What is desktop payroll software? Desktop payroll software is designed to allow you to create, manage and report on employee payroll and employee time and attendance records, manually or manually and automatically. Payroll provides an opportunity for businesses to automate their payroll process, resulting in more accurate and timely paychecks for employees while reducing the need for employees to visit the office on payday.
The best desktop payroll software is something that can provide us with a quick and convenient way of handling the payroll for our company. For a lot of small business owners, running a payroll can be a hassle especially when you have to take time from your daily routine just to do the tedious paperwork involved in paying your employees. You may have several employees working for you or just one. In any case, it is still considered a hassle to have to spend time on the paperwork. In this article, we’ll be tackling what desktop payroll software is and which brands are considered to be the best in this business.
Desktop Payroll software is a software package designed for small to medium organizations. The term Desktop Payroll Software is coined because the software is self-contained on a laptop or a desktop.
Payroll Provider Comparison Criteria
What do I look for when I select the best payroll software solutions? Here’s a summary of the evaluation criteria that should inspire your decision-making process:
- User Interface (UI): Payroll is just one of many HR and accounting duties so we are looking for payroll software that respects the time of its users with a simple and intuitive interface that outs business critical information front-and-center.
- Usability: I’m looking for payroll tools that can be adopted by anyone, from large businesses to nonprofits; the payroll software should come with robust onboarding, free training materials like webinars or a blog, and easy-to-access customer support team.
- Integrations: Payroll software will need to work with add-ons for HR-critical solutions for local taxes, benefits administration and health insurance, timesheets, business intelligence, sales and CRM platforms, and payroll data reporting tools.
- Value for $: Payroll software will range in what is covered in each pricing plan but scoring high in value for price might mean going above and beyond in offering things like garnishments, industry pay rates analysis, tax compliance, and timesheets.
Square Payroll
PROS
- Low price
- Contractor-only option
- Good integration with Square’s Point of Sale app
- Third-party benefits providers
- Improved online help resources
CONS
- Limited earnings types
- Poor user experience
- Only basic reports
- Rudimentary setup tool
Best known for its payment-processing tools, Square has offered an online payroll service since 2015. Since our last review, Square Payroll has added better hourly worker management features, improved its support, and integrated third-party financial services. If you’re already using other Square applications, especially Square Point of Sale (POS), it fits nicely into a labor-management and sales ecosystem. The payroll site covers every major element of payroll administration, from setup to pay runs to taxes to reports.
This young service lacks the depth and customizability of its competition, however. Its reports are on the skimpy side and it comes with only a handful of earnings types, for example. Square Payroll’s navigation tools and user interface are far from state-of-the-art. And its employee records could be more detailed. The site has a long way to go to compete with our Editors’ Choice winners, Gusto and Rippling, which excel in every element of payroll and HR, as well as offer superior user experiences.
Patriot
PROS
- Exceptional setup wizard and guidance for new users
- Simple, intuitive user interface
- Great payroll flexibility
- Good employee portals
- Capable mobile versions
- Offers optional accounting features
CONS
- Add-on fees for some features
- Limited pay types
- Payroll runs slower than with competitors in our testing
Any small business that uses an online payroll service to manage employee payments usually needs a lot of support, especially during the setup process. Patriot Software Full Service Payroll excels at providing help from start to finish. It not only handles the basic tasks needed to create employee records, but it also helps you define deductions and contributions, processes payroll runs and automatically submits payroll taxes. New features include integration with QuickBooks Time (formerly TSheets), multifactor authentication, the ability to organize employees into departments, and e-signatures for vendor and contractor payments. An integrated accounting website makes the bundle a good choice for new users with modest needs, though it works just as well for running payroll for dozens of employees and contractors.
While it lacks some of the depth and customizability of Editors’ Choice winners Gusto and Rippling, Patriot Software Full Service Payroll is a strong choice for very small businesses that don’t anticipate much growth, don’t have expansive HR needs, and want lots of support.
FundView Payroll
Fund Accounting Solution Technologies is a software business formed in 2008 in the United States that publishes a software suite called FundView Payroll. FundView Payroll includes training via documentation, live online, and videos. The FundView Payroll product is SaaS, Windows, iPhone, iPad, Android, and Chromebook software. FundView Payroll includes business hours and online support. FundView Payroll is payroll software, and includes features such as 401(k) tracking, benefits management, check to print, compensation management, deductions management, direct deposit, Reporting/Analytics, a self-service portal, vacation / leave tracking, and wage garnishment. Alternative competitor software options to FundView Payroll include ONE MINT, Factorial, and Eddy.
Features
- Benefits Management
- Check Printing
- Compensation Management
- Deductions Management
- Direct Deposit
- Reporting/Analytics
- Self Service Portal
- Tax Compliance
Eddy
Eddy’s easy-to-use software makes time tracking and payroll a breeze.
Eddy is a full-service online payroll software built for growing businesses. Features include guaranteed on-time employee payments, quarterly and annual tax returns, end-of-year W-2 preparation, filing, and distribution, and new-hire reporting. Eddy also comes with dedicated customer email and phone support.
Eddy’s team of payroll experts has decades of combined experience navigating small business payroll challenges across many different industries so you can trust it will get done right the first time.
When Eddy’s full-service payroll is combined with Eddy’s all-in-one HR suite that includes onboarding, document storage, digital signatures, employee directories, PTO tracking, and time tracking for managing people and small businesses.
