Patriot Payroll’s complete software program works greatest for small and midsize companies that want wonderful buyer assist, thorough payroll instruments and a below-average beginning worth. Nonetheless, Patriot Payroll’s minimal HR options and restricted integrations imply it received’t work as properly for companies that wish to bundle HR, advantages administration and payroll in a single tidy package deal.

Undecided if Patriot Payroll will work to your small enterprise? Maintain studying. Our Patriot Payroll evaluation explains Patriot’s pricing, options, professionals and cons in addition to one of the best Patriot alternate options.

Patriot Payroll pricing

Patriot Payroll has two reasonably priced payroll plans, each with lower-than-average base costs. Extra importantly to your backside line, each plans cost simply $4 per worker. The extra workers you will have, the more cost effective Patriot turns into in comparison with rivals like Gusto and OnPay, which each cost $6 per worker.

Fundamental Payroll

Patriot’s Fundamental Payroll plan prices $17 per thirty days plus an extra $4 per worker or contractor paid. 

As a self-service payroll plan, Fundamental Payroll consists of automated paycheck calculation, direct deposit, printable or digital pre-filled W-2 Kinds and elective 1099 Kind submitting. Whereas Fundamental Payroll consists of payroll-tax calculation, you’re accountable for withholding and remitting the taxes to the proper tax company.

Full Service Payroll

Patriot’s full-service payroll plan prices $37 per thirty days plus an extra $4 per worker or contractor paid.

Patriot’s Full Service Payroll plan consists of the identical options as its Fundamental Payroll plan, plus federal, state and native tax withholding and submitting. Patriot’s industry-standard tax-filing assure guarantees that if Patriot makes any errors together with your taxes, it should repair the errors and pay any related fines levied by the IRS.

Patriot Payroll’s key options

Payroll options

Patriot Payroll provides an important payroll options at a low month-to-month price:

• Limitless month-to-month payroll runs, together with free off-cycle and bonus runs.
• 4-day direct deposit (or two-day direct deposit for sure clients solely).
• Worker self-service portals with pay stub, paycheck and tax info.
• Free integration with 401(okay) plans (in a roundabout way accessible via Patriot).
• Employees’ compensation insurance coverage administration.
• Native, state and federal payroll tax calculation, withholding and remittance (full-service plan solely).
• Finish-of-year payroll tax submitting at no further price (full-service plan solely).

Complete payroll experiences, together with time-off experiences and payroll registers (Determine A).

Determine A

Clients on third-party evaluation websites name out Patriot’s exceptionally user-friendly interface, uncomplicated payroll instruments and intensely responsive customer support crew.

Human useful resource options

Whereas Patriot excels at offering key payroll instruments, it doesn’t provide the essential human useful resource options that Patriot rivals like Gusto, OnPay, Paychex and ADP embrace with each plan. As an example, Patriot’s payroll plans don’t embrace entry to an HR library. Companies utilizing Patriot to course of payroll can not combine the software program with any advantages past 401(okay) plans.

Time and attendance options

Patriot’s add-on time and scheduling software program begins at $6 per thirty days plus $2 per worker per thirty days. The software consists of fundamental options that needs to be sufficient for many small companies with hourly workers:

• Self-service worker time clock.
• One-click time card approval.
• One-click payroll updates.
• Customizable time beyond regulation guidelines.

Nonetheless, the software lacks absence, depart or shift administration options. Most significantly, though workers can clock out and in on Patriot’s on-line interface, the time-and-attendance software lacks a cell app. In consequence, it really works greatest for enterprise house owners who don’t want complicated time-and-attendance options and are snug with a browser-only time clock.

Patriot professionals

Extraordinarily reasonably priced payroll software program. In need of free payroll software program, few payroll firms can compete with Patriot’s low-cost plans. (SurePayroll by Paychex is the notable exception.) Patriot’s low per-employee price saves you extra as your crew expands, particularly in comparison with prime rivals.

Free knowledgeable setup. Whereas new customers can use Patriot’s setup wizard to start out working payroll on their very own, Patriot additionally provides free white-glove setup that ensures your payroll processing goes easily from the outset.

Excellent customer support popularity and buyer assist. Whereas Patriot doesn’t provide 24/7 customer support, its U.S.-based crew is offered between 9 a.m. and seven p.m. ET each weekday. You may attain customer support by way of reside chat, e mail or over the cellphone. Verified customers on most third-party evaluation websites give Patriot excessive marks for the above-average high quality of its buyer assist — making it a rarity amongst payroll suppliers.

Patriot cons

Restricted scalability. Since Patriot has simply two plans — self-service and full-service — it isn’t scalable for firms that wish to add workforce administration, expertise administration and complete HR instruments as they develop. Moreover, Patriot solely helps U.S.-based home payroll, so firms that hope to finally go world might want to swap to an worldwide payroll supplier.

Restricted HR options, even with add-on HR plans. Patriot Payroll’s most important HR-adjacent function is its free integration together with your firm’s 401(okay) advantages. Aside from that, Patriot doesn’t provide many HR options — even in case you add its HR plan, which prices an additional $6 a month plus $2 per worker. Because the HR plan solely consists of fundamental HR experiences, on-line doc storage and a few admin permissions, we are able to’t advocate it as a helpful HR software for many firms.

Just one non-Patriot integration. Apart from QuickBooks On-line, Patriot Payroll doesn’t combine with any time-tracking or accounting instruments past the corporate’s personal scheduling and attendance software program. Worse, the payroll firm’s integration with QuickBooks is lower than seamless and has been quickly paused whereas Patriot resolves its integration points.

