Paychex Flex Reviews

Great payroll and hr employer/employee program

Comments: Overall I've had no problems with paycheckflex really other than the direct deposit not transferring over from my job profiles but other than that it's been a really awesome experience it's been easy to use friendly and just great it's very useful and I do appreciate the software and I continue to use it to this day

Pros:

On some pros are that it's easy to use the interface is set up really user friendly it's sectioned off and your different jobs you know your pay your schedule your onboarding your your stuff you need to complete for HR or assignments places to message people ask questions you can view when your check gets deposited or written how many hours you worked all sorts of things like that and your vacation time and it's just it's really easy and it makes my job easier and it makes knowing what I'm doing for other people who are using it easy and I get paid on time if not early actually for me not everybody does though and it's all right there like I can print off my w-2s I can print off my tax paperwork message my employers or employees and manage my benefits and everything it's a really great system.

Cons:

Honestly the only thing I don't like is if you have multiple employers on there and you put in your direct deposit information for one it does not automatically carry over to another job if you have multiple jobs at the same time so there for a minute I was getting a hard check because I thought that that information that I just entered for a previous in my other employer that I'm still working would go through to my next account but it does not you have to manually re-enter that

"Streamlining HR and Payroll Management with Paychex Flex: A Comprehensive Solution for Businesses"

Comments: The product is known for its comprehensive HR and payroll management tools that enable businesses to streamline their HR and payroll processes and stay compliant with tax laws. Many users also appreciate the mobile access and employee self-service tools, which enable employees to manage their HR and payroll information on-the-go and reduce administrative burden on HR departments.Paychex Flex is a comprehensive solution for businesses to manage their HR and payroll needs efficiently, but like any software product, it may have some limitations and challenges that users should consider when evaluating the product for their needs.

Pros:

It enable businesses to calculate payroll taxes, process paychecks, and manage employee time and attendance. It helps businesses manage employee benefits, including health insurance, retirement plans, and other employee benefits.HR management tools, including employee onboarding, performance tracking, and time-off management. aychex Flex includes tools to help businesses manage their hiring process, including job postings, applicant tracking, and candidate communication.It can be accessed through mobile devices, enabling employees to manage their payroll and HR information on-the-go. It provides employees with self-service tools to manage their HR and payroll information, including viewing pay statements and updating personal information. It enable businesses to generate custom reports on HR and payroll data, including payroll summaries, benefits summaries, and tax reports.

Cons:

It can be relatively expensive compared to some other HR and payroll management solutions, which may be a concern for smaller businesses with limited budgets.It offers integration with a wide range of third-party applications and services, some users may find that integrating with certain applications or services is challenging or not possible.

I have never been happy with Paychex.

Comments: They never fully finished helping us get our platform set up. There is suppose to be a general ledger integration that is suppose to give us a report that breaks down our payroll items so we can enter the details into the books. No one has ever helped us set up our platform so this works. The report is always blank. I spent over a year trying to get people to help set this up so it would work and every customer service person would just pass the buck or tell me they would get back to me but never did. Then with the time clock feature it would be great if they would stop trying to change and update it. I spend more time fixing employees time punches because Paychex is down. Furthermore, the new timeclock platform that Paychex is trying to launch seems scares me because they seem to be missing a lot of key features that were on the old one. Finally, I don't know what their employees do all day. I swear our service reps are out of the office more than they are ever in the office.

Pros:

The software looks like it should work well and that is has a lot of features that would be helpful. I do like how they take care of a lot of the tax related things so that I don't have to create and file all the different employment tax documents.

Cons:

Timeclock system is often down.Poor customer service.No follow through to make sure everything was finalized on initial setup.They always try to sell me new products when the ones I have don't work.Talked to a Paychex Technical support employee who admitted that the back end was not that great.

