Paying your employees can be a tedious process that eats into your productivity. As a small business owner, the last thing you need is to spend hours looking for free payroll software Canada to help you navigate these complicated waters. In this post, you’ll learn about some of the best Canadian payroll software – both free and paid – available to help you.
Do you need to know about the best free payroll software in Canada? Do you want to learn about the free payroll software for small businesses in Canada? Check out this Canadian payroll software for free.
Ceridian
If you want a payroll plan that handles just about every aspect of human resources, we recommend Ceridian Dayforce. Why? Because Ceridian offers much more than just payroll deductions and payroll tax remittance. This total HCM solution covers payroll, benefits, workforce management, and most other HR-related tasks. Ceridian payroll services are also packed with unique features that many providers neglect, including the following:
- Multi-jurisdictional tax calculation, withholding, and filing
- Real-time payroll register (no need to wait until the end of the pay period to make revisions)
- Talent management, including recruiting and onboarding
- Workforce management, including a labour management system
Not quite big enough for an enterprise-level payroll solution? Ceridian Powerplay offers HR and payroll software for companies with fewer than 100 employees.
Per the customer review site Trustradius, most Ceridian payroll services customers are satisfied with their product. They do, however, wish for better customer service, more customized reporting features, and better employee time tracking.1
Pros
Extensive employee self-service features
Thorough HR solutions
Highly rated mobile app
Cons
The software learning curve required
Middling customer service reputation
ADP Workforce Now
OverviewTo helps you narrow things down and choose the right payroll provider, we’ve created a handy guide to the best payroll software in Canada. The information in this guide summarizes user-submitted testimonials, online reviews, and product descriptions to provide you with a candid and comprehensive look at the different payroll options available. With all the facts at your fingertips, this guide will equip you with the information you need to choose the best payroll software solution for your needs.StrengthsWhen it comes to ADP Workforce Now, the biggest benefit is that the software is an all-in-one payroll, HR, time, talent, and benefits platform. This means that companies can manage most back-office administration in one place. ADP Workforce Now also supports real-time updates across all systems, eliminating the need for additional data entry. On the employee side of things, the self-service employee portal offers useful tools such as time-tracking, scheduling, PTO requests, and benefits management—all of which make for a great user experience. These features are also accessible through the Workforce Now mobile app. Employees particularly appreciate the self-serve employee portal as it allows them to access their payment information without the need to go through HR or their payroll administrator.
As ADP primarily serves enterprise companies, the opportunities for customization and add-on modules make it easy for large businesses to tailor the platform to their exact needs. This means that ADP can handle even the most complex payrolls for hundreds to thousands of employees at a time—something that smaller payroll providers are often unable to support.WeaknessesOne of the biggest drawbacks with ADP Workforce Now is the interface, which is frequently described as unintuitive and tricky to navigate without proper training. Some users have also suggested that the interface is outdated and slow when compared to other cloud platforms. This is primarily because of ADPs size and its inability to push updates as quickly and frequently as smaller payroll startups.
Other user reviews suggest that implementation is difficult and requires a lot of hand-holding. This also means that when knowledgeable administrators leave, the platform is difficult for others to use. However, this is to be expected with most enterprise software. Who is this software best for? When considering ADP Workforce Now, it’s important to take costs and implementation time into account. ADP’s high implementation fees and add-on pricing structure can be a barrier for small businesses with limited budgets. Moreover, ADP’s fee structure is dependent on factors such as employee count, pay schedule, integration requirements, and more, which can raise the total cost of using the product. The level of customer support needed is another factor to consider. Because ADP largely deals with enterprise companies, support is less personalized and less flexible. For smaller companies that need more frequent and responsive support, ADP may be a poor fit.
Though ADP offers a variety of plans for businesses of all sizes, the platform is primarily built for large enterprises. This means that for large businesses with hundreds to thousands of employees, ADPs integrations, customizations, and accessibility make it a frontrunner.
Wagepoint
Wagepoint’s payroll software offers straightforward automatic payroll processing and little else—which is good news for Canadian small businesses with few employees. If you have hourly employees, Wagepoint integrates easily with popular time-tracking software like TSheets, Deputy, and 7Shifts. Or, if you pay your salaried employees the same amount at regular intervals, you can set Wagepoint to pay them automatically without having to lift a finger.
