Everyone in the accounting profession knows who Intuit is and is aware of the reputation they have established with their hugely successful QuickBooks software. Intuit has continued to broaden and expand its reach into business software applications, including payroll.
Intuit offers a wide range of payroll solutions from the QuickBooks Do-It-Yourself Payroll to QuickBooks Assisted Payroll to the Intuit Complete Payroll Service solution reviewed here. In total, Intuit claims over 800,000 businesses are using one of Intuit’s payroll solutions. On the down side, the Complete Payroll model is accountant-friendly versus accountant-centric.
Processing a weekly payroll for a five-employee business would cost $28.95 with Intuit’s Complete Payroll. Processing a semi-monthly or biweekly payroll for a five-employee business would cost $38.55; and processing a monthly payroll for the same would cost $71.10. Processing a weekly payroll for a 50-employee business would cost $118.05, semi-monthly or biweekly would cost $127.65, and monthly would cost $160.20. For a 150-employee business, the cost would be as follows: weekly at $218.05, semi-monthly or biweekly at $227.65, and monthly at $260.20. If Intuit prints and delivers the checks, it will cost and additional $11.50. A company may also choose to purchase check stock and print their own checks ($20 for 100 checks; $75 for 500 checks). Direct deposit adds an additional $5 per pay period in addition to $.15 per direct deposit.
LEARNING CURVE – 5 Stars
The system is relatively intuitive and easy to learn. Procedure flowcharts are illustrated to help guide you through the system processes. A menu of activity tabs will flow you through the system in a logical manner. :::::
BREADTH & DEPTH OF FEATURES & SERVICES – 4 Stars
The system offers a comprehensive set of features and functions, which include the following and more:
Seamless data integration with QuickBooks (2002 or later) and QuickBooks Online.
Continually updated with federal, state and local tax tables.
Local printing of payroll reports within 15 minutes of submitting data along with check and report delivery options.
Data entry via PC, web, fax or phone.
Handles multi-location and multi-tax authority situations.
Handles all 50 states and most localities.
Supports up to eight accrual pay types and tracks accrued hours, also offering user-defined accrual methods.
39 earnings codes, 29 taxable and 10 pre-tax. In addition, Intuit Complete Payroll offers 60 deduction codes per company and 25 codes per employee.
Supports shift differentials.
Allows deductions up to a predetermined amount.
Permits customization of web entry pay screen.
Paycheck estimator (but you may get a different actual if an employee has passed certain tax liability limits).
Unlimited checks per employee per pay period.
Split pay between paycheck and Direct Deposit and Pay Cards.
Prints third-party checks for garnishment, 401k contributions, child support, etc.
EFTPS support.
REPORTING CAPABILITIES – 5 Stars
The system provides a complete set of payroll reports and reporting features, including next day delivery of printed checks or Internet-based local check printing. Also available is an End of Month Accountants Report Package, which is sent free to the accountant. Complete Payroll offers a comprehensive selection of payroll reports as well as a custom payroll report writer. Reports are displayed in *PDF format within the browser, and you can view and print pay stubs, W-2s and earnings records. Five years worth of payroll data is available for reporting, and you can also request a history CD that contains all payroll information for the year.
INTEGRATION/IMPORT & EXPORT – 5 Stars
As you might expect, integration with the QuickBooks desktop accounting software as well as QuickBooks online edition is a key feature that will benefit the large base of QuickBooks users. In addition, Intuit offers a whole series of related programs and services to supplement Complete Payroll, including an employee self-service center, UniPlan 401k Retirement Plan Administration, Section 125 plans, group health benefits, workers’ compensation insurance payment service, background check services, tax payment processing, and more.
A special feature is the HR Assistant, which offers comprehensive HR assistance including forms, procedures and ‘Ask an Employment Question,’ where HR questions are submitted via e-mail, and a response is provided within two days. Also available is an add-on called UniChek, which offers positive pay check verification that sends an electronic file to the owner’s payroll bank to verify each check when presented.