Manage Your Payroll Like a Pro with Paychex Flex

Comments: I've found that the software has helped us streamline our payroll management procedures and resolve a number of business issues in the past.Our payroll processing was a time-consuming, error-prone process that frequently necessitated manual data entry and the duplication of information across multiple systems before we started using Paychex Flex. As a result, there were a lot of errors and inconsistencies, which led to delays and problems for employees as well as our HR team.We have discovered a number of advantages that have contributed to the enhancement of our payroll management procedures ever since we began using Paychex Flex. First, the features that automatically calculate, pay, and file payroll taxes have helped us stay in compliance with the most recent tax laws and regulations, saving us time and money.Additionally, the self-service portal has revolutionized our employees' work lives by making it simple for them to view and access their W-2s and other payroll documents online. Since they no longer have to spend hours responding to information requests or sending out physical copies of payroll documents, our HR team has saved a lot of time and effort.In general, I would highly recommend Paychex Flex to any company seeking a payroll management system that is both dependable and user-friendly.

Pros:

One of the most significant benefits I've experienced as an employee who uses Paychex Flex is the ease with which I can access my payroll data online through the self-service portal. My ability to view my paystubs at any time and from any device has been extremely beneficial to my financial management.For instance, when I recently applied for a loan, the lender asked for a copy of my most recent pay stub. I was able to log in to Paychex Flex and download the paystub right away, so I didn't have to wait for HR to send me a paper copy or ask for one. I was able to submit my loan application on time thanks to this, which saved me a lot of time and effort.I've found that Paychex Flex's mobile accessibility is another benefit. Being able to manage payroll activities on the go has changed my life as a remote worker who frequently travels. While on business trips, I have used the native mobile app to punch in and out to record my time and attendance. This has saved me from having to manually track my hours or rely on paper timesheets.Overall, Paychex Flex has been very good to me, and I would highly recommend it to other employees who want a payroll management system that is easy to use.

Cons:

The cost of the service is one of the drawbacks I've encountered in using Paychex Flex. Even though Paychex Flex has a lot of useful features and benefits, it might be too expensive for small businesses or businesses with limited budgets.For instance, my previous employer was a small start-up with just a few employees, and we found that using Paychex Flex was out of our price range. We ended up switching to a different payroll management system that was less feature-rich but more affordable, which was a trade-off.I've also found that Paychex Flex's limited customization is another drawback. Even though the system has reports that can be changed in any way you want, it can be hard to get the system to work the way we need it to for our particular payroll needs.For instance, the standard reports in Paychex Flex did not fully meet our business's unique reporting requirements. We had to spend more time and resources creating custom reports or workarounds as a result, which was a little time-consuming and frustrating.Overall, Paychex Flex is useful and convenient, but its price and limited customization options may be a problem for some businesses.

Paychex Flex is a simple and straightforward system

Comments: Paychex Flex's interface has always been straightforward to use; the admin dashboard is full of useful information and it's impossible to miss any updates or notifications. Our less technically-inclined staff members have no trouble navigating the user dashboard.

Pros:

I manage the company's administrative tasks, including Payroll, Onboarding, and HRS. There is no way to overstate the amount of time it has saved me. About 5 minutes are all I need to do payroll, and that's only when there's a new employee.

Cons:

The ability to look at Payroll records dating back more than two years. There are numerous Payroll Representatives. Inconveniently, I have to deal with a separate point person for each functionality.

Great Experience with Paychex Flex!

Comments: Overall, I had a great experience with Paychex Flex. It was easy to set up and use, and customer service was always available to help with any questions I had.

Pros:

Paychex Flex makes it easy to manage payroll, taxes, and other administrative tasks. The user interface is intuitive and the customer service is excellent.

Cons:

Paychex Flex can be expensive compared to other payroll software.

Fantastic Experience with Gusto!

Comments: Overall, Gusto has been an excellent choice for our business. We've been able to quickly and easily set up payroll and benefits, and their customer service team has always been incredibly helpful and responsive.

Pros:

Gusto has been an absolute lifesaver for our business. Their user-friendly platform makes payroll and benefits setup a breeze, and the customer service team is always ready to help with any questions or issues.

Cons:

The only downside I've noticed is that it can be a bit slow to calculate taxes, but that might just be due to the complexity of all the laws and regulations.

Easy to use, great customer service

Comments: Due to issues when our account was created we had a huge mess to clean up at the end of the year. It was due to errors within our organization but Paychex went out of their way to ensure that everything was in order in a reasonable amount of time. I would never choose to repeat that scenario, but it did prove that they have exceptional customer service.

