Payroll can be complicated and time-consuming. There is also a possibility of making mistakes that can result in an employee being under or overpaid. Luckily, there is a number of online and desktop software solutions that can simplify the process. They can generate paychecks or direct deposits, create historical payment reports, and ensure tax compliance regulations are met.
Payroll Services by Intuit QuickBooks
Intuit offers bookkeeping and payroll solutions that fully integrate with each other. QuickBooks Accountant is a special program developed by intuit. In QuickBooks Desktop, users can activate QuickBooks Payroll Services, a subscription that enables payroll features. Intuit QuickBooks offers two versions of payroll service: a QuickBooks Payroll for desktop and an online version. Both systems provide a way to easily manage payroll and pay employees without much hassle and on time.
Additionally, employers have an option to choose between doing payroll themselves or having a QuickBooks ProAdvisor handle everything for them. If you do not have a lot of employees, it might make sense to do it yourself plus the whole process is very intuitive. However, if your company grew enough to have over thirty employees, we recommend entrusting this function to QuickBooks. After all, your time is valuable.
QuickBooks Payroll— Price of Service
QuickBooks Payroll pricing is based on a flat fee that varies from plan to plan. The monthly price for QuickBooks Payroll Online varies between $45 and $125. In addition, you will have to pay from $4 to $10 for each active employee on your pay list. At the same time, businesses can take advantage of great discounts, such as a 50% off offer, and try the service for free for a whole month. When you sign up for the free trial, you do not need to give any payment information, but after the trial period ends and you like the service, you can make a deposit to pay for the service.
If you have a desktop version of QuickBooks, you can also add a payroll function to your software. The price for QuickBooks Payroll is also based on the plan you choose. The Basic one will cost only $29 a month plus $2 for each employee, while an Enhanced plan is $45 a month plus $2 per employee. You will pay $109 for the most advance plan, but here you will be paying $2 for each paycheck. As you can see the prices for a desktop version are somewhat lower. As with the online version, you can take advantage of discounts and a free trial.
QuickBooks Payroll Desktop – Features
QuickBooks Payroll comes with an extensive list of features. Although features vary depending on the plan you choose, QuickBooks will likely be able to offer everything QuickBooks Self-Employed might look for.
- Availability in all 50 US states
- T-Sheet software
- Unlimited and automatic payroll
- Payroll taxes
- Direct deposits
- and more.
QuickBooks Desktop Payroll Plans
Intuit Payroll Service offers three separate plans to meet different needs of businesses of all sizes.
- Basic
The first plan includes only the basic features that meet the requirements of most small businesses. These include the ability to create paychecks, direct deposits for 1099 contractors and employees, and time tracking integration. If you need help, you can turn to free expert support
- Enhanced
The second Enhanced plan adds features such as electronically filed and paid payroll taxes state and federal forms and ability to print them (QuickBooks Payroll e-file W-2, QuickBooks Payroll e-file 941 From, 1099/1096 Form, etc.). Employees will also have round-the-clock access to their own paycheck information. Employers will benefit from e-mail subscription and free expert support.
- Assisted
The Assisted plan is QuickBooks’ full-service payroll package. You will have a payroll setup assistance specialist help and QuickBooks supports up to 250 employees. Additional features that are not included in two other plans include job costing and class tracking, Moreover, they will file and pay taxes for you and you will get a no tax penalties guarantee, which means that they will file your taxes on time based on the data you provide in your account or they will cover the penalties.
QuickBooks Payroll Desktop – Benefits
With QuickBooks Payroll Desktop, you can generate as many paychecks for your employees as you need and all you need to do is just enter the hours. QuickBooks Payroll T-sheets is an employee time tracking software that will make payroll even simpler and accurate time tracking easy. Employee scheduling, PTO management, GPS tracking, and clock-in reminders are all included in the QuickBooks Payroll T-Sheets software.
This is not all! Payroll calculations can be automated and the system will produce detailed reports. Moreover, no information needs to be manually input, which saves a significant amount of time. It also drastically reduces the possibility of mistakes. Same or next-day direct deposits is a very convenient feature that allows you to save not only paper but also time. In addition, your employees will also be thankful.
Payroll taxes are also simplified and the payroll tax deductions are done accurately and calculated automatically. No more manual filling of state and federal taxes, and in some plans, QuickBooks will even process payments for you. In addition to payroll taxes, QuickBooks Payroll Service provides benefits and garnishments management.
QuickBooks Payroll Online – Features
When getting QuickBooks Payroll Online, you will benefit from all (Elite plan) or most of these features (Core or Premium plan):
- QuickBooks full-service payroll
- Professional payroll setup
- Automatic payroll
- Time and project tracking
- Next or same-day direct deposit
- Worker’s compensation management
- HR support center and HR advisor
- Expert support
- Tax penalty protection
QuickBooks Payroll Online – Benefits
The main advantage of QuickBooks Payroll Online over the desktop version is that you have access to the payroll information and functions everywhere you have the internet. A mobile application makes it even simpler to pay your employees. Time and project tracking are also great tools to have. QuickBooks Payroll Online will calculate employee gross pay for a pay cycle based on hours/salary, calculate their paycheck after deducting for withholdings, payroll taxes, and deductions.
Employers are able to pay employees by direct deposit or print checks for them. Intuit will create and print year-end tax for employees and governmental agencies (such as W-2s, W-3s and Form 940). It will calculate employment-related payments to government agencies and payments due for state and federal unemployment insurance.
If you need assistance, a team of payroll (QuickBooks ProAdvisor) experts is available to answer any questions that come up. Finally, if you are already using QuickBooks Online for your accounting, it makes sense to have a payroll solution that has easy integration.
How to Use Easy QuickBooks Payroll Services
Running Intuit Payroll on both online and the desktop version is simple, straightforward and does not take much time. Before the payroll feature is activated, you have to sign up with the service. Your next step is to go through set-up.
If you require assistance with Intuit QuickBooks, just look up QuickBooks Payroll email, phone, and help center contact information on its official website. Their customer support specialists will point you in the right direction and offer help. Then, you can start working with payroll items, such as payroll taxes, uniforms, mileage reimbursement and health benefits.
Your next step will be to set up and manage employee information in the Employees Center. It is very similar to Vendor and Customer Centers, so you should not have trouble navigating it. If any of these steps look confusing, you can also lookup the QuickBooks Payroll tutorial on a topic that interests you.
User Reviews of QuickBooks Payroll Services
“Quickbooks Payroll has been easy to use. We just recently started using Quickbooks for payroll. If I would have known how easy it was, I would have switched a long time ago. The software is extremely user friendly. I love the simplicity of it. When I have an issue, chatting online instantly is amazing.”
– Ruben M.
“If you use Quickbooks Desktop, and have employees, Payroll for Quickbooks Desktop is a must-have. New payroll tax rates, forms, and topics are available for download frequently. I feel like we are always up to date and in compliance. All withholdings are automatically calculated and deducted from employees’ paychecks. All liabilities are tracked on the payroll page, showing the date the remittance is due and the amount that is due. It is also easy to run reports of the liabilities due, along with other payroll data. Lastly, paying employees with direct deposit is very easy and accessible.”
– QuickBooks User
“I would recommend this service to other businesses. This software is very easy to use and has all the options we need for tracking deductions, types of pay, vacation accruals, 401K, flexplan deductions, etc. Saves time and prevents errors.”
– Vicki
“I have used Intuit full payroll for years and have been very pleased with them. I like that it is so accessible and easy. Having been a long time customer of Intuit payroll with my desktop Quickbooks, the integration of both together has made my life easier!”
– Yvette Elliott