Rat Race Armaggeddon: Paychex Review

Paychex offers an all-in-one, highly customizable online payroll service and HR solution.

It includes payroll, HR, business insurance, attendance tracking, payment processing, and employee benefits.

Users can find tax credits and ensure regulatory compliance with help from Paychex experts and guides.

Paychex has solutions for solopreneurs all the way to large corporations in multiple industries.

Paychex Pros and Cons

Pros

Fits All Business Sizes
Tax Credits Feature
Benefits Packages
Payment Processing Solutions
Business Insurance Options

Cons

Tedious Sign-Up Process
Complex Platform Structure
No Free Trial

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How Paychex Compares to Top Online Payroll Services

Paychex is the best online payroll service for complex payroll cycles. It is a highly flexible platform suited for businesses of all sizes and various industries. It offers services for everything from employee payroll to business insurance and is a great platform for implementing employee benefits and tax credits.

Paychex isn’t the only payroll service that could fit your needs, however. If you want a smoother tax season, QuickBooks Payroll is an excellent option. Consider purchasing Gusto if you’re looking for a more straightforward platform. Check out our helpful guide for the complete list of our top online payroll services.

Paychex Management & Employee Self-Service

A Paychex small business survey concluded that 73% of employees expected self-service options for tasks like requesting time off, entering bank information, and managing retirement accounts. Self-service options make tasks more efficient and cut out the middleman when entering data.

Paychex provides self-service options when employees log into People View. Here, they can complete tasks like updating tax withholding and entering personal information. Employees can submit pay adjustments, request time off, view time-off balances and work schedules, and approve timecards.

Self-service options are also available using Paychex’s mobile app. Workers can clock in, schedule meal breaks, and transfer hours from the app. They can schedule and request shift times and leave notes for managers as well.

Paychex Multi-State Tax Filings

Because remote work has become more mainstream, it can be beneficial to have a payroll service that considers multi-state tax filings. This is because employees may be working in a different location than a company’s headquarters. It’s always important to ensure your employees are filing state taxes correctly, and Paychex can help with this.

Paychex helps users with payroll tax payment, payroll tax calculations, ensuring taxes are filed with the right agency, and eliminating inaccurate or late payment penalties. You should reach out to Paychex directly to address your specific needs for more information on multi-state employee taxes.

Paychex also helps companies find tax credits, and users only pay after credits are found. For example, some states offer tax credits as high as $3,000 per employee to spur economic growth. Paychex helps companies find these location-based credits and reduce their income liability.

In addition to state tax credits, Paychex also helps with credits for domestic production deduction, grant screening, training incentives, cost segregation, and research and development (R&D).

Users can search for work opportunity tax credits (WOTC) by hiring from groups like unemployed veterans and food stamp recipients. To qualify for this credit, wages and hours must be tracked, and applicant pre-screening forms must be filled out.

Its experts also track regulation and legislation updates, manage seven-year audit trail documentation, create an annual tax return report, and log employee wages, hours, and location changes.

Paychex Specialized Payroll Solutions

Some payroll services focus on a niche group of businesses, while others have options for all types. Paychex is a comprehensive and flexible platform that can be customized for startups to large enterprises. When applying for Paychex, you have the option to complete a quiz to assess needs and must contact a Paychex expert for quotes.

Paychex partners with MyCorporation to let self-employed users create filings for federal tax IDs, corporate formations, business licenses, and state IDs. Users can make 401(k) contributions as an employee and employer. It also helps them with W-2 and W-4 filing and direct deposits.

Small businesses with one to nine employees get three pay entry options, multiple payment options, flexible payroll processing, 24/7 customer service, plus recruiting, benefits, and HR services. Paychex also provides users with articles and tutorials on the mobile app and payroll tax filing and payments.

Businesses with 10 to 49 employees receive specific Paychex midsize business solutions. These include more efficient payroll processing, compliance services, customized payroll solutions, extra HR support, analytics and reporting insights, and additional benefit packages.

If your company has over 1,000 employees, Paychex also has solutions for you. These include large business solution integrations, more flexible HR technology, scalable HR support, access to compliance experts, and single employee records.

Paychex Pay Cycle Frequency

Some online payroll services restrict how often users can run payroll. Fortunately, Paychex offers a highly customizable service where users can design their payroll structure precisely as needed. It suits businesses of any size and industry, so it understands that pay cycle frequency and other options must be highly customizable.

Users can design complex payroll cycles and variable schedules with this platform. In addition, users can customize earnings, deductions, payment options, self-service options, and more.

Paychex All-in-One Benefits

As far as employee benefits are concerned, Paychex has got you covered. It has an entire service dedicated to employee benefits. Options include individual health insurance, 401(k) plans, group health insurance, dental and vision insurance, premium-only plans (POP), flexible spending accounts (FSA), and health savings accounts (HSA).

It lets users offer comprehensive financial wellness programs to employees. These plans have been proven to reduce employee stress, improve productivity, and increase loyalty. These financial wellness programs help employees budget for insurance, taxes, savings, investing, debt and credit management, and household expenses.

Paychex is an experienced retirement plan provider and has the U.S.’s top 401(k) recordkeeper expertise. Users have access to benefits administration, employee benefit self-service, full-service management, and flexible plan options. Its mobile app lets employees stay updated on things like health, retirement, and Section 125 plans.

Paychex users also gain access to its professional employer organization (PEO) services. These are designed to help companies afford more expensive all-in-one benefits. Users will get professional service, detailed invoicing, and access to safety representatives for help with OSHA regulatory compliance.

