2012 Review of AccountantsWorld Payroll Relief

AccountantsWorld — Payroll Relief
888-999-1366
www.accountantsworld.com

From the October 2012 review of professional payroll systems.

Best Firm Fit: Accountants in public practice looking to expand service offerings or process payroll in a cost effective manner without the administrative burden

Strengths

• Designed with accounting professionals in mind
• Good management and analytical tools
• Fully automated for payments and compliance filings
• Web presence may be branded
• Mobile application includes payroll processing, compliance and reporting

Potential Limitations

• Limited human resource and benefit management capabilities
• Comprehensive set of reports provides little customization

[Read a First-Hand user experience of the Payroll Relief here.]

Payroll Relief is part of the web-based suite of products offered by AccountantsWorld. All products in this suite lineup are specifically designed and marketed to accounting professionals. Payroll Relief provides a fully automated system with a number of enhancements to efficiently manage payroll. A unique aspect to Payroll Relief is the all-inclusive pricing and functionality.

Basic System Functions: 5 Stars

Payroll Relief is a web based solution and is accessible through most modern Internet browsers. The login processes and all data housed are secured with advanced encryption and intrusion detection systems. The opening screen allows selection of company file and access to all company files may be controlled for each user login.

Once inside the system, navigation and data entry are presented in a logical workflow and interface. A client overview dashboard is provided and shows the current status of the company along with any upcoming tasks.

Payroll Relief uses exception-based data entry. Processing payroll is straightforward and the employee payroll grid is pre-populated with all basic information, including assumed hours based on noted payroll frequency. This information can be easily edited, as necessary. Alternatively, a customized Excel spreadsheet can be generated with the default values. The completed spreadsheet can then be imported easily into Payroll Relief.

Multiple department, locations and job cost codes may be entered and hours are then allocated as appropriate. Once payroll data is entered into the system, Payroll Relief processes the remainder automatically. This includes all calculations, direct deposit transfers, tax payments and electronic filing of compliance forms among other items.

Compliance reporting is provided for all states and localities. Electronic payment is currently provided for 45 states and electronic form processing is provided for nearly 30. Alerts are generated and sent via email to clients to help ensure funds will be available to cover any electronic payments. Paychecks and forms may be printed at any time and may be processed in batches within each company.

AccountantsWorld recently released the Payroll Relief Mobile app, which is available through any internet-capable device and allows processing payrolls, filing compliance forms, and viewing reports. Only users with appropriate permissions will have login access to the service. Employee portal access via mobile will be available in the near future.

Reporting & Monitoring: 5 Stars

Payroll Relief includes around 40 reports, each of which may be filtered based on a few options. A standard grouping of reports is provided and users can assign custom report groups per company. Most reports are static and the ability to create custom reports is not currently available. Regardless of where the reports are generated, each report may be exported to Microsoft Excel format for further editing as necessary.

Since Payroll Relief is designed for accounting professionals, numerous monitoring and company management tools are included to manage a busy payroll service. These include: