Best HR Software For Payroll

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HR departments are often stretched thin, especially at small companies. From keeping track of employees’ time off to making sure they’re paid on time, these professionals handle a lot. Finding good HR software for payroll can be immensely helpful in automating and streamlining some of these tasks.

In this article, we’ll discuss why you should use software to manage your payroll and how to choose the best software for your organization. We’ve also put together a list of some of the top HR software for payroll options to choose from.

Key Takeaways:

• Using HR software for payroll helps reduce costly errors and improve HR productivity.

• Three of the top options for HR software are OnPay, Gusto, and Oyster.

• Pay attention to usability, integration options, and price when choosing HR software for your company’s payroll.

Why You Should Use HR Software for Payroll

You should use HR software for payroll because it makes the process easier, more organized, and more accurate.

• It automates the payroll process. Making sure all of your employees get paid the right amount on time can be a time-consuming and stressful process. HR software helps automate this process, saving you time and energy while improving accuracy.

• It organizes your data. Managing payroll and other company financial information involves a lot of sensitive data that needs to be organized and stored. Using HR software designed specifically for this will help you keep your data secure and easily findable.

• It improves accuracy and compliance. When it comes to filing your taxes, the last thing you want is to realize you don’t have the information you need to file correctly – or that you filed incorrectly. Many HR software programs are designed to help you stay compliant with all applicable finance and employment laws with minimal effort.

Best HR Software for Payroll

We’ve collected a list of some of the top-rated payroll software options for you to look into. These options come with a variety of price points and capabilities, so check them out and see which one is the best fit for your organization.

1. OnPay

   If you’re running a small business, OnPay may be a great option for you. This program helps you organize and automate your payroll, taxes, and employee benefits in addition to providing other HR functions such as onboarding, PTO tracking, and document storage and signing.

   OnPay’s focus is helping small businesses get their HR departments up and running, so they’ll provide you with resources such as employee handbook templates you can use. They even have licensed insurance brokers who can help you set up and manage your employees’ benefits.

2. Gusto

   Gusto has three different plans, which make it a great option for businesses that want to expand their HR capabilities in the future. This software is a workhorse, and its basic features include automated payroll, employee benefits administration, and tax support – it’ll even support remote employee payroll and taxes.

   Customers who want to pay for a higher-level plan can gain access to additional features like time tracking and employee survey capabilities. While these plans come with a dedicated customer service representative, it’s important to note that lower-level plans do not.

3. Oyster

   For companies with a large remote or international workforce, Oyster is a valuable HR payroll software to have. Hiring employees in different states and countries comes with a plethora of tax and labor laws to keep track of, and Oyster helps automate that process.

   In addition to payroll, benefits enrollment, and payroll taxes, this software also has several hiring and onboarding tools, including an employment cost calculator. These features allow you to keep track of your applicants all over the world, as well as what each candidate will actually cost to hire once you add in their local taxes.

4. ADP

   ADP is one of the oldest HR companies in the U.S., and it offers a variety of HR software tools. Roll is its newest and most affordable payroll and tax filing offering, while Workforce Now is a great scalable option for small or medium businesses that want to plan for growth.

   Many of ADP’s programs are accessible all over the world, making them a great option for organizations with a significant remote workforce. Additional features include attendance tracking and an employee-facing mobile app that your workers can use to view their pay history.

5. Paycor

   Paycor is an excellent tool for small- and medium-sized businesses that just want a tool to help them manage payroll and minimize errors. The program will automatically run payroll for employees with known salaries and can be set to notify you when it notices potential errors.

   Paycor also has employee-facing tools, including one that allows them to access their paychecks early if they need to. While the software doesn’t have a huge number of features by itself, it’s easy to integrate with a wide variety of other HR tools.

6. Patriot

   If your business has under 100 employees, Patriot can be a highly affordable HR payroll software option. The company’s target audience is startups and nonprofits, so it offers its baseline payroll tools at an extremely affordable price.

   As your company grows, you can upgrade to the full-service version of Patriot, which includes tools for employee data storage and organization as well as tax services. You can also pay for additional time and attendance tracking tools that integrate directly with your payroll systems.

7. Paycom

   Paycom is a large HR software company that provides a variety of tools to businesses of all sizes. This program offers far more than just payroll and tax software – it can help you with all of your HR needs, from talent acquisition to timecards to PTO and benefits.

