Below are five standout platforms that make managing payroll a breeze, so you can focus on advising clients, not chasing timesheets. As for the easiest payroll software to use, we recommend QuickBooks Payroll or OnPay. QuickBooks Payroll syncs with QuickBooks Online, one of the most popular accounting solutions in the world.

Best Payroll Services For Small Business Of 2025

Professional accountants can handle these tasks quickly and effectively, giving you more time to manage your business Accounts Payable Management operations. When you host through SurePayroll®, a Paychex company, you’ll outsource tedious tax payments and filings—while still supporting your clients’ payroll needs. Sell your payroll business to Paychex and gain relief from payroll processing. Free yourself up to focus on more strategic and profitable client services.

How Much Do Online Payroll Services Cost?

Ditto Paychex, which does have an in-house insurance team but still charges extra for insurance add-ons. For a more in-depth exploration of each type of payroll provider, including their pros and cons, read through our ultimate guide to small-business payroll. While Gusto doesn’t offer total HR administration, it does include personalized HR help with its priciest plan, Gusto Concierge.

Best for Payment and Expense Management Integrations

You can seamlessly scale your payroll offering without adding in-house payroll staff or increasing overhead. With the right partner, you can transform payroll from a burden into a business advantage. Discover how to expand your offerings without the hassle, risk, or overhead of in-house payroll services. It took me less than 30 minutes to create a Square Payroll account once I entered information about the company and a payment method. You start by designating and linking your bank account, then you add team members, set your pay schedule and sign up for benefits, if you wish. Time-tracking options include when your workweek starts, clock in/clock out preferences, and break and overtime settings.

Join Approximately 800,000 Customers and Get Help Managing HR, Payroll, and Benefits

In addition to accounting apps such as Xero, Sage Intacct and QuickBooks, Rippling links to dozens of tools for expense management, legal, benefits, recruitment and employee performance management. Clients in project-based fields such as construction and professional services can benefit from Rippling’s ability to manage expenses by job code, simplifying cost allocation. Wave Payroll’s $20 self-service plan has all the basics, including self-service employee portals, contractor payments, and direct deposit. And its $40 full-service plan (currently available in 14 states) includes federal, state, and local payroll tax filing plus end-of-year tax forms. All Paychex payroll programs include new-hire state reporting, payroll tax filing, and an employee financial wellness program.

Payroll software calculates the wages, deductions and withholdings for each employee, which means less manual work. General ledger and time-tracking integrations eliminate the need to enter the same data more than once. In addition, many systems include new-hire reporting services, provide year-end tax filing and boast adjusting entries other tools to streamline HR and payroll processes. Deel also offers real-time cost calculation tools and automated invoicing, which simplify budget forecasting and reconciliation. We were impressed with the platform’s speed and transparency – payments are often processed in under five business days, and teams can track every transaction.

Income Tax

We liked that users can hire full-time employees or contractors with the same platform and pay them in 120+ currencies via popular payment methods like SWIFT, Wise and PayPal. “I have tried other payroll companies and Patriot Software is my TOP CHOICE. The user experience is easy to navigate and their support bookkeeping and payroll services team is always available to troubleshoot when I have questions,” one user wrote. The Full Service plan handles all of the payroll and tax requirements.

These include unlimited payroll runs, multistate payroll, payroll automation and next-day direct deposit. Another affordable option is Wave Payroll, which costs $40 a month plus $6 per person a month and integrates seamlessly with the company’s free and low-cost accounting software. Getting payroll right is a core competency of any business, especially considering the dire consequences of payroll failures. Square Payroll shows that you don’t have to pay a premium price to get a first-rate payroll service for your SMB. The list of payroll and HR features Square Payroll provides rivals the higher-priced offerings of competing vendors. In addition to payroll for employees and contractors, Square Payroll includes automatic payroll runs, employee self-onboarding, labor-cost reporting and multistate tax filings and payments.

• Payroll software presents a valuable opportunity for accountants and their clients.
• The best payroll services facilitate automatic payroll calculations and tax payments, significantly decreasing the chances of costly mistakes.
• We gave you our top recommendations above, but the payroll software market is a crowded one.
• Online, hassle-free, and built for everyday small businesses like yours.Trusted for 25+ years.
• We make sure that you have nothing to worry about when it comes to tax problems and can easily handle any type of tax situation you may have.
• Just know that when ADP runs your payroll, its payroll team is responsible for any problems with tax deductions.

Which Payroll Software Is Best for Your Accounting Business?

I wish the reporting was a bit more customizable, but for scheduling and payroll, it’s solid and easy to use. Some small bugs here and there, but support is responsive and helpful. It’s amazing having time clocks, chat, and payroll all in the same app.

QuickBooks Payroll’s interface has next to no learning curve, and its well-reviewed employer-facing mobile app makes on-the-go payroll easier. In contrast to Gusto, OnPay, and QuickBooks Payroll, some of ADP’s basic payroll services cost extra, namely W-2 form filing. For a 1-person business, the starting price is $79.00 per month plus $4.00 per payee. You have to fill out a form online with your information to get a quote. More advanced payroll software plans (which tend to have lots of HR features) keep their pricing exclusive and ask you to contact them.