Pros:

Ease of use. I started using the system without any prior knowledge and had no trouble finding my way around. Running payroll is simple and can easily be customized to how you prefer to enter.

Cons:

If Paychex is also logged in, changes you make will not be saved. This does not happen often, but when it does it is useless.

Good product, but less expensive options out there

Comments: Overall it was a good experience and I used it when I was a new business owner. Since then I've found other solutions to be much cheaper and still offer the same benefits as paychex. If you like having someone help you and plenty of support, paychex is a great place. However, if you are on a tight budget and need something that will be just as good to get the job done, I suggest something less expensive.

Pros:

The setup was super easy and simple. My rep was informative and helpful as well. The software works great and makes payroll easy once you learn how to properly use it.

Cons:

The software takes a little longer to learn to use than others I've used. The price was a big factor because I am a small business.

Easy to use but missing many features

Comments: The relationship managers have not met my expectations. Calling in and getting someone from support is a better experience

Pros:

It is easy to add hours and job cost. I like the templates for adding the information

Cons:

Easy to add a new hire, but if they have an existing Paychex login, you cannot invite them to update their profile with the your company. Difficulties adding Direct Deposit bank info.

Streamlined and Simplified Payroll Processing and Ancillary HR Services

Comments: Thus far, the experience has been positive and meets all needs of the company. Tax compliance, W-2s, time keeping, and benefits admin all went smoothly through a full annual cycle. The customer service response times are within a reasonable range, and the mobile app surprisingly is very useful due to the simplicity of the overall platform. Employees can also self-serve make a certain number of changes to things like addresses or banking info without the need for an HR team member to service such requests.

Pros:

The ease of onboarding and implementation (compared to ADP, for example), as well as the streamlined processes that allow for staff who may not be payroll professionals to accurately run payroll & benefits to a high degree of efficiency.

Cons:

The functionality for contractors isn't as great as some other providers I've used in the past (PayReel, for instance). Additionally, the level of sophistication for tax issue or researching problems from state notices, etc. isn't the best I've seen though it is certainly adequate.

Great product

Comments: Customer service is the only downside. Otherwise, we are happy with the system itself.

Pros:

We used to rely on our accountant in the past. This is a great way to have access to anything at anytime. Another perk is that the employees are able to review their tax documents remotely as well.

Cons:

This is not really related to the software itself, but the customer service continues to be an ongoing problem. God forbid if you receive a notice from EDD or IRS, you'll be chasing behind people to follow up. I wish whatever forms are submitted, we can have access to them from a particular page along with the outcomes.

The Worst Payroll Company Out There!

Comments: I have been running payroll and in HR for over 17 years so have used many payroll services and Paychex is the absolute WORST - can't wait to switch. Overpriced and you have to do everything yourself including coding their system. Nothing works right once you do (no notifications, biometric time clocks don't record punches, CA payroll laws like 7th day OT never coded) it's truly a complete joke of a company. "Account Manager" does not actually do anything but tell you to call the 877 customer service number and they are beyond ignorant and unhelpful.

Cons:

Customer service - The worst Assigned Account Manager - Does nothing but tell you to call Cust Service (see above) Helpfulness - None Expensive - YES Knowledgeable - None Compliant - Nope, set up CA payroll laws all wrong Ease of system use - terrible, you need to coded everything yourself Over selling - the best (how about fix your basic customer service and functionality before you continually try and up sell)

PREVIEW was a great payroll work horse. But beware, FLEX Payroll is no PREVIEW.

