7 Best Payroll Software for Small Businesses: Comparisons and Reviews

best bookkeeping and payroll software for small business

ADP is a well-known provider of payroll and benefits administration services. It gives small business owners an exceptional combination of usability and flexibility. ADP Run’s depth and customizability show in every part of the service, including its mobile apps.

best bookkeeping and payroll software for small business

Accessibility

  • These setup wizards ask for information about your company, such as your address and Employer Identification Number (EIN).
  • Or, if QuickBooks’ high starting price keeps it out of your budget, Xero is our preferred runner-up.
  • Its user-friendly interface and intuitive features make it easy for small business owners to manage their payroll, even without prior accounting experience.
  • Ditto Paychex, which does have an in-house insurance team but still charges extra for insurance add-ons.
  • You can set up Kashoo in 60 or so seconds, and the app immediately starts to categorize your expenses and learn your business spending habits.
  • QuickBooks Online is an industry leader in the accounting field, thanks to its strong feature set and scalability.

By doing so, businesses can shift their focus from contra asset account managing multiple software solutions to driving growth and innovation. This cohesive approach ensures that as business complexities arise, NetSuite can adapt, providing a foundation that supports not just accounting needs but a company’s holistic operational demands. With its straightforward accounting software, QuickBooks is an easy favorite amongst freelancers, and not just because many of them bundle it when filing their own taxes with TurboTax. Generally, the top payroll software offers direct deposit, tax filing, and year-end tax report preparation.

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QuickBooks is also the only small business payroll software we reviewed that provides both tax accuracy and tax penalty protection programs. However, if you want advanced HR tools to manage performance reviews and learning courses, consider Rippling, ADP, and Paychex. Multilocation business owners might find Gusto a bit pricey because they’ll have to upgrade to at least its Plus plan to unlock multiple state pay runs. The best payroll software for your company depends on your business size and needs.

The Benefits Of Using Payroll Software

  • We chose ADP because it’s a great program for small businesses that are looking for a single solution to help manage payroll and HR.
  • Some, like Patriot Software and Gusto, have additional fees for some services.
  • If you’re interested, we have a list of the best free payroll templates you can use to calculate payroll by hand.
  • Others, such as QuickBooks Online and Xero, read the receipts and extract some of their data (such as amount, date, and vendor) to an expense form using optical character recognition (OCR) technology.
  • QuickBooks Online is one of the most popular bookkeeping software choices in the US.

All in all, I would say that this software is easy to use but I would have preferred it included some features it lacked, such as the ability to send payable invoices from the platform. It was also confusing at times, given that features I expected it to have were nowhere to be found, such as automated sales tax calculations on the invoice form. Neat earns a 4.0-star rating on Capterra with 100 user reviews Bookkeeping for Chiropractors and a 4.4-star rating on G2 with 10 reviews. They like that Neat offers advanced document management tools such as the ability to search PDF documents and compatible scanners with double-sided and multi-size scanning capabilities. Some say they preferred the legacy version of the software rather than the cloud-based version. They also find it frustrating that they often have to log in repeatedly due to software glitches.

best bookkeeping and payroll software for small business

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best bookkeeping and payroll software for small business

It is best for businesses that expect to eventually expand across state lines or even globally using a workforce with a mix of contractors and employees. The Gusto payroll run screen shows at a glance all payroll expenses per employee. OnPay users give the product kudos on popular review sites for ease of use and responsive customer service. Any systems that must sync to derive this data, such as time clock software or systems, happen automatically, so I didn’t have to worry about any of those processes. Patriot Software Accounting is best if you manage a small business that isn’t likely to grow exponentially. (It’s not scalable.) We appreciate its integration with Patriot Software Payroll and approachable design, though you should seek alternatives if you need beyond-basic tools.

  • QuickBooks Payroll integrates directly with QuickBooks Online, making it easy to manage payroll and the books all at once.
  • You need to decide if you want the new payroll solution to handle taxes or not.
  • It also submits your end-of-year tax paperwork at no additional cost, which HR-first providers like ADP and Paychex don’t.
  • And, if a team member accidentally clocks in or forgets to clock out, they can manually correct their hours for always-correct payroll runs.
  • Ensure that both systems are compatible and that you regularly sync data to avoid discrepancies.

Get All the Benefits of Payroll Apps

best bookkeeping and payroll software for small business

If you log more than a few transactions a month, the lack of automation adds major time and hassle—you’ll want the $40 a month (or $50, billed monthly) Professional plan instead. If you’re searching for accounting software that’s user-friendly, full of smart features, and scales with your business, Quickbooks is a great option. The business owner must withhold payroll taxes from their employee’s paychecks and send them to the IRS on their employees’ behalf. Customer reviews suggest Gusto is easier to navigate than other platforms because of its simplicity and well-designed user interface. Both employers and employees describe the platform as user-friendly but even instances where users had to reach out to customer service for assistance received positive feedback on the experience. The payroll software that is right for your business is the one that meets all your budget and best bookkeeping and payroll software for small business payroll support needs.

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