CPA Practice Advisor - 10

REVIEW: PAYROLL SYSTEMS

By Mary Girsch-Bock

Payroll Mistakes Can Result In Long Lines

1099 FORMS FILER/AMS PAYROLL
CENTERPOINT PAYROLL
CHECKMARK
CREST PAYROLL
CYMA PAYROLL
DENALI PAYROLL
GUSTO
INTUIT ONLINE PAYROLL
JUSTWORKS
ONPAY
PAYCHEX FLEX
PAYROLL MATE
PAYROLL RELIEF
RUN POWERED BY ADP
SURE PAYROLL
THOMSON ACCOUNTING CS
PAYROLL
WOLTERS KLUWER TAX &
ACCOUNTING PAYROLL

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OCTOBER 2019 ■

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*LIMITED TO 5 STATES **LIMITED TO PAYSTUB/W-2 ACCESS

10

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do these items need to be deducted
properly from an employee's gross
pay, they also need to be paid to someone, such as an insurance company,
a financial management company,
the IRS, and other appropriate tax
authorities. If that isn't enough, the
payroll department is also responsible
for tracking employee sick time, vacation time, comp time, and PTO. Payroll
staff needs to be sure that employees
C LO
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IL A B ION
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ESS

Today, payroll departments have
the added responsibility of paying
both employees and contractors: some
hourly, some salaried, some a flat fee.
Deductions need to be entered and
managed including standard deductions such as federal and state taxes
along with a long list of voluntary
deductions such as health insurance,
life insurance, accident insurance, and
supplemental insurance, along with
retirement plan deductions, stock
purchase deductions, HSA deductions,
and a whole bunch more. Not only

products that offer many if not all of
the features you're looking for.
Unfortunately, there is no real way
to try out a payroll application prior
to purchasing, so it's best that you do
your due diligence before making a
commitment. Yes, demos are available
for many of the applications, and I
always encourage folks to try them
out if they can, but details such as
tax remittances and payroll funding
dates cannot be answered by a demo,
instead they will need to be addressed
with the vendor directly.
Whether you're looking for a
payroll service for your client's small
business, or you're looking for a
comprehensive application you can
utilize for your firm and clients, these
payroll reviews should help to narrow
the field down to the a few products
that may be right for you. ■
Mary Girsch-Bock is a freelance writer
specializing in business and technology
issues and is the author of her first book,
several HR handbooks, training manuals,
and other in-house publications. She can
be reached at mary.girschbock@cpapracticeadvisor.com

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for explanations of deductions (why is my health insurance so
much?), while a few wanted to know why their vacation time was
so low, or why they didn't have any PTO left. The bottom line is
that while other departments can make data entry mistakes and
correct them with no repercussion, a payroll mistake will result
in long lines and will require an immediate explanation.

are paid properly if they work overtime, and it is the responsibility of
the payroll department to ensure that
neither the employee or the company
is abusing federal labor laws.
Which is why more businesses
are looking for one of two things: a
payroll software that simplifies the
entire process, or an accounting firm
that offers payroll processing. But how
do you know which payroll application
is best for your needs, whether those
needs be to enable your client to process payroll, or for your firm to offer
payroll processing for your client?
In this issue, we've reviewed 17
payroll applications that suit everyone
from the one-person office to the
CPA firm that is handling payroll for
multiple clients. While some products
fit into one of those categories, others
have a broader reach and can work in
a variety of scenarios.
As with all of our reviews, we've
included a chart that highlights
common functions found in each
of these applications, allowing you
to narrow down your choices to the

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FOR YEARS, EVERY other Friday, when paychecks were disbursed,
co-workers would line up outside my office, thankfully not for
me, but for our staff payroll person, whose office was down the
hall from mine. It never failed, not a payday went by without the
line appearing. Some weeks it was just a few people, other times
the line curled around the corner. Many of the concerns were
legitimate; hours worked that didn't appear on their check, or
overtime miscalculated or even missing. But others were asking

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CPA Practice Advisor

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