Paychex PEO services can help with things like workers’ compensation insurance, health benefit accounts, state unemployment insurance (SUI) management, employee assistance programs (EAP), health benefit accounts, group health insurance, employment practices liability insurance (EPLI), employee benefits management, employee performance administration, and more.

Paychex Payroll Services

Paychex’s premier focus is on its payroll services. It has several flexible plans suited for businesses of any size. It has won awards for best user experience and vendor satisfaction, and it has 24/7 customer support.

When you sign up with Paychex, its team helps you set up your year-to-date payroll data. Customer support options include a knowledge base of how-to guides and articles, in-app assistance options, live chat access, and regular support from experienced professionals.

It provides users with a simple platform and mobile app with three pay entry options. It also improves accuracy by alerting users when something goes wrong. For example, users will receive an error notification when an employee’s online pay stub doesn’t match their record. Employees can access W-2s, check stubs, and other payroll information.

Paychex’s payment options include pay-on-demand, paper checks, pay cards, and direct deposit.

Paychex Payroll Services and other Paychex solutions are part of Paychex Flex, and they can be paired together depending on each business’s needs. Paychex Go is another option meant for smaller businesses.

Paychex Time Clocks

Paychex Time Clocks is a cloud-based system that’s fully integrated with Paychex Flex. It can be used to track time and attendance and imports the data into the other HR solutions. It also helps with remote workforce scheduling and management, compliance and safety support, and extended leave and time-off tracking.

To make sure employees are paid accurately, you can automate time and attendance tracking. This platform makes administrative tasks easier to perform and streamlines scheduling requests. It also keeps operations running smoothly by helping users navigate fluctuating employee dynamics.

Users can clock in through its InVision Iris Time Clock, web punch, mobile app, or tablet kiosk app with an option to set up facial recognition. Users can see when employees are working, taking a break, or taking time off. Users can manage teams, approve timesheets, and review requests from the manager dashboard.

Paychex HR Services

Paychex HR Services is designed to simplify employee, administrator, and HR team tasks. It helps users comply, administer, and plan every aspect of HR management. It offers users dedicated HR professionals averaging eight years of experience for advice. These experts help guide users through the process and understand important regulatory requirements.

The Paychex experts create a service action plan for your specific needs and show users how to document it and take action. They help with HR duties like performance management, leave of absence policies, and remote work arrangements. The experts also stay up to date on all regulations and inform users of new changes.

The platform helps onboard new hires, discover critical details about candidates, find qualified candidates, conduct interview best practices, and create accurate job descriptions. Users can access reminders, quizzes, videos, and courses from the learning management system to enhance employee retention strategies.

It comes with an HR calendar that keeps users updated on employee work anniversaries and birthdays. To show employees the monetary value of their benefits, users can create a comprehensive compensation summary report. Users can also chat with experts to ensure they comply with federal, state, and local regulations.

Paychex Employee Benefits Services

Paychex Employee Benefits Services allows users to provide employees with retirement services, health insurance, health savings accounts, tax savings plans, dental and vision, and financial wellness programs.

Users can work with a professional employer organization (PEO) to help them afford expensive benefits. Users can also speak with a Paychex professional to assess their needs and create an action plan.

Paychex Employee Benefits Services provides efficient recordkeeping and benefits management. Employees can check Section 125 plans, health plans, retirement plans, and other benefits directly from their desktop or mobile device.

Paychex Business Insurance Solutions

Paychex Business Insurance Solutions helps provide comprehensive coverage for employees, properties, and businesses. This solution helps with compliance, billing, deductions, and selecting the best provider. Paychex partners with top carriers, has over 20 years of experience, and has been rated a top 25 insurance agency for the past five years.

Users can bundle business protection with a business owner’s policy (BOP) to cover business risks. Cyber liability insurance helps protect against the growing number of hackers and cybercriminals. Entire fleets or single vehicles can be covered from work-related accidents with commercial auto insurance.

For protection against wrongful termination, workplace violence, discrimination, and harassment claims, employers can use Paychex to purchase an employment practices liability insurance (EPLI) policy. Contractor, employee, manager, and owner mistakes can be protected with professional liability insurance.

To extend the limits of other policies, employers can purchase a commercial umbrella plan. Damaged equipment, inventory, and buildings can be protected with commercial property insurance. Paychex users can also find general liability insurance policies and workers’ compensation insurance.

Paychex Payment Processing Solutions

Paychex has the latest technology for payment processing needs. In addition to payment processing, this platform enhances customer engagement with automated emails, upgrades decision-making with inventory and sales data, and offers more efficient employee management.

Users can completely customize their payment process with online payment services, debit and credit card processing, point of sale (POS) solutions, eCheck processing, automatic clearing house (ACH) payment, transparent pricing, PCI compliance notifications, interchange optimization, and real-time, same-day, or next-day funding abilities.

Paychex’s credit card processing includes payment from credit cards like MasterCard, Visa, and Discover, along with gift cards and EMV chip cards. It also gives users the ability to add credit card surcharges. International purchasers can be accommodated using dynamic currency conversion and receive receipts showing exchange rate details and other statistics.

Users can take payments with PC, iPad, iPhone, and Android devices. Users can accommodate additional customers, get paid faster, and save processing costs through electronic processing. Paychex integrates with QuickBooks, and it has PCI DSS compliance reminders to protect users from liability and fraud issues.