2015 Review of Intuit Online Payroll for Accounting Professionals

• Complete integration with QuickBooks products
• Wholesale pricing model
• Mobile accessibility to product

Potential Limitations:

• Product does not offer HR tools

Online Payroll for Accounting Professionals that offers accounting professionals to obtain payroll services at wholesale prices. Pricing levels drop significantly as the number of clients increase, making this a profitable income stream for accounting professionals.

Basic System Functions: 5 Stars

Online Payroll for Accounting Professionals is an online payroll service from Intuit. Users can access the system from just about any Web browser, and mobile apps are available for both iOS and Android mobile devices. Online Payroll offers an easily navigated user interface that offers accountants a Client Overview screen, where they can easily access all of their clients from one screen. Conveniently, accounting firms can also access their own company’s payroll from this screen as well.

Designed exclusively for accounting professionals, Intuit Online Payroll offers a To-Do list for each active client, including a link to export payroll data to QuickBooks. Accountants can define user levels, allowing the client access to as much or as little of the payroll program as desired. Users are provided pay date reminders, and entering payroll data is straightforward and can be done either manually or by importing time data.

Intuit Online Payroll easily processes both multiple earnings and multiple deduction fields, with users able to set up the level of detail for each, including two hourly rates for the same employee, cash and paycheck tips, holiday and bonus pay, commissions and allowances, overtime and double overtime, HSA contributions, and other reimbursements.

Intuit Online Payroll allows firms to easily manage multiple clients, and tax tables are available for all 50 states. The product easily supports multi-state taxes, and the product supports computer printed checks, manual checks (after the fact), or direct deposit. Users receive an email reminder when federal and state taxes are due, and handle all payments directly.

Reporting & Monitoring: 4.75 Stars

Intuit Online Payroll processes all federal payroll compliance filing and required tax payments. Users can choose when to pay taxes, choosing the earliest date, latest date, or another date. Federal forms such as 941’s are automatically filled out, with users simply clicking the submit button after review to file the form electronically. The Approve Payment option allows users to easily approve the tax payment quickly, and the payroll service does not impound funds. State tax payments can also be processed electronically, where permitted, or a coupon is provided for mailing the tax payment to the correct entity. All tax payments can be exported to accounting software such as QuickBooks, avoiding duplicate entry.

W-2’s are filed electronically, with users able to view the forms, and simply click the submit button to file. Accountants can make good use of the To-Do List that is available for each client.

Intuit Online Payroll offers several payroll related reports. All reports are processed in real time, and offer drill-down capability. Reports can be saved as a group and automatically run after each payroll cycle. All reports can also be exported to Microsoft Excel as needed.

Integration/Import/Export: 4.5 Stars

Intuit Online Payroll for Accounting Professionals integrates with all QuickBooks products including QuickBooks for Mac and QuickBooks Online. The product also offers seamless integration with Quicken and Sage 50. For easy time tracking capability, users can use Intuit Time Tracking, which offers two time entry options; Online Time Sheets or an Online Time Clock. Either method integrates with the payroll product to ensure accurate data, and reduce or eliminate time-consuming data entry.   Time data can also be imported via an Excel spreadsheet, and any payroll data can be exported using Excel as well.

Help/Support: 4.75 Stars

Intuit Online Payroll offers U.S. based customer support for all accounting firms. Support is provided by payroll industry experts and is available during regular business hours. Email support is available 7 days a week. Intuit also offers a variety of self-help features including a product demo, a FAQ page, and a fully searchable knowledgebase.  

All system updates are handled by Intuit, so users will also have the most recent tax and compliance data available. Intuit also provides accounting professionals with a comprehensive set of tools designed to help them with managing their payroll business, including information on product pricing and marketing.

Client Self-Service Features: 5 Stars

An employee portal is included in Intuit Online Payroll. Users have the option of providing clients with limited access, complete access, or no access to payroll tasks. The portal is firm-branded, with the firm name visible to employees upon login. All client rights are controlled by the accounting firm.

The employee portal also allows employees to easily access current and previous paystubs, as well as W-2 information. Clients that are provided with access to the payroll product can easily enter time data through the Intuit Time Tracking portal, but the system does not allow client employees to edit any personnel information such as contact information, tax withholding, or deduction information.

Advanced Features: N/A

Intuit Online Payroll for Accountants currently does not offer and HR related tools that integrate with the product.

Summary & Pricing

Intuit Online Payroll for Accountants is an online solution designed specifically for accounting professionals that wish to offer payroll processing services to their clients. Pricing starts at $35.00 per client per month for one client, with pricing significantly reduced as the number of client’s increases. Firms with 21-50 payroll clients would pay 11.99 per month per client, plus a .50 monthly fee per employee. The optional time tracking tool is available at a reduced price of $1.50 per month per employee.

2015 Overall Rating: 4.75 Stars