access HR tools—such as time tracking and online paid time off (PTO) requests—prevented Gusto from getting a higher score.

In terms of user feedback, many find Gusto a valuable payroll software partner given its intuitive interface and efficient tools. However, several reviewers are unhappy about the long hold times when contacting customer support.

Gusto Features

  • Automatic and unlimited payroll runs in all 50 states: Unlike ADP and Paychex, Gusto allows you to process unlimited payroll runs, including bonus and off-cycle payments, at no extra cost. And you can even set payroll to run on autopilot.
  • Automated tax payment and year-end report filing: Gusto automatically withholds, pays, and files taxes on federal, state, and local levels. It handles year-end tax reporting (W-2s and 1099s) for free, unlike ADP Run, which charges a fee for this service.
  • Employee benefits: Gusto provides employee benefits in all 50 states but its health insurance is available only in 39 (as of this writing). While some small business payroll providers are cheaper (Rippling is $18 per employee monthly, for example), they don’t offer some of the employee perks that Gusto does such as 529 college savings accounts, health reimbursement plans, and Gusto Wallet—a free financial management app that even has time tracking tools.

In case your employees have emergency expenses and need early access to their salary, they can easily get the funds through the Gusto Cashout feature of the Gusto Wallet. Aside from Square Payroll and Homebase Payroll, none of the other providers on our list offer an in-house solution.

  • Multiple pay options: With Gusto, employees are paid through manual checks, pay cards, or direct deposits. The standard direct deposit timelines are two and four days, but subscribing to Gusto’s higher tiers gets you a next-day option. However, if you require fast processing timelines, QuickBooks Payroll’s starter Core plan comes with next-day direct deposits (same-day for higher tiers). Square Payroll also offers instant payouts through its Square Payments solution.
  • Efficient time tracking and workforce management tools: Aside from monitoring your employees’ and contractors’ time through its system or via the Gusto Wallet, Gusto offers project tracking and workforce costing tools. You can even create custom PTO policies and send/approve time-off requests online. However, these features are available only in Gusto’s higher tiers. If you require reasonably priced full-service payroll with PTO and time tracking tools, consider either OnPay or Homebase Payroll (note that Homebase’s payroll services cover only 43 states as of this writing).
  • Professional HR and tax experts on support: Gusto helps you avoid expensive compliance mistakes through its team of HR and tax experts that you can reach out to for help whenever you need them—provided you get its Concierge option.

Gusto’s Drawbacks

  • Limited health insurance coverage: While Gusto has Gusto Cashout, a Gusto Wallet app with time tracking functionalities, and other benefits offerings, its health insurance options are limited to 39 states. If you want health benefits that are available across the US, consider any of the providers in this guide except Patriot Payroll and Homebase Payroll.
  • Doesn’t provide a dedicated payroll specialist: Gusto may provide access to HR Pros if you get its premium plan, but it doesn’t have dedicated payroll specialists who can help you navigate through the complexities of paying employees. This is where Paychex shines since it assigns a payroll expert to each of its clients—although you have to sign up for its higher tiers to get this service.

Square

You might associate Square with the portable square-shaped credit card reader, but this company has grown to include full-service payroll software as well. Like Gusto, Square’s services are customizable so you can adapt the plan to suit your company’s needs. The software can accommodate full-time employees as well as part-time workers and freelance contractors, paying both hourly rates and monthly salaries. It can also manage health benefits, which employees can see when they log in to their own Square accounts.

Intuit QuickBooks

QuickBooks Online Payroll

Intuit quickbooks is a great payroll software solution. With QuickBooks you can easily manage expenses, send invoices, and even track inventory. Managers can even set payroll to run automatically so they can focus on the bigger picture. 

Key Features:

Activity dashboard

Automatic billing

Billing and invoicing

Budgeting/forecasting

Expense tracking

Payroll management

Inventory tracking

Pros & Cons

Easy to use

Nice user interface

Poor customer service

Pricing:

Their most popular plan costs $80/month and includes 5 users.

Free trial: 30-day free trial

Free plan: Yes

Conclusion

Payroll is a basic necessity for any business. Without software or apps to help automate the process, it can be a time-consuming and strenuous task. The key to the best small-business payroll software program is a one-stop shop that offers several different solutions to fit your needs.

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