No payroll apps. Though Patriot’s mobile-friendly web site helps on-line payroll processing for employers and self-service portal entry for workers, the corporate doesn’t provide any cell payroll apps. That features time-tracking apps: Workers clocking out and in with Patriot’s time-tracking software can solely accomplish that by way of the net interface.

Prime Patriot Payroll alternate options

SurePayroll by Paychex

SurePayroll by Paychex is likely one of the solely full-service payroll firms that expenses lower than Patriot whereas providing the identical stable payroll options. Like Patriot, SurePayroll by Paychex provides two-day direct deposit, automated payroll tax calculation and assist for a number of pay schedules.

SurePayroll by Paychex’s HR options are pretty restricted however nonetheless extra expansive than Patriot’s: Its HR Advisor software has compliance how-to guides, enterprise doc templates and labor regulation posters. SurePayroll provides well being advantages and integrates with them for straightforward, automated administration.

Pricing

SurePayroll by Paychex’s full-service plan prices $39 per thirty days plus $7 per worker. Its self-service plan prices $20 per thirty days plus $4 per worker.

Moreover, new clients get six months of free service with a 12-month subscription to both payroll plan.

Options

• Cellular payroll apps for each employers and workers.
• Payroll autopilot function.
• Medical health insurance brokerage.
• Medical health insurance, 401(okay) and staff’ compensation insurance coverage integration and administration.

Execs

• Glorious customer support with expanded hours.
• Free two-day direct deposit for all clients.

Cons

Gusto

Gusto’s thorough payroll options are pretty similar to Patriot’s. Each payroll firms provide free, limitless month-to-month payroll runs with two-day direct deposit and end-of-year tax submitting at no further cost.

However in distinction to Patriot, which has few to no HR options, Gusto is likely one of the greatest payroll and HR suppliers for small companies that want HR fundamentals. Gusto additionally provides extra area of interest advantages like faculty financial savings accounts and commuter funds.

Gusto continues to be a payroll-first resolution reasonably than a complete HR and payroll resolution — as an example, its HR library and compliance alerts are solely accessible with the costliest plan. Nonetheless, it’s a significantly better match than Patriot for companies that need fundamental HR and thorough payroll from the identical supplier.

Pricing

Gusto begins at $40 a month plus $6 per worker per thirty days. 

Whereas Gusto has no free trial or free plan, its contractor-only plan has no base charge for the primary six months. After six months, the contractor-only base charge is $35 per thirty days plus $6 per contractor paid.

Get a one-month free low cost in your bill after you subscribe and run your first payroll with Gusto. Different phrases and situations apply.

Options

• Direct deposit, pay as you go debit card and on-demand pay choices.
• Employees’ compensation insurance coverage and advantages administration.
• Onboarding instruments and worker self-service portal.

Execs

• Utterly automated payroll and advantages administration.
• Free integration with Gusto-brokered insurance coverage advantages, 401(okay)s, commuter advantages and staff’ comp.

Cons

• Costly higher-tier plans.
• No compliance alerts with most cost-effective plans.

Is Patriot Payroll proper for your small business?

In case you’re searching for easy-to-use payroll software program with a low price of entry, thorough payroll instruments and stand-out buyer assist, Patriot is a unbelievable decide.

Patriot’s free white-glove setup means it’s particularly well-suited to small companies that solely not too long ago employed their first workers and aren’t but aware of the ins and outs of payroll software program. Its low per-user charges hold prices low for small and midsize companies that don’t have complicated HR calls for.

Nonetheless, past integrating with 401(okay) plans, Patriot Payroll doesn’t assist advantages integration and administration. It expenses an extra charge for normal HR providers like doc e-signatures and on-line storage, and its lack of accounting and time-tracking software program integrations restrict Patriot’s viewers to companies that use QuickBooks On-line.

Questioning the place to show as a substitute? In case you like Patriot’s costs however want extra HR assist, SurePayroll and Gusto may work higher for you. If price is much less of a difficulty for you than scalability, Rippling, Paychex and ADP can develop with you as you develop. And in case you want a extra absolutely featured workforce-management resolution, try BambooHR as a substitute.

How we evaluated Patriot Payroll

To judge Patriot Payroll, we seen the corporate’s demo and arrange an account so we may check drive the software program. We additionally combed via verified person critiques on websites like Trustpilot and Gartner Peer Insights to raised perceive Patriot’s audience and the way their experiences with the software program differed from our personal.

Our star ranking methodology

We rating every payroll model we evaluation in 5 key areas. Every space is weighted to mirror the class’s significance to our viewers of tech stakeholders:

• Pricing (25% of whole rating), which incorporates components like free trial info, cost choices (e.g., annual vs. month-to-month plans), pricing transparency, highest and lowest tier pricing in comparison with {industry} norms in addition to further charges.
• Options (35% of whole rating), which incorporates components like payroll-tax submitting, limitless payroll runs, new-hire reporting, third-party integrations, time monitoring, reporting, onboarding, wage garnishment and advantages administration (amongst others).
• Ease of use (15% of whole rating), which incorporates cell apps, person expertise, workflow automations, accessibility, ease of setup and mobile-friendly web site design (amongst others).
• Customer support (15% of whole rating), which incorporates sorts of buyer assist, hours of availability, responsiveness and additional charges for premium buyer care.
• Professional evaluation (10% of whole rating), which incorporates our consultants’ expertise researching the model and feedback on any standout options (or downsides).

We relied on in-house, hands-on testing in addition to accessible demos, reliable buyer critiques and data from gross sales representatives (when attainable) to evaluate every model utilizing the metrics above.