Comments: We've been on Paychex PREVIEW payroll software for 16 years. It was a solid no non-sense payroll processing work horse which came with everything you'd ever need to process payroll for 100+ employees in a very quick and efficient manner. PREVIEW software was extremely well designed and well thought out. The developers took the perspective of payroll processing users and provided all the navigation speed, functionalities and reports that we'd ever find useful or need to do our jobs quickly and efficiently. There were hardly any unnecessary clicks, keystrokes or scrolling to speak of. It exceeded my expectation all these years. Paychex's golden era and reputation as payroll processing leader was probably due to these sensible legacy products. Like all good things which must come to an end, we were switched to FLEX Q2 of 2016 because PREVIEW was so old that Paychex decided to sun set it this year - which was totally understandable. But any reasonable PREVIEW clients would also expect and assume that whatever good features, good functionalities and useful reports that were available and had been working well in PREVIEW would be brought over and be available in the new payroll product as well. Not so. Enters FLEX which Paychex touted as being technologically advanced, etc. It probably is. But as far as FLEX payroll processing features and functionalities are concerned, I am actually set back 16 years to a payroll processing product that seemed Beta, very slow, cumbersome, awkward - compared to PREVIEW. Paychex simply threw PREVIEW out the window and started fresh from scratch with FLEX. I spent my first several months on FLEX Payroll sending them suggestions to make FLEX "better". I don't know if anyone cared. FLEX Payroll screen designs and navigation are very slow, very cumbersome, and very awkward. What I considered "speed features" in PREVIEW were non-existent in FLEX. Fields are spread out as far apart as they can find room to spread them out to (instead of keeping the screen layouts compact) seemingly so as to "maximize" unnecessary clicks, scrolls and keystrokes as much as possible. It's also more cumbersome and time consuming just to get information and reports from FLEX Payroll which could be run quickly and easily before in PREVIEW. I felt like I'm using payroll software designed by inexperienced college graduates who had never processed payroll before in their lives. They're out to get as much of my time make me do as much work as possible for the same amount of work that I have to do as before - to see where my breaking point is. So overall, I'm not impressed. To me, if the basic payroll processing functionalities are less than before, FLEX Payroll will still be inadequate despite all other "great features and modules" they added to FLEX which I don't need.

Pros:

Flex integration with Benefits Administration (Benetrac) module can make life a lot easier for some - but Beware - only if your group is 100+ enrolled. Our Paychex sales rep did make the claim that with Benetrac service, our medical insurance transactions "will all be automatic with carriers and we wouldn't have to do a thing" - which was totally not true. As it turned out, more carriers than not do not do EDI for groups (company) with < 100 enrolled. So the main FLEX selling point totally didn't even pan out for us. Please learn from our lesson. Do verify specifically that your medical and dental carriers will do EDI for your group before signing up for Benetrac.

Cons:

Although FLEX does its job as payroll software, having been on a faster and more efficient product before, we know how much more time we are spending on this "more inefficient" product compared to before. Oh and please save yourself the headaches and trouble by passing on other Paychex's services. We tried Paychex Health Insurance and ACA filing. They both failed miserably. Same story in both cases. Can't get hold of the account rep and customer service rep. No one would answer or return our calls. Last year's ACA were 60% wrong after I've redone and resubmitted data 3 different times after 3 different CSR told me 3 different things. They were just making it up as they went. Very frustrating.

Paychex Flex

Comments: Procured the total HRO package (payroll, 401k, FSA, Time & Attendance, HRIS, HR Compliance and HR Generalist). There is no HRIS compatibility with the Payroll system, one has to run separate reports. Anytime Paychex updates their website, links do not work to the other features and or issues occur. Example, PTO accrual stopped working properly so we had to start accruing PTO manually and users not properly redirected to their links in the Learning center. On the payroll side the support is a black hole. Specifically any state registrations that are not properly loaded by Paychex and result in state tax fees which do not get resolved without employer paying penalty. Numerous emails do not get acknowledged. The implementation process is juvenile and lacks complete project management scope. Overall communication and execution by Paychex is so poor, one finally stops being frustrated and simply begins search for better system, which we are doing.

Pros:

Compliance. Nice to have employee handbook online and learning center for compliance training is also helpful. While Paychex payroll has strong workflow rules and meets general processing requirements, they make everything else so painful, therefore one could never recommend them. It would be like telling someone it's okay to cross a bridge that you know could collapse any moment and that you know is no longer maintained.