CUSTOMER SERVICE & SUPPORT – 4.5 Stars
Intuit offers a couple of compelling guarantees to back their commitment to the system including a No Penalties Guarantee and a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. The No Penalties Guarantee states that if the data provided by a company is accurate, on time and the account is sufficiently funded, your payroll tax deposits and filing will be on time and accurate or Intuit will pay any payroll tax penalty. The 100% Satisfaction Guarantee states that if you’re not 100% satisfied within 60 days of your first payroll sub-mission, Intuit will refund your setup fees and transaction fees (see Intuit for details).
Support is included in the basic per-payroll fees. Payroll Specialists will assist in setting up new client company information. No direct support is provided to accountants to market and brand the service as their offering, but Intuit does offer an accountant referral program for accountants who refer their clients. Intuit also offers FastPay, a back office processing system that accountants can use to directly provide payroll to their clients.
SUMMARY
Clearly, Intuit has the depth of resources to provide peace of mind that they will be there in the long run. The relationship to QuickBooks is a real plus for clients and accountants who like working with that system and have had a good experience with it.
From the perspective of offering a payroll service bureau for the clients of an accounting firm, you need to carefully evaluate the market positioning of the Complete Payroll service due to the fact that it is sold directly to the end user and is not accountant-centric in terms of focusing on offering the service directly through the accountant channel. Overall, the system seems to have a pretty complete feature set that would allow you to process payroll for most if not all of your clients.
2004 OVERALL RATING: 4.5
Review Attributes
In order to maintain as much consistency
in our reviews as practical, the
payroll software solutions were
rated on the following five areas:
Learning Curve; Breadth & Depth of Features & Services; Reporting Capabilities; Integration/Import & Export; and Customer Service & Support.
We also looked at the vendor’s
history and vision in terms of the
company’s experience, resources
(personnel and financial) and reputation
in the profession and the extent
to which they are focused on payroll
services. We also considered how
the vendor approaches the accountant’s
role in the payroll service delivery
model.
The user interface is the primary
attribute evaluated to rate the
system’s Learning Curve. If
the software has an easy-to-follow
and intuitive interface, it received
the highest rating. On the other
hand, if it is not readily apparent
how and where to find features and
functions in the system, even though
the feature set may be complete,
we assessed a lower rating. This
is a key factor to evaluate because
of the intensive interaction of
the system that is required by your
staff and, in some cases, your clients.
The functionality of a payroll system
is a key characteristic to evaluate
because it will directly influence
the range of clients to which you
will be able to provide payroll
services, as well as the scope of
the services you will be able to
offer. Functionality is measured
in large part by the Depth &
Breadth of Features & Services.
How many options does the package
offer? Does it provide features
that meet the needs of a growing
company such as EFTPS (Electronic
Federal Tax Payment System)? MICR
(Magnetic Character Ink Recording)
and Direct Deposit? An extended
set of these types of features resulted
in a very high ranking in this category.
The following questions all relate
to the rating of the software’s
Reporting capability. What types
of reports does the system produce?
What is the content? How are they
designed? What flexibility is offered
in the sorting, selection and design
of the report contents?
Integration/Import & Export
assesses the packages ability to
integrate with other software applications,
such as client write-up, the client’s
accounting system, HRIS (Human Resource
Information Systems) and other applications
to minimize data entry and optimize
the potential to leverage the information
flow into and out of the payroll
system.
The true measure of a software’s
value is not limited to the program
itself, it is heavily influenced
by the vendor’s ability to
help you use and apply it. All it
takes is one frustrating afternoon
of system problems on a day when
multiple client payrolls need to
get out the door and you can’t
get the help you need from the vendor
to leave you with a long-lasting
distaste for the entire system.
We have done our best to rate the
vendor’s ability to deliver
Customer Service & Support,
but at the end of the day you need
to conduct your own due diligence
on this attribute and talk to a
few client references about their
experience with the vendor in this
area. It is one thing for a vendor
to say what kind of support they
offer, it is quite another to deliver
it. We have included the vendor’s
direct support of the accountant
in terms of marketing and practice
aids to help establish a payroll
service bureau style offering in
this category.
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