Payroll Services - ADP Vs. Intuit

PipeGuy

For anyone interested, I'm finding Intuit's QuuickBooks Payroll Service to be more valuable to me than ADP's ezPay service. On March 1st I dropped ADP (after 18 months of service) and started using Intuit because I wanted automatic integration of my payroll data with my QuickBooks Pro 2003 accounting application. So far, so good.

With ADP it was easy to phone in basic 'hours and earnings' data on a weekly basis and the payroll package (checks, reports, invoice) was always delivered on time to my door. All payroll tax liabilities were processed accurately without complication. Despite the fact that I had to extrapolate various information from ADP's printed reports and subsequently manually enter payroll cost data in QB Pro, I found ezPay to be a very valuable service.

I also subscribed to ADP's ezLabor service for about a year. The service provided more detailed tracking capabilities for payroll costs (by job, WC classification, task, etc.) than ezPay allows. EzLabor stands alone from ezPay and requires its own internet based data input. I found that the cost of using ezLabor far exceeded the benefits it afforded me.

So far the move to Intuit from ADP looks to be a great decision. The internet based data entry is easy to use and the seemeless integration of my payroll data with my accounting data is a heaven send. I also like the increased flexibility I now have to process and print payroll. Like ADP, Intuit processes and pays the payroll tax liabilities.

Anyone else using Intuit?

Sarah9910

Pipe Guy....how does it compare price wise? How many employees do you pay for processing?

Grumpy

I've highly considered intuit but since it's just me as the sole employee at this point I guesstimate my deductions when I write myself a pay check.

PipeGuy

I process payroll weekly for just 8 people. The cost per payroll run is about the same.

mdshunk

This is an interesting thread on a topic that I've never considered. What is the main benefit of using a specialized payroll service over having an office girl, bookkeeper, or accountant prepare the weekly or bi-weekly payroll? Accuracy? Cost savings?

PipeGuy

The main benefit for me is that the office [boy] and bookkeeper (me and me respecttively) can spend more time on tasks that promote revenue generation. I only interact with my accountant three or four times a year and it never even occurred to me to use a CPA for payroll services. With the weekly cost per check running well under $10 (including all payroll tax filings and W-2's) I think it's worth the expense.
If and when I grow into the need for administrative help I might consider doing payroll in-house. I have to tell you though that, as of now, doing so is way down on the list of things I see as a 'mission critical' to my success.

TimWieneke

PipeGuy,
I help my dad set up Intuit at our office, but I'm not familliar with ADP's EasyPay service. I have talked to an ADP rep about their service to see whether or not they actually become the employer of record. She said they can do this but didn't specifiy if this was EasyPay or not. In either case, does Intuit or ADP become the employer of record in these plans? I'm pretty sure Intuit doesn't.

"What is the main benefit of using a specialized payroll service over having an office girl, bookkeeper, or accountant prepare the weekly or bi-weekly payroll? Accuracy? Cost savings?"

Probably your best benefit is compliance (time savings is second). Labor laws are tricky. We have a funky one in Illinois where you must document lunch hours or the state can backcharge you 3 years worth of lunch hours and make you pay it to the employee (at time and a half if it runs into overtime) on top of their penalties. Payroll services can help you wade through some of them.

Tim

__________________
As Steve the Foreman would say, "Forgive him Lord, for he doesn't know what he's doing."

Sarah9910

I'd say timely compliance with payroll tax depositing and regulations is the best benefit. And...if the journal entry can be automatic from the service into your software..that's a big bonus. I would want to be sure that all expenses are costed to the job or COGS for field employees before I accepted an automatic import or automatic journal entry.

PipeGuy

Tim, I dont know what it means for the payroll service to become "the employer of record" and have never heard of such a thing. Please tell me something about it.
I agree with both you and Sarah that tax compliance is probably the greatest benefit.
Sarah, payroll data is entered via Quickbooks either in a 'time card' format or summary format. Payroll expenses are costed as you noted, as set-up by the user, and journal entries are automatic. I find the whole thing to be very slick. In addition to tracking job cost and wage expense classifications (hourly, salary, bonuses, leave, etc.) I am able to classify wages for the purposes of auditing workers compensation and general liability insurance liabilities.

Grumpy

PipeGuy, the employer of record is also sometimes called employee lease back. Your employees actually work for the payroll company, as the payroll company writes their checks, pays their insurance etc... You then just write one check to the payroll company per week.

TimWieneke

Was gone fishin' and Grumpy answered. :Thumbs:

Pretty much what Grumpy said. The difference between a check cutting service and a service where another company is actually the "employer of record" is that if a check cutting service screws up on anything (say tax witholdings), you are still on the hook - however it's a traditionally cheaper service. With an employer of record, if they screw up on anything (say tax witholdings), they are on the hook - however it's a service that traditionally costs more money than check cutting. Check cutting really should be fine for a guy who's confident to periodically keep an eye on it himself.

Tim

__________________
As Steve the Foreman would say, "Forgive him Lord, for he doesn't know what he's doing."