Cons:

Assigned customer reps - unresponsive or not timely in responses until escalations. Paychex's lack of technology understanding - every time they upgrade they do not test what the impact to customer use and all their products. They had a big upgrade in late December 2015, their system was not accessible from early morning until the evening (end of year!). Multiple email and calls yielded no information. Finally at 4pm we get an email that they were experiencing problems and would be back live shortly. Who does that? While learning center is a nice to have, spent an hour giving feedback and nothing changed, e.g., the CA Manager Anti- Sexual harassment training is 2.5 hours all in one shot. Not standard for training needs - asked them to break into 4 modules so it would not be daunting to busy leaders....crickets.

Paychex Flex gives me peace of mind

Comments: Overall, I have been very pleased with Paychex as a company and their online platform, Paychex Flex.  I have the peace of mind that our payroll is in capable hands.

Pros:

It is easy to use and it gives me a peace of mind that our company's payroll is in capable hands. Their customer service is great. Each customer has a dedicated payroll specialist, so every time I have a question I am talking to the same person. Our payroll specialist has always been very helpful any time I have had weird situations or questions. Paychex withholds all the appropriate taxes for both the employee and employer and then files them when the appropriate government entities. Our business is located Ohio, which has a complex tax structure including both state and local taxes. Paychex has saved me so much time and stress.

Cons:

I wish that Paychex Flex tracked pay increases. That is the only thing that I liked better about our previous payroll provider. Our previous payroll provider had a tab that showed an employee's salary history and the date of each raise. Paychex Flex does not have this, so I have to track it separately. I wish they had a more intuitive reporting function. The standard payroll reports are laid out very well and are very easy to run, but if I need to run a report that it out of the ordinary, I usually end up calling my payroll specialist because I can't find the report. To be fair, the couple of times this has happened I have been looking for a report having to do with workers comp and since workers comp is run by a government entity in Ohio it has some added complexities.

Paychex has some unfortunate downsides

Comments: Typical clock in/out and benefit tracking.

Pros:

Very easy to view clocked in users, people on break, etc. As a manager it is easy to view and approve hours. It allows for a convienant way for staff to access paystubs and documentation.

Cons:

Employees often have trouble with the site when punching in/out - the easiest to access option are buttons that move, and as a result it is easy to click the wrong button! Way more time clock corrections that we used to get. It is very difficult for staff to tell how much vacation time they have remiaining, they constantly have to ask for confirmation - very frustrating. It isn't always easy to tell that as a manager either, so we have had issues where people took more time than allocated. THE most frustrating aspect of it is when someone misses a punch - sometimes adding a missed punch is just a matter of clicking a box and filling in the correct time, other times switching a type of punch - like from start break to start meal is ridiculous and you can end up with a big mess. Have never seen a program that is so irritating to handle corrections like that. As a manager I hate working with this program.

PayChex Flex is not that flexible.

Comments: Intuit should concede with their payroll platform and buy paychex, and paychex should enhance their integration and modernize the platform to something more agile like quickbooks. Employees should be able to onboard easier just as if they were buying something on Amazon. All of the 3rd party vendors that seem to be value added services are just more portals and passwords needing to be centralized.

Pros:

When it works and the overloaded staff can actually assist you, it is an absolutely awesome service. I have used PayChex since about 2015. Back in the day my first representative was the absolute most amazing advisor and gave me confidence when speaking with her because I could tell she knew her job. Over time as we added more states and switched companies, our SUI numbers became switched, bank accounts and invoicing was not aligned.

Cons:

Besides the reports that you are inundated with, the platform feels like it can actually perform, but truthfully it is pitiful java platform. The two factor auth is great but gets on my nerves and the fact that you cannot integrate with other identity providers or into your actual backoffice systems is a shame.

Love the Ease if Online Benefit Administration

Comments: Survey software is not something that I usually recommend.

Pros:

The best thing about this software is that I can do everything I need to do on my computer or mobile phone at any time of the day or night. The application is very easy to access and I administer payroll, 401k, health, dental and vision benefits, FSA and employee additions/changes over the application. Almost every service I utilize through Paychex is on this application. Invaluable! If I'm out of town I can still submit payroll! WOW! What a game changer Paychex Flex has been! The old way of doing business is out the window with Paychex Flex replacing it in a very positive way!

