If you operate a small business or are just maintaining an income, then at some point you’re going to have to learn how to use accounting software. It can be overwhelming if this is your first time using an accounting program. Simple Free Accounting Software for Small Business will help take the frustration out of finding the right accounting program for your situation.
If you are looking for free accounting software for your small business, you don’t know where to start. Well here you can find everything you need to choose the best option for your company.
Best Payroll Software for Small Business in Detail
OnPay – Best Small Business Payroll Software of 2021OnPay »
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Best Small Business Payroll Software of 2021360 OVERALL RATING
4.2 out of 5MONTHLY FEE$36 + $4/Payee and UpDIRECT DEPOSITTRIAL PERIOD30 DaysPRIORITY SUPPORTMORE DETAILSSEE REVIEW
OnPay: OnPay is No. 1 on our Best Small Business Payroll Software of 2021 rating. It offers straightforward pricing that will cost your small business $36, plus $4 per person per month. That fee gets you access to all of OnPay’s features, including unlimited payroll runs, state and federal tax filings, and accounting and time tracking software integrations. OnPay’s customer service will set up your account for you, including adding in your employees’ information and helping you integrate any compatible business software. The payroll software comes with OnPay’s human resources (HR) software that gives you access to tools for onboarding, tracking paid time off (PTO), document storage, and HR auditing. Your company will also have the ability to add and manage employee benefits.
OnPay is also ready to help small businesses in special situations, such as restaurants with minimum wage tip makeup, agricultural workers that need to file Form 943, workers on H-2A visas, and nonprofits and churches that are exempt from federal unemployment taxes (FUTA).
Read more in our full OnPay review.
Patriot – Best Payroll Software for StartupsPatriot »
Best Payroll Software for Startups360 OVERALL RATING
4.0 out of 5MONTHLY FEE$10 + $4/Payee and UpDIRECT DEPOSITTRIAL PERIOD30 DaysPRIORITY SUPPORTMORE DETAILSSEE REVIEW
Patriot: Patriot comes in at No. 2 on our Best Payroll Software for Small Businesses rating. It offers the most affordable plan in our payroll software ratings, starting at just $10, plus $4 per payee per month for its Self-Service plan. Small business owners may be attracted to Patriot by the price alone, but even at such a low cost, Patriot offers its users comparable features to most other payroll providers. Patriot will set up your account for you and allow you to process unlimited payroll runs, at any frequency, across multiple office locations. You can integrate payroll with Patriot’s accounting software or QuickBooks, and use Patriot Time and Attendance or TSheets to track your employees’ hours. And Patriot offers an add-on HR service for $6, plus $2 per employee per month.
However, Patriot’s Self-Service plan does not cover your payroll taxes. If you want to automate your local, state, and federal taxes, you will need to get Patriot’s Full Service plan for $30, plus $4 per payee per month.
Read more in our full Patriot review.
Square – Best Payroll Software for ContractorsSquare »
Best Payroll Software for Contractors360 OVERALL RATING
3.8 out of 5MONTHLY FEE$29 + $5/Payee and UpDIRECT DEPOSITTRIAL PERIODN/APRIORITY SUPPORTMORE DETAILSSEE REVIEW
Square: No. 3 in our small business ratings is Square’s payroll software. Another payroll software with simple pricing, you get access to everything Square offers for $29, plus $5 per employee per month. And if your business only needs to pay contractors, Square waves the monthly fee of $29 and will only charge you $5 per payee per month. Square is ideal for small businesses that are already using one of Square’s other business products, such as its point-of-sales (POS) system. The payroll software integrates with Square’s POS and the Square Team app to help you manage your business. It will sync all of your business’s data together, including your employees’ hours and your company’s sales data. And payroll can be run from anywhere using the Square Payroll App from your cell phone.
However, you don’t have to use other Square products to make Square payroll software a good choice for you. It is compatible with third-party software, such as QuickBooks Online, and it has free seasonal inactivity, which will benefit small businesses, like pop-up shops, that only run certain months of the year.
Read more in our full Square review.
Intuit QuickBooks – Best Payroll for Quick Direct Deposit
Intuit QuickBooks »
Best Payroll for Quick Direct Deposit360 OVERALL RATING
3.6 out of 5MONTHLY FEE$45 + $4/Payee and UpDIRECT DEPOSITTRIAL PERIOD30 DaysPRIORITY SUPPORTMORE DETAILSSEE REVIEW
Intuit QuickBooks: The Best Payroll Software for Small Businesses rating is rounded out with Intuit QuickBooks in the No. 4 spot. Intuit QuickBooks offers three tiers of payroll software. The Core plan offers a great deal of value for small business owners. It will help you automate your payroll and federal and state taxes for $45, plus $4 per employee per month. You can also add 401(k) retirement plans and health benefits for your employees to the Core plan. If you want HR support and workers compensation administration, you will need to go with one of QuickBooks’s higher-tier plans, known as Premium or Elite. However, the higher-tier plans are more expensive and may be out of the standard small business’s budget.
A key difference between Intuit QuickBooks and the rest of the payroll providers in our ratings is that all of its plans provide quick direct deposit. While the average direct deposit in our ratings takes four days after payroll processing, with some companies offering faster deposits at higher-tier plans, QuickBooks Core has next-day direct deposit, and Premium and Elite provide same-day deposits. This can make all the difference to your employees because the American Payroll Association reports that “49% of U.S. workers will leave a job after experiencing just two problems with their paychecks,” including late payments.
