Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.
Issue link: https://cpapracticeadvisor.epubxp.com/i/599790
PAYROLL SYSTEMS Reviews 9 BEST FIT Paychex is well-suited for all busi- nesses, but can be a useful resource f o r a c c o u n t i n g p r o f e s s i o n a l s looking to ofer a web-based payroll solution to clients PRODUCT STRENGTHS • Product ofers both web-browser and mobile access • Product of fers a single sign in option for accountants for easy client management • Great import/export capabilities • Solid reporting options POTENTIAL LIMITATIONS • Va r ious produc t subscr ipt ion l e v e l s c a n q u i c k l y e s c a l a t e pricing • Limited HR functions without subscr ibi ng to add it iona l ser- vices SUMMARY & PRICING Paychex Flex is the newly designed, rebranded Paychex Online, and of fers a more streamlined user ex per ience than before. Easi ly accessible from any location, using just about any device, Paychex Flex is designed to be fexible, scalable, and convenient. Pricing for the system is available upon request, based on the needs of the accounting frm. www.Paychex.com BEST FIT Payroll Mate is a good ft for very small frms with limited clients. Te product is also a good ft for small businesses. PRODUCT STRENGTHS • L o w p r i c e a n d i m m e d i a t e installation • Simple set up • E x p o r t t o Q u i c k B o o k s a n d accounting packages a l low ing text fle or Excel import • Reports are available in Excel, text and PDF formats POTENTIAL LIMITATIONS • Support is limited to the following payroll forms: 941, 940, 944, W-2, W-3, California DE-9, California DE-9C, Texas C-3, Texas C-4, New York NYS-45, Illinois 941 and Illi- nois UI-3/40 • Report customization is limited • Some advanced features require a sofware upgrade • Payroll Mate is designed to manage payroll for small businesses with less than 75 employees. Te product can also be used in accounting frms that wish to ofer payroll services to small business clients. SUMMARY & PRICING Payroll Mate can be easily down- loaded directly from Payroll Mate's website. Well designed for small businesses, the product can also be used at accounting frms that wish to ofer payroll to small business clients. Accounting firms can access all payroll clients from the Payroll Mate platform, making it easy to manage multiple clients. Base pricing for Payroll Mate starts at $99.00 per year for 10 companies with up to 75 employee each. Additional options such as electronic fling and direct deposit are available at an addi- tional cost. www.RealTaxTools.com Paychex Flex Real Business Solutions - Payroll Mate Read the full review and see expanded ratings for this product online at: www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com/12122961 Read the full review and see expanded ratings for this product online at: www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com/12122944 5 4.5 2015 OVERALL RATING 2015 OVERALL RATING Making Payroll Easy and Affordable - Payroll Mate Payroll can be a headache for many small businesses, especially for professional firms like law offices. With partners, staff and paralegals to pay, the tasks associ- ated with payroll ca n be tedious even for those with financial experience. BEFORE USING PAYROLL MATE That was the case for the Hunt Law Firm, PA (www. huntlawpa .com), which has offices in central Florida. Founded by former University of Cincinnati football player Ashley Hunt in 2001, the firm saw initial growth but chose to keep managing payroll functions ma nually. Even when his wife Ma ry A nn, a CPA , joined the pra ctice a nd took over fina ncial operations a nd payroll, the firm still thought it didn't need a payroll system. "We just didn't think we needed a payroll system because we were small," she said. "But as we grew even by a few more sta ff members, it sta rted to become more a nd more work just keeping up with payroll." When the firm grew to more than 10 employees she decided it wa s time to find a better solution. A fter discussing payroll issues with a colleague, Ma ry Ann discovered how much more simple and effective payroll and year-end reporting functions could be by using Payroll Mate (www.realtaxtools. com), a n easy-to-use and inexpensive system from Real Business Solutions. COM PREHENSIVE AND AFFORDABLE Starting at only $99 per year, the program lets her prepa re payroll, pay employees, provide direct de- posit, print payroll checks, run reports and prepare ready-to-file annual forms, including W-2, W-3, 940, 941, 943 and 944, which can all be printed to pla in pa per. Payroll Mate a lso includes severa l state reporting forms. An optional payables module ma kes it ea sy to a lso ma nage vendor and contractor pay- ments, a nd to generate comprehensive reports and print yea r-end forms 1099-MISC and 1096. The system even supports multiple pay frequen- cies for sta ff who a re pa id weekly, biweekly, semi- monthly or monthly. A nd when Ma ry A nn needs to bring the payroll data into the firm's financial ma nagement system, it easily exports to several file formats, including QuickBooks, Sage 50, Excel, CSV a nd PDF. A GL export feature also simplifies data transfer. Payroll Mate automatically calculates fed- era l and state withholding for all states, and includes vacation and sick pay accrual features. UP AND RUNNING Ma ry Ann says that the system was very easy to use and she was able to get all of the firm's staff set up in minutes. Since then, she has put a different person in charge of the day-to-day processing of the system, a nd she says it required virtually no training to get that person up and running and proficient with Payroll Mate. Having used Payroll Mate for more than three years now, Mary Ann says she wouldn't ever go back to manually processing payroll, since the system is so ea sy to use a nd ta kes the hea da che out of those functions. "Payroll Mate definitely makes it easier and less time-consuming," she said. "It's just really straight- forwa rd. We enter the hours for part time staff, and the system automatically makes the necessary calcu- lations for them a nd for the sa la ried professiona ls." She said she's never needed technical support, aside from finding a year-end form, and the staff at Real Business Solutions were fast and friendly. "It's not rocket science. It's payroll, and Payroll Mate makes it easier than ever." S P O N S O R E D C O N T E N T READ THE 2015 REVIEW OF PAYROLL MATE FIRST-HAND