Wagepoint’s pricing structure is based on how often you pay your employees and how many employees you have. For instance, paying one employee weekly costs $12 per payroll run. Each additional employee-paid costs an extra two dollars per run. Paying one employee bi-weekly, semi-monthly, or monthly costs $22 per payroll run (plus $2 per additional employee).
However, Wagepoint isn’t a good choice if you need on-the-go payroll. While the small-business payroll program has a (poorly reviewed) time-tracking app for employees, it still lacks a mobile payroll app. And, as we said, it’s not suited to small businesses that want an all-in-one payroll and HR company.
Pros
Affordable full-service payroll
Good customer service reputation
User-friendly software with a low learning curve
Cons
No mobile app
No built-in HR features
Deluxe Payroll (formerly Payweb)
OverviewEstablished in 1967, Deluxe Payroll (formerly known as Pay web) is one of Canada’s longest-serving payroll providers. Deluxe Payroll serves companies with 1 to 1,000 employees across Canada, including Quebec. Deluxe Payroll also offers an HRIS solution that can serve as a stand-alone system or integrate with the company’s Payroll and Time & Attendance solutions.StrengthsOne of Deluxe Payroll’s major strengths is the number of reports available to users. Deluxe Payroll offers over 50 different payroll reports, such as the Payroll Register and Vacation Accrual Report. All of these reports are provided in PDF format as soon as payroll is processed and are fully downloadable into Microsoft Excel. Deluxe Payroll also offers some non-standard reports such as General Ledger, Worker’s Compensation Board, and PIER (CPP and EI audit report).
Though it is not included with the payroll package, companies that are looking for a more extensive HR program can take advantage of Deluxe Payroll’s Employee Assistance Program solutions. These solutions go beyond basic HR software to include HR policy templates, on-demand consultations with HR professionals, telephone counseling for struggling employees, and more. Though most smaller companies will not need such extensive HR solutions, larger companies may appreciate the option to add on these services.
Finally, many employers appreciate Deluxe Payroll’s easy-to-use time and attendance feature. Deluxe boasts a drag-and-drop calendar feature that makes it easy for employers to change the schedule week to week. Deluxe also has an AI auto-scheduling system that optimizes cost and optimal coverage. Though most 9-to-5 businesses won’t need this kind of detailed scheduling, the feature is useful for industries such as retail, restaurants, and construction.WeaknessesAs one of the oldest payroll platforms in Canada, the overall look and feel of Deluxe’s platform can sometimes seem a bit outdated. Though the platform is still described by users as intuitive, the user interface is not as sleek or as user-friendly as some of the newer payroll startups.
Like many of the other larger payroll providers, Deluxe’s pricing system varies based on the payroll processing, the reporting integration, and the number of employees. This means that the cost of running payroll can vary dramatically and can only be determined by speaking with a sales representative. Some smaller companies may not be willing to invest the time of going through the rigamarole of a sales pitch to determine the cost of running payroll.
While Deluxe’s size and long history as a payroll provider are a benefit in some ways, it also means that the company is not necessarily as agile as some of the smaller payroll sizes. Like other major providers such as ADP and Ceridian, the sheer size of Deluxe’s platform means updates take longer to roll out. For those who like to provide feedback and see platforms evolve with their business, Deluxe may not have the speed and flexibility to keep up.
Who is this software best for? Though Deluxe Payroll services companies in a wide variety of industries, the software is most popular among contractors, healthcare workers, restaurants, and retailers. This is large because of the software’s robust time and attendance feature, which boasts AI scheduling and even a time clock powered by facial recognition. Deluxe Payroll also offers a specific package for franchises.
However, because Deluxe focuses on these industries, companies with more straightforward payroll may find some of Deluxe’s features unnecessary. For instance, companies with largely salaried employees working the same hours each week may not get the full use out of Deluxe Payroll’s software and its additional services.
Conclusion
Payroll software is a must-have tool for small business owners operating in Canada – big or small – who want to be able to manage their operations and financials. The free payroll software helps you do this by making automated payroll a breeze to deal with – process reconciliation, mailing out tax forms, payment reminders, the whole lot.