Eddy’s full-service payroll starts at $2.50 per check and offers a free demo.
QuickBooks Payroll
QuickBooks Payroll promises big business benefits on a small business budget where users get up to $25,000 tax penalty protection, the ability to make same-day direct deposits, automate payroll runs, as well as automate tax filing. On top of all that, setting up is easy with the help of their customer support services.
Because it is easy to use and navigate, errors and hours spent on the payroll are significantly reduced. Filing taxes and making sure you’re meeting all of your state and federal obligations are all easily done through the software.
QuickBooks is one of the most popular and trusted payroll software for small businesses and although that seems like a good thing, it makes getting access to a support expert harder than one would appreciate. Limitations on customization when working with employees in places with different tax computations might also make you think twice. QuickBooks really is best for small business owners with simple use cases.
QuickBooks Payroll integrates with 650 popular business apps including PayPal, Veem, Google Sheets, SaasAnt, Expensify, PaperEntry, BillBjorn, TimeSaver, ClockShark Time Tracking, Gusto, Run Powered by ADP, Guideline 401(k), Fundbox, and Bill.com.
QuickBooks Payroll costs from $15/month and plans are 50% off if you purchase 3 months. Try it out for free for 30 days.
Namely
Namely offers medium-sized companies with big company problems a one-stop-shop platform for human resources needs. Features include an employee database, a payroll system, employee benefits, time off requests, clocking-in, payroll reports, talent management, and even a social news feed. It also has a resources section for handbooks and policies, as well as for professional development, and performance reviews.
Employees can easily request time off, plot sick leaves, and view their pay stubs in the self-service portal. The interface is user-friendly, easy to navigate, modern, and customizable. Onboarding new hires are easy and leave a good first impression. HR departments and employees can also tap into Namely’s knowledge database filled with blogs, ebooks, and webinars.
If you require integrations with other business software, Namely will take some time to set up. Baseline deployment and onboarding for Namely can take anywhere from 8-10 weeks (not unusual for powerful software solutions) but you’ll want to account for additional time for integrations, as it requires bouncing between multiple customer service lines.
One thing to be excited about is Namely’s 3000+ integrations through a paid plan with Zapier. You can connect Namely to applications such as Jira Software Cloud, Google Calendar, AirTable, Slack, LinkedIn, Microsoft Outlook, Salesforce, HubSpot, Mailchimp, Twitter, Discord, and Dropbox among others.
Payroll Connected
Payroll Connected is Canada’s first and only fully automatic payroll processing software. Just tell it how many hours the employee worked, and your payroll is basically done. Using those hours alone, Payroll Connected calculates not only the usual EI, CPP, and Income Tax, but also the Statutory Holiday Pay, Overtime, and Vacation Pay completely automatically, by your province’s unique labor standards. Because it’s online, you can process your payroll at any time, on any device with a web browser. And with all this functionality starting at just $9/month for up to 25 employees and unlimited payrolls, it’s functional and affordable.
Time Clock Wizard
Schedule Employees with alternating workdays, pay rates & reimbursements. Track employee work hours accurately. Collect absences, late clock-ins & more. Instant customizable mobile & email alerts to employees & managers. Easily track employee time & generate payroll reports quickly. Fully supports the latest versions of iOS & Android operating systems. Now, your staff can clock in from a single device and location, improving efficiency and accountability. Turn any tablet into a wall-mounted or desktop time clock.
Gusto
Gusto, still relatively young in a crowded field of established payroll services, stands out. It provides a smart set of commonly-used payroll tools for small businesses and an exceptional user experience that should especially appeal to managers unfamiliar with payroll. Gusto has steadily improved over the years, adding new functionality recently in areas like hiring and onboarding, payroll run flexibility, and employee paycheck management. It continues to provide excellent support for every area it covers.
Setting up a payroll application is complicated and accuracy is critical. Your first run will not be correct if you’ve made even a small error. Like most of its competitors, Gusto walks you through this task, prompting you on what it needs and supporting you with detailed help files and demos. It uses a multistep wizard to do so, much as OnPay and other competitors do. But it’s more comprehensive than the competition; most sites begin the process using the setup tool, but then you’re on your own to explore the site’s settings. Unlimited Chat, email, and phone support are available should you need help.
Knit People
Knit People helps your startup, mid-sized business, and even accounting firm’s HR teams save hours of work and admin costs with their unified HR and full-service payroll software. Features include employee self-onboarding, direct deposits, online pay stubs, important statutory records, tax assistance, health-related remittances, automation, reports, performance reviews, and time tracking.
Not only do you get full-service payroll and employee benefits features, but also employee information storage, an employee self-service portal where they can make updates to their personal records. Knit People also offers easy-to-understand payroll reports. Their uber-affordable rate, particularly if you’re on the basic plan, makes them a good option for startups or small teams.
Little but significant details in the payroll processes like unchangeable dates, time zones and weekend shifts, and limited customization functionality on certain features are some things that make Knit People a bit of a challenge to work with. As of writing, they do not have a mobile app just yet.
Knit People integrates with Quickbooks Online, Xero, and TSheets.
Conclusion
With today’s economic climate it is all the more important to keep an eye on your business’s financial data. One of the most useful tools is using desktop payroll software to help with the management of your business accounting. You can use this software to control your cash flow and help your business optimize its time and budget by helping you process overtime, sick pay, holiday payouts, etc.