CPA Practice Advisor - 8

REVIEW: PAYROLL SYSTEMS

By Mary Girsch-Bock

The Importance of Payroll Cannot Be Overstated

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8

OCTOBER 2020 ■

www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com

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1099 FORMS FILER/AMS PAYROLL
CHECKMARK
CREST PAYROLL
GUSTO
INTUIT ONLINE PAYROLL
JUSTWORKS
ONPAY
PAYCHEX FLEX
PAYROLL RELIEF
RIPPLING PAYROLL
RUN POWERED BY ADP
SURE PAYROLL

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their sick and vacation time. Payroll
personnel are also tasked with ensuring the labor laws are being abided
by and that employees are being paid
according to state and federal labor
statutes.
Luckily, there are payroll service
providers available that have made it
easier than ever for businesses of any
size to process payroll. In this issue,
we've looked at 13 of them. These 13
payroll applications vary in capability,
with some designed solely for smaller
businesses, while others are a good fit
for accounting firms processing payroll
for their clients.

d Ve

Like everything else, payroll processing has changed. Years ago, payroll
services were mainly used by larger
companies, and affordable options
were not readily available for smaller
businesses. But the products on the
market today are suitable for businesses of all sizes, with many designed
specifically for smaller businesses.
Today, payroll departments are
responsible for paying employees
and contractors, managing state and
federal deductions, managing payroll
taxes, and processing other deductions
such as health and life insurance,
retirement plan and company matching contributions, HSA deductions,
and even payroll garnishments, when
they're necessary. Payroll departments
also need to track employee sick and
vacation time, and if there's anything
that employees pay attention to, it's

dates directly with the vendor, as these
can vary tremendously between payroll
software and service providers.
Whether you're looking for a payroll
service provider for your client to use,
or looking to use one yourself in order
to offer payroll services to your clients,
the payroll reviews in this issue provide
you with all of the details you need to
make an informed decision that suits
your needs.
In addition to the 12 payroll applications reviewed in this issue of CPA
Practice Advisor, there are five additional
applications we'd like to mention.
These five programs offer a robust
payroll module within their core application and are a perfect fit if you're already
using the application in your business
or your practice. If you use one of these
applications and are in the market for
payroll software, it makes sense to start
with the product you're already using.
■ CenterPoint Accounting - Payroll
■ CYMA - Payroll
■ Cougar Mountain Denali - Payroll
■ Thomson Accounting CS - Payroll
■ Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting
- Payroll

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The products included in this
review are:
■ AccountantsWorld - Payroll Relief
■ ADP - Run, Powered by ADP for
Accountants
■ AMS Software - 1099-Etc
■ CheckMark Software
■ Gusto
■ Intuit - Intuit Online Payroll for
Accountants
■ Justworks Payroll
■ OnPay
■ Paychex - Paychex Flex
■ Payroll Logix - Crest Payroll
■ Rippling Payroll
■ SurePayroll
There's also a handy chart that
provides a quick list of features and
functions found in each of the reviewed
applications, with the chart serving as a
handy guide to locating the product or
products that include the features that
you're looking for.
While some of these payroll applications offer a demo, it's not really possible
to try out a payroll application without
doing a lot of upfront work in the process.
And even if a demo is available, you'll
still need to obtain information such as
payroll funding dates and tax remittance

PROCESSING PAYROLL IS not for the faint of heart. Missed hours,
irate employees, incorrect vacation time, if you process payroll,
you've likely heard it all. However, the importance of payroll
cannot be overstated. Your employees are willing to overlook
a lot of things, but not getting paid on time is not one of them,
and as important as it is to pay your employees on time, it's
just as important to pay them correctly. And payroll managers,
tasked with getting all the necessary payroll details entered
correctly have no time to answer questions or correct errors.
That's why it's so important to get payroll right the first time.

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