Alternative to Paychex for small business payroll?
May 22, 2019 4:06 PM Subscribe
I have a small business with 3 employees and currently use Paychex for payroll. They are totally fine - which is, to say, the people get their money on-time and so forth - except for one thing: I receive a constant barrage of marketing emails and phone calls from Paychex offering me upgrades and upsells to other services. These annoy me because I have trouble ignoring emails from the company that literally puts the money in my employees' bank accounts. But... is that how they all work?
It occurs to me that maybe the very low cost of payroll as a standalone service is only thus because they're trying to sell me other stuff. Indeed, ADP has very similar prices so before just switching I considered they may just have the same "loss leader" approach.
I priced services at local accounting firms and the like, and as one would expect they all cost a great deal more. My actual accountant is ungodly expensive and not an appropriate choice for a very simple payroll job like this.
Is there another cheap payroll service that will not constantly try to sell me other products? Or am I being unrealistic and trying to have it both ways or whatever? I mean, for a couple hundred bucks a month I can learn to ignore emails from my payroll company, that just seems like an odd skill to try to develop.
It occurs to me that maybe the very low cost of payroll as a standalone service is only thus because they're trying to sell me other stuff. Indeed, ADP has very similar prices so before just switching I considered they may just have the same "loss leader" approach.
I priced services at local accounting firms and the like, and as one would expect they all cost a great deal more. My actual accountant is ungodly expensive and not an appropriate choice for a very simple payroll job like this.
Is there another cheap payroll service that will not constantly try to sell me other products? Or am I being unrealistic and trying to have it both ways or whatever? I mean, for a couple hundred bucks a month I can learn to ignore emails from my payroll company, that just seems like an odd skill to try to develop.
I've had great experiences with Gusto.
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 5:24 PM on May 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 5:24 PM on May 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
We use Intuit payroll and it works fine. I get physical media occasionally suggesting we upgrade QuickBooks or attend a training, but I don't think I've ever gotten an ad for payroll upsells.
posted by postel's law at 5:45 PM on May 22, 2019
posted by postel's law at 5:45 PM on May 22, 2019
If I can jump on this little bandwagon - Gusto are a DREAM. For this 2 person company over here, they are clear, budget-friendly, user-friendly, quick to setup, integrate easily with quickbooks and provide a range of benefit integrations. Their team are diverse and kind and have helped me figure out some stuff even my accountant could not assist with. They integrate Guideline, a great 401(k) option for small businesses. They never ever upsell or seem salesy. In short, I LOVE THEM WITH ALL MY BIZ HEART.
posted by Uncle Glendinning at 5:46 PM on May 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Uncle Glendinning at 5:46 PM on May 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
We have been using OnPay for several years now with no hiccups. They have made a few half-hearted attempts to sell us on workers comp and a retirement account program, but nothing frequent. Our monthly cost for six employees with direct deposit is a little over $50.
posted by jimw at 10:20 PM on May 22, 2019
posted by jimw at 10:20 PM on May 22, 2019
Chiming in to agree with the Gusto recommendation. Setting up benefits, time off, time tracking, employee and contractor onboarding and account access, etc. for our team of <10 has been easy. Without fail, customer service has been super responsive and helpful, whether we were just seeking clarity on a setting or trying to figure out how to fix a payroll issue. Maybe 1-2 times a year we’ll get a promotional email offering a gift card if we refer a friend who signs up for the service, but that’s been the extent of it. They’ve been so pleasant to work with; I can’t recommend them enough.
posted by vespertine at 11:35 PM on May 22, 2019
posted by vespertine at 11:35 PM on May 22, 2019
My employer uses Gusto. There is also a company called FinSync that offers payroll.
posted by Medieval Maven at 6:25 AM on May 23, 2019
posted by Medieval Maven at 6:25 AM on May 23, 2019
Contrary to the experience of postel's law (see above), I was not happy with the payroll feature of Intuit / QuickBooks online. Their customer support was terrible, and I quickly switched to using a small, local company (which still hasn't been great, but was much better than Intuit).
posted by JD Sockinger at 7:11 AM on May 23, 2019
posted by JD Sockinger at 7:11 AM on May 23, 2019
My last employer used Gusto and the Office Manager really liked it. As an employee, I liked their interface so much better than ADP, which is what my current employer uses.
posted by radioamy at 9:55 AM on May 23, 2019
posted by radioamy at 9:55 AM on May 23, 2019
I use Justworks, easy to use and friendly customer service, 3 employees going on 3 years now. I've never heard of Gusto til now but looking at their website they look pretty similar.
posted by ataco at 6:51 PM on May 25, 2019
posted by ataco at 6:51 PM on May 25, 2019
This thread is closed to new comments.
It looks like you can also opt out of Paychex’s promotions, although this page doesn’t say how. That might be faster, if you’re otherwise satisfied.
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 4:39 PM on May 22, 2019 [1 favorite]