   Paycom allows you to automate and outsource many of your HR responsibilities and has a variety of employee-facing tools, including onboarding checklists and timecards, and benefits management. This helps reduce errors and free up your HR team to pursue other initiatives.

8. Paychex Flex

   Paychex Flex integrates time and attendance with payroll and PTO, helping HR departments make sure everyone is paid correctly every time. Paychex Flex is a highly customizable tool that even has an employee-facing platform so that workers can manage their time cards and schedules according to the rules and policies you set.

   Paychex Flex also offers compliance, onboarding, and benefits management tools that help HR departments streamline their tasks and organize employee data. It also helps cut down on the number of questions HR personnel receive from employees since employees can look up their information themselves.

9. Intuit QuickBooks Payroll

   If your small-to-medium-sized business (under 150 employees) already uses Intuit QuickBooks for your bookkeeping and time-tracking needs, Intuit QuickBooks Payroll could be an excellent choice for managing your payroll as well. (It doesn’t integrate well with other bookkeeping and time-tracking programs.)

   This program has several different package levels, two of which allow employees to receive their paychecks the day you run payroll. You can also get access to a variety of tax services, and if you have the Elite Intuit QuickBooks Payroll plan, they’ll file your taxes in multiple states for no extra fee and reimburse you for some tax penalties.

How to Choose an HR Software for Payroll

When it comes to choosing the best HR software for your organization’s needs, there are a few criteria you should pay attention to. However, every company is different, so it’s up to you to decide which of these are the highest priorities for you and your team.

• Usability. Even the most powerful software will be useless if you and your team can’t figure out how to use it or if it slows you down so much it isn’t worth using.

  Pay attention to how easy and enjoyable the software’s user interface (UI) is to use before you purchase it – you don’t want your HR team to have to spend weeks learning how to use it or cursing it every time they use it.

• Features. Buying HR software should be like buying a jacket for a child – you want to leave room to grow, but it shouldn’t be so large it’s overwhelming. Look for software that has all of the features you need, plus some additional ones you may need in the future.

  For example, if you’re likely going to have employees in other countries, international payroll capabilities would be important to look for. Similarly, if you would hire contractors or freelancers, look for software that can handle those payments.

• Integrations. If you already have HR software for other tasks, such as time tracking, consider buying payroll software that will integrate with it. This will make both programs much more functional and will save your team time and headaches.

• Customer support. Some companies are much better at helping out their customers than others, and HR software companies are no exception. As you shop, pay attention to customer service policies and how easy it is to contact the company with questions and concerns.

• Price. Look for software that balances features and price – expensive doesn’t always mean better, and cheap doesn’t always mean great value. There is no need to pay for features you won’t use, but it may also be worth paying slightly more to get truly functional software that will save your company time and money in the long run.

  The good news is that most HR and payroll software options have free trials, so you can give them a test run before handing over any cash.

HR and Payroll Software FAQ

1. What is HR and payroll software?

   HR and payroll software is software that allows HR professionals to manage and automate payroll and other tasks. These software programs can either be on-premises or cloud-based, and they can come with a wide variety of tools and integrations.

   All of this not only saves HR teams time and money but also helps companies ensure that they’re staying compliant with their payroll and taxes.

2. Is QuickBooks an HR system?

   Yes, QuickBooks is an HR system. Intuit QuickBooks offers a Payroll program that helps small businesses manage their HR responsibilities. QuickBooks also offers timecard and accounting/bookkeeping services.

3. How much does HR and payroll software cost?

   On average, HR and payroll software costs about $30 a month, plus $4 to $8 per employee per month. You can get much less or more expensive software, though, depending on what you want from your software.

Final Thoughts

There is no shortage of software options for your company’s HR and payroll needs. While they do cost money, these programs can automate your payroll processes, freeing up your HR team to take on other projects and minimizing costly payroll and tax errors.

Because every HR software has different capabilities, pricing, and integration ability, take your time in deciding which one will be the best fit for your organization – both now and in the future.

References

1. The U.S. Department of Labor – Employer Compliance and Enforcement – Wages and Earning

Author

Caitlin Mazur

Caitlin Mazur is a freelance writer at Zippia where she has written 140+ articles that have reached over 1 mil viewers as of June 2023. Caitlin is passionate about helping Zippia’s readers land the jobs of their dreams by offering content that discusses job-seeking advice based on experience and extensive research.