Intuit QuickBooks is also the ideal choice for accountants. It provides its Elite payroll plan for free to accounting firms using QuickBooks Online Accountant. The construction industry can also benefit from QuickBooks. Its payroll services are used by 30,000 construction small businesses to help manage the tax laws surrounding their industry.
Read more in our full Intuit QuickBooks review.
What Is Small Business Payroll Software?
Payroll Software is the modern solution to paying your employee’s wages and filing your payroll taxes. While the process used to require hours of a business owner’s time or hiring HR or accounting staff to manage a payroll calendar, payroll software offers an efficient means of automating much of the payroll process.
Instead of manually calculating payroll, tracking your employee’s hours, writing checks, and deducting taxes, payroll software can automatically process your company’s payroll using integrated time and attendance software to sync your staff’s hours. And the American Payroll Association states that “organizations using a solution that has both timekeeping and payroll capabilities were 44% more likely to have a payroll error rate at 2% or less.” Therefore, payroll software offers small businesses a more efficient way to manage their payroll process, cutting back on manual effort and giving business owners more time to invest in running their business.
Overall Score: 4.66 OUT OF 5
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
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 37 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.
QuickBooks Payroll: Best Payroll Solution for QuickBooks Accounting Software Users
Overall Score: 4.62 OUT OF 5
What We Like
- Seamlessly integrates with
- Offers same- and next-day direct deposits
- Unlimited pay runs with automated payroll tax filings (federal and state)
- Its mobile app lets you run payroll and e-file taxes even while on the go
What’s Missing
- Automated local tax filings available only in higher tiers
- Lacks a contractor-only plan
- Basic HR features
- Doesn’t have mobile apps for employee self-service (only offers a workforce portal you can access online)
QuickBooks Payroll Pricing
- Core: $45 per month + $4 per employee monthly
- Premium: $75 per month + $8 per employee monthly
- Elite: $125 per month + $10 per employee monthly
Read Full ReviewVisit QuickBooks Payroll
QuickBooks Payroll is the best option for most QuickBooks accounting users; it integrates seamlessly—you access it within the same system with the click of a button—and all information flows throughout both systems (you don’t have to enter twice). Like Gusto, it offers full-service payroll with automated tax filings (federal and state, local taxes if subscribed to the Elite plan), year-end reporting (W-2s and 1099s), and an online portal where employees can access their pay stubs, tax forms, and PTO balances. QuickBooks Payroll also has fast direct deposits—its standard timeline is next-day but has same-day options if you get one of its higher tiers.
In our evaluation, QuickBooks Payroll earned a 4.62 out of 5 with perfect scores in ease of use, pricing, and reporting capabilities. While all of its per criteria ratings are 4 and above, it scored the lowest in HR features (4.13 out of 5), mainly because it doesn’t file new hire state reports (it only generates them) and you have to get its premium plan if you want time tracking and expert advice from a personal HR adviser. However, many users still appreciate its ease of use, especially its seamless integration with QuickBooks accounting. A few others complained about having experienced occasional software glitches, while some said that it can be pricey for small businesses.
QuickBooks Payroll Features
- Automatic and unlimited payroll: You can approve and set payroll to run automatically with QuickBooks. It also lets you process payroll as many times as your business requires.
- Automated payroll tax services: Like most of the payroll providers on this list, QuickBooks Payroll handles all tax calculations, payments, and filings (including year-end reporting) for you. However, its tax filing services only cover federal and state taxes. You have to be on an Elite plan if you want automated local tax filings—otherwise, you’ll have to enter the local tax rates yourself.
- Fast direct deposits: Apart from next-day direct deposits, you can pay employees through same-day direct deposit at no extra cost, provided you subscribe to QuickBooks Payroll’s higher tiers. Note that most of the providers on this list have a standard two-day processing time—although Square Payroll offers instant payments if you have a Square Payments account.
- Tax penalty protection: QuickBooks will cover the penalty and interest for any payroll tax error for up to $25,000 a year—regardless of who made the mistake. Note that you must purchase its Elite plan to have your errors covered. Experts will also represent you before the IRS and concerned agencies and will assist you to resolve the problem. No other providers on our list will offer to represent you to help fix tax issues or cover mistakes you make under any circumstance.
- Payroll and tax filing while on the go: With QuickBooks Payroll apps (for iOS and Android), you can process payroll, pay taxes, and e-file tax forms in all 50 states. Square Payroll, ADP Run, and Paychex may let you run employee payroll on its mobile apps, but they don’t have the tax e-filing feature that QuickBooks Payroll offers.
QuickBooks Payroll’s Drawbacks
- Lacks mobile apps for employee self-service: While QuickBooks Payroll has a workforce portal where employees can check PTO balances, access pay slips, and view tax forms, its self-service tool doesn’t have a mobile app version. We recommend either Square Payroll, ADP Run, Homebase Payroll, and Paycor since these providers offer mobile apps for employee self-service. Gusto’s financial management app, Gusto Wallet, also lets you view pay stubs and W-2s but doesn’t show PTO details.
- Tax penalty protection can be costly: Compared to the other providers in this guide, QuickBooks Payroll offers more robust tax penalty protection for its clients that includes representing your business before the IRS to help address tax issues. However, coverage for its tax penalty protection is expensive since you have to sign up for its highest tier, Elite, which costs $125 per month plus $10 per employee monthly.
Conclusion
As a small business owner it’s very important to have a payroll and tax software. I’ve been running my company for the past 12 years and have been using a local payroll for all this time. It was convenient but also expensive. In fact, it cost me over 20% of my total labor costs to get it done! That’s a lot of money for something I figured could be automated with a little bit of research… So I did just that, and hired a developer to do it! And did I save money? You bet!