Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.
Issue link: https://cpapracticeadvisor.epubxp.com/i/39633
PAYROLL BASIC SYSTEM FUNCTIONS • General Navigation/Ease-of-Use • Designed for Accounting Professionals • Concurrent Users • Scalability (number of payrolls handled) • Multiple Pricing Options • Multi-Client Management • Payroll Tax Tables (for all states, jurisdictions, municipalities) • After-the-Fact Payroll • Multi-State Taxes • Direct Deposit • Common Paymaster Calculations REPORTING & MONITORING • Compliance Due Date Tracking/Monitoring • Quarterly & Annual Forms for all States • E-fi ling & Payment • Customizable Reports • Dashboards for Employee Management • Worker's Comp Tracking INTEGRATION/IMPORT/EXPORT • Integration w/programs • Integration w/external programs (GL export, etc.) • Built-in Timesheet Management • Time Clock Import • Web timesheet/phone time reporting support • Data import/export formats supported HELP/SUPPORT • Built-in Support Features • System updates (best if downloadable or automatic download) • Support website/documentation • Templates for creating employer instruc- tions to employees • Live Support (includes phone) • Live Support days/hours/location • Dedicated account rep assigned CLIENT SELF-SERVICE FEATURES • Employee Self-Service Portals • Client Portals for Data Entry & Reporting • Firm-Branded • Paycheck Stub & W-2 Portal Delivery SUMMARY & PRICING For full product reviews of the products on the following pages, as well as reviews of the following products, go to www. CPAPracticeAdvisor.com/10318407: • APS Online • CheckMark Payroll • CompuPay PowerPayroll • CompuPay XpressPayroll • QuickBooks Payroll Enhanced for Accounting Professionals • Paylocity Web Pay 30 30 September 2011 September 2011 • www.CP Reviews For Your Firm REVIEW SECTIONS 4 Models To Position Payroll As A Profi t Center P ayroll is an important part of any business, and most payroll solutions currently available are capable of providing support for all business types and sizes. Although technology and automation have made compliance much easier, payroll continues to grow in complexity. As with most tax compliance rules and regulations, the reporting and tax compliance issues for payroll are constantly changing. Keeping up with these changes is difficult for any accounting profes- sional, much less the average small business owner. Add to this the increasing demand for human resource (HR) management functions and the situation gets even more complicated. Due to the changing nature of payroll, accounting profes- sionals are constantly sought after for guidance with payroll-related issues. While most accounting professionals have a knowledgebase capable of handling all aspects of payroll, many may not have the requisite time or dedicated staff resources to perform the work. In addition to time and staffi ng issues, accounting professionals also have diff erent views on the proper model to use for processing payroll. Some prefer to perform all or most of the payroll functions themselves, while others prefer to maintain a management role and review payroll periodically. With recent improvements in web-based technologies, many payroll vendors are off ering multiple online services. T ese off erings are typically pay-per-use and off er varying levels of client, accountant and vendor responsibilities. Traditional on- premise soſt ware is also available for clients C APracticeAdvisor.com and accounting professionals to manage payroll. On-premise solutions can require more upfront investment, but may ultimately be more cost eff ective. Regardless of the vendor solution, today's payroll soſt ware off ers a signifi cant amount of automation to reduce the error rate and time spent in processing payroll. Many of today's payroll systems are also incorporating HR manage- ment functions that were historically only available to large enterprises. In last year's payroll system reviews, we introduced four general models of payroll systems. T ese models span from client in-house solutions to payroll vendor outsourced solutions that have minimal client input requirements and accounting profes- sional involvement. For this year's payroll system review, we have retained these models to easily identify the level of service to be per- formed. T e payroll solutions reviewed here may help accounting professionals direct a mundane activity into a profi table service off ering. By turning low-cost services into high-gross margin work, accountants may also create a new revenue stream. Accountants off ering payroll services are also in a position to gain additional work through frequently interacting with their current clients' most valuable assets, their employees. Payroll System Models • Full-Service Payroll Systems are thought of as traditional service off erings and are controlled wholly by the accounting professional. Clients provide employee hours and other information, and the accountant processes all payroll checks and required reports. TODAY'S PAYROLL SOFTWARE OFFERS A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF AUTOMATION TO REDUCE THE ERROR RATE AND TIME SPENT IN PROCESSING PAYROLL. • Partially Assisted Payroll Systems are designed to offload the compliance processing to a payroll vendor. Employee hours and other information are provided by the client, but the accountant processes or reviews this information before each payroll run. Many solutions in this cat- egory are web-based, pay-per-use services that require lit le operating costs for the accounting professional. • Direct Client/Business Use Payroll Systems provide employers the capability to manage their own payroll processing in-house while the accounting professional has the ability to view reports and pull fi nancial data into a general ledger as needed. In this setup, the accounting professional provides oversight only as necessary. • Outsourced/Referral Payroll Systems & Programs are generally web-based solutions that blend client, accountant and payroll vendor collaboration. Clients will provide all employee data, while accountants will run the required fi nancial and general ledger import reports. All back-end compliance is handled by the payroll vendor. ● By Steven Phelan, CPA