Payroll

[Acownt4it]

Does anyone out here use Paychex or ADP as a payroll provider in their practice?
I am currently contemplating using them as a third party provider. My clients would only have contact with me, not the outside provider.
Any feedback on this would be appreciated.

[Snaggletooth]

What They Do

Noel, you should review exactly what they will do for you and what they won't.

They will calculate your payroll correctly from your time card (or other) input.
They will calculate your 941 deposits, andl file your payroll taxes for 941s plus
any state SUTA. They will issue W-2s for you.

However, you may want to consider, as a reality check, what they DON'T do.
First of all, they do not PAY anything, of course. All their calculations,
printing, etc. still depend on YOUR funds, not theirs. Filing your payroll tax
returns means they will prepare them for YOU, and then YOU pay the check
that goes with the return. This is only fair.

They will also not become involved in time card squabbles, approval process,
bad charge #s, etc. In my experience, this is what requires 85% of the time spent in the
payroll dept - NOT the mechanical process of cutting the checks and providing
computerized check stubs. And the mechanical process is all they provide.
Once you send them the time card input, that's the END of it. They calculate
paychecks based on that and when these checks hit the fan on Friday, they are
not the ones to straighten out the mess of who didn't clock in right, who didn't fill
out their time card right, etc. etc. etc. Remember, it was YOU who sent them the
"final" time card abstract a few days earlier, and at that point it was the gospel
according to YOU.

So YOU end up cutting manual checks on payday, and then you have to send the
payroll service all the wage record YTD adjustments from the fallout. ADP and
Chexmark are simply computer services and do only what they're paid to do.

Based on that, you may decide whether their fee is worth it. They will do what they
agree, but if your timecard procedures are not in stone, they're not going to solve
those kind of problems.

[taxmandan]

Does anyone out here use Paychex or ADP as a payroll provider in their practice?
I am currently contemplating using them as a third party provider. My clients would only have contact with me, not the outside provider.
Any feedback on this would be appreciated.

Take a look at www.paycycle.com before you sign up with one of those other places. Much more affordable, accessable from any PC on the i-net. We have used them for several years and have no complaints.

From what I've seen of paychecks/W-2s from some of the others I wouldn't use their service. Saw a W-2 last season with no income in Box 1, box 3 & 5 had income of ~$7,800 for the client. Asked tech support at one of the two places you mentioned (who issued the W-2) and was told "the employee filled out the W-4 as exempt from income tax, so their wages are not taxable." Could not get them to correct it. And their a PAYROLL service!

[KJ Judd]

I've had a good relationship with Paychex. I'll do quarterly payroll filing for clients through QuickBooks. However I make it quite clear that they are responsible for making the deposits timely. if they don't want that responsibility, I refer them to Paychex. Most of my clients appreciate the direct deposit feature they have.

My sales rep has been very knowledgeable and helpful. She just was promoted so we'll see how the new one is. With my clients permission I can access all their payroll reports online through Paychex website.

Maybe in the future I'll offer payroll services myself, but right now I don't want to be bothered with the hassles of getting the deposits done timely and the liability that goes with it.

As a member of the AICPA, Paychex does offer a slightly reduced rate to my clients and a 6 month money back guarantee. I'll also admit that I appreciate the free CCH Master Tax Guide they give me.

[Acownt4it]

thank

you all for your quick responses. I appreciate that.

KJ Judd, where are you located in Wi? I am in Norther IL.

[KJ Judd]

I'm in Waukesha, about 20 miles west of Milwaukee.

[BOB W]

Live Payroll

I do all live P/R in house. I try to get them on a two week cycle. Since my programs are intergrated, all the g/l entries are posted automatically. Outside payroll services can be a pain posting the monthly info. I like it doing inhouse. Better control if there is a problem that needs fixing.

[dsi]

I also process payrolls in house. I use a program offered by www.chequemate.com.

It's really easy to use, and not that expensive.

[sea-tax]

I personally would suggest to keep it in house if possible. I have heard many horror stories about outsourcing the payroll.
Also you loose some control over the client. Also they may try to sell your client other services that you may sell or want to sell in the future.

I had a client once that went to ADP because the Franchise agreement forced him to.
About a year into he starts getting these notices from ADP that they can help him setup a retirment plan for his business. Well luckily I had already talked to him and was in the process of setting it up but what a headache.

[veritas]

Sounds like

Quiznos


Have a friend that just started one. Adp screwed up the first payroll 3 ways to Sunday.