Intuit QuickBooks Payroll integrates beautifully with Intuit QuickBooks Online, though you can also use it as a standalone payroll service, as the best payroll services allow. Its payroll processing capabilities are great, as is its usability. Intuit has made a number of improvements to the site over the last year including to the user experience, mobile access, payroll history imports, document uploads, and the payroll runs themselves. While QuickBooks Payroll is a good choice for some, our Editors’ Choice winners are ADP Run for growing small businesses, Gusto for novice payroll managers, and OnPay for larger SMBs and those in vertical industries. How Much Does QuickBooks Payroll Cost?QuickBooks Payroll comes in three tiers of service: Core, Premium (the version I reviewed), and Elite. QuickBooks Payroll Core is $45 per month plus $6 per worker per month. It lacks features like time tracking, same-day direct deposit, and expert support. QuickBooks’ prices are on the high end for payroll for SMBs. The Premium tier, for example, is among the most expensive of all the payroll services I review for small to medium businesses. It’s $80 per month plus $8 per worker per month. Only Gusto Plus is more expensive at $80 per month plus $12 per worker per month. QuickBooks Elite (a tier that I did not review) is $125 per month plus $10 per employee per month. It adds expert setup and tax protection services.
The lowest cost payroll service I’ve reviewed is Patriot Software Full Service Payroll at $37 per month plus $4 per worker per month, plus the price of add-ons. But OnPay has the best value, at $40 per month plus $6 per worker per month.How Do You Get Started With QuickBooks Payroll?If you’ve been using Gusto, ADP, or Paychex to process your payroll to date, you can automatically upload employee and state tax data reports into QuickBooks Payroll. Users of other online applications can enter payroll history using paystubs and reports from past payrolls. If you’re starting fresh, you can follow the step-by-step setup instructions provided. Since accuracy is paramount here, you may need assistance from Intuit, which also offers an expert payroll setup review.
Intuit has simplified the process of setting up the included integration with QuickBooks Time by merging it with payroll setup, so you don’t have to leave QuickBooks Payroll for this task. This combination provides the most in-depth, flexible time tracking of any application I reviewed.What Sets QuickBooks Payroll Apart?QuickBooks Payroll’s strongest attribute is its ability to integrate seamlessly with QuickBooks Online. Patriot Software also offers an integrated accounting application, but it’s not anywhere near as full-featured.Intuit is known for building top-notch user experiences into its financial products. QuickBooks Payroll is no exception, though pages tend to sprawl and require excessive scrolling. Overall, the app is attractive and understandable, and navigation cues are plentiful and easy to follow. But Gusto and ADP Run are exceptional in this regard.Working With Employee RecordsCreating employee records takes a lot of time in any payroll app. Managers can minimize their work by inviting employees to enter some of their own information, but there’s still a lot to do. For example, you have to add employment details, such as pay schedule, earnings types like salary or hourly (you can add multiple types for the same worker), and additional compensation types like overtime, holiday pay, bonus, and deductions. You can set up accrual policies for vacation and sick pay, for example, and withholding information from W-4s. There’s nothing significant missing in QuickBooks Payroll’s worker records, though OnPay and Gusto allow a bit more detail and flexibility, and they display the records in a way that makes them faster to access.You set up records and run payroll for contractors separately. QuickBooks doesn’t support payment of global contractors, as Gusto does.
(Credit: Intuit/PCMag)
How Do You Run a Payroll With QuickBooks?As is true of all online payroll services, running payroll in QuickBooks Payroll could only take a few minutes if you’ve entered all earnings types and deductions and other withholding in employee records. It also depends on how many employees you have and how varied their earning types and hours are. QuickBooks Payroll supports automatic payroll and unscheduled payrolls.
(Credit: Intuit/PCMag)
There are multiple ways to get hours for your hourly workers into the payroll run: manually, from QuickBooks Payroll/QuickBooks Time’s own time entries (browser-based or via the employee Workforce app), or from the QuickBooks Time Kiosk (a tablet or PC-based digital punch clock). This is comparable with what hourly-employee-centric Workful and Square Payroll offer. If you see problems, you can consult employee pages without losing your place in the payroll, make any required changes, and then submit your payroll. The final page shows you the details you need to print checks and ensure you know when direct deposit debits will happen and for how much. Some competitors provide more of a payroll summary here. Gusto, for example, includes a detailed breakdown of taxes and funds being withdrawn by Gusto. It also displays tables of company costs and employee hours and earnings. You can view pay stubs and print checks from here and view/download payroll reports.
(Credit: Intuit/PCMag)
QuickBooks Payroll calculates and submits your payroll taxes as long as you’ve done all the required setup and kept up with any other tax-related work requested by the IRS and state agencies. If you haven’t, you get multiple reminders about your tax readiness. I like how the site now shows this information prominently and tells you what needs to be done—like e-signatures, forms that need filing, and overpayments—and who needs to do it.No Employer App, But Simple Mobile AccessThere’s no employer app for QuickBooks Payroll, but you can access the site through a mobile web browser. It worked well for me in testing. I was able to run a payroll and see reports—with some scrolling. The only time I had to zoom in was on the payroll details page, but that’s a massive table. Employees can use the Workforce mobile app to clock in and out and track scheduled shifts, but several other features aren’t yet available in the app. So workers can log in through a mobile browser to access everything they need, just as employers do.
(Credit: Intuit/PCMag)
Quick Reports as Good as AnyQuickBooks Payroll’s reports are as good as the competition, both in terms of the number of templates included and the customization options (which vary from report to report). You can export reports and print or save them as PDFs and save the settings for customized reports, but you can’t create custom reports like you can in OnPay. Reports display instantly, unlike in Gusto, which sometimes requires a two-step process and a new browser tab.
(Credit: Intuit/PCMag)
Some online payroll services partner with major benefits brokers to provide choice, ease of use, and expert guidance to payroll managers. These interactive tools are built into the site itself and integrate with payroll. Intuit partners with Allstate Health Solutions for medical insurance (more than 200 nationwide and local carriers) and Guideline for 401(k) retirement plans. You also get access to certified HR advisors and compliance support. You can bring your own benefits and set up deductions and contributions to them within QuickBooks Payroll, too.
(Credit: Intuit/PCMag)
What Kind of Help and Support Does QuickBooks Payroll Provide?You can choose from two types of self-service help in QuickBooks Payroll: an AI assistant and a search bar. The Assistant “converses” with you to try to answer your questions. As you’d expect, the search tool looks for help files in response to keywords or phrases you enter. Both direct you to corresponding pages on the site and provide step-by-step instructions. Help is also available via chat and phone.Is QuickBooks Payroll Safe to Use?Intuit safeguards the information you share by incorporating industry best practices. The innovative technology it uses is designed to stop fraudsters in their tracks and ensures only you can access your account.Is QuickBooks Payroll Right for Your Business?I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend QuickBooks Payroll for a business that’s already using QuickBooks Online—the two applications work together flawlessly. As a standalone payroll app, however, it’s expensive and looks barren compared with competitors. Overall, we recommend Editors’ Choice winners Gusto for novices, OnPay for larger SMBs, and ADP Run for small businesses that are growing.
Intuit QuickBooks Payroll
Pros
Simple, understandable user experience
Flexible, thorough setup
Deep integration with QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Time
Good, customizable reports
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Cons
Expensive
Limited employee mobile apps
Post-payroll wrap-up could be improved
Standalone version toolbar looks barren
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The Bottom Line
QuickBooks Payroll has excellent, easy-to-use tools for managing payroll, whether or not you use it with QuickBooks Online. It’s expensive and not as flexible nor as robust as some competitors, however.
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