Cons:

There is a couple of items that I would like to see enhanced. In people, I would like the ability to always pull up my preferred view of employees without having to click on the apply button. My preferred view is saved but will not display until I click on apply. Second, on the people drop down menu from the upper right corner, I would like the ability to select that view as well. When that drop down is selected I get all the employees that have ever been entered into the Paychex database - terminated and active. I want to be able to display just the active employees in that drop down. These are just enhancement requests that in no way affect the valuable pros of the application. The items in the cons are just "nice to haves".

Not user friendly, slow, difficult

Comments: Having used a custom made timeclock at another company, as well as used ADP, I do not have a lot to compare against but would guess that almost anything would be better than this.

Pros:

There is nothing - if I had the authority to switch, I would.

Cons:

The interface is clunky and makes managing time punches difficult - there are nuances that are not intuitive where you have to enter or edit a punch in a very specific way or it will cause duplicates or the system will try to combine it with another punch which means that sometimes you have to do it multiple times in slightly different ways before you get the desired result. The reporting is also not intuitive, the wording used for templated report names is vague so that I have to go through many to find one that I want. We've experienced multiple and not infrequent issues with the program from employees logging in to a white screen, to managers not receiving notifications of time off requests which can cause significant issues.

Top-Notch Service

Pros:

I like the ability to log in and do what I need to do when it pertains to employee payroll activities. I also love the features that are offered to the employees by allowing them to check and edit information when they need to.

Cons:

It is a little pricey compared to some. I don't have many negative comments about the service, but it can be difficult to reach customer service after hours.

A little Wonky to Navigate

Pros:

It is convenient for small businesses and employees who work from home or don't have one check in location. It has some nice features for checking how many hours have been working if you are actually clocking in and out from the site itself. Once you actually figure things out and have your account set up, it's conveniently all right there in front of you to see what your sick time is, clock in/out, etc. It keeps all your info from your previous jobs that have used the site PLUS holds your tax info conveniently for you, which is quite handy.

Cons:

It's pretty difficult to navigate. A lot of the site doesn't really explain where to go or what to do so you kind of just have to poke around it until you figure things out. I guess it's kind of typical for sites like this. It's also kind of nightmare to get your log in info if you lose it, so just don't. You get locked out after 3 tries and then have to call the help desk and it turns into a pretty complicated ordeal. Conveniently though, the site log in remembers your info though. There is a LOT of maintenance, constantly and when you get messages in your inbox, they never seem to go away, but that's just nit-picky stuff that's not really important.

A great asset to have when running and business.

Pros:

The software itself allows me to eliminate the need for a time clock for my employees. They are able to have the app installed on their company issued smartphones and log in with their fingerprint access on the phone (which the app supports) and can clock into work in no time. They also have the availability to request time off, check vacation, sick and personal balances, view pay stubs and a ton of other features geared toward self help for the employee. This software saves me money so that I do not have to pay someone to sit and calculate all of the different times and payroll sheets. I would be lost without Paychex Flex.

Cons:

The app can be a little slow at times. They also schedule down time on the overnight hours until 530am when most of our work does begin before that. It is a simple fix as I can enter staffs time manually when needed. You also need to trust your employees to punch in and out when they actually show up to a job site and not while driving home.

Great Software

Comments: overall you get more for your buck with Paychex than other software's like ADP or UltiPro (UKG)

Pros:

You get one dedicated representative for all your payroll issues. Also, processing payroll is easier.

Cons:

The standard reporting function does not allow you run custom reports. You need to pay for custom reports.

Excellent company top to bottom

Pros:

Paychex has been top-notch for over five years, when I switched to them from another payroll company. I operate a small seasonal business with about 10 employees, and from the beginning I have received all the support that I need for my payroll and tax responsibilities, and at a more reasonable rate than I was paying before. I deal with one single payroll specialist every week (unless she is on vacation or something), which I love, and if she is unavailable the fill-in specialists have been able to take care of my payroll, which is not quite standard, without any issues. The website took a little getting used to initially, but I download my reports from there every week, quarter, and year, and everything is easy to find and use. I couldn't recommend Paychex more highly, at least for any business such as mine.

Cons:

If anything, I feel that it would be good to consider a website review and edit - I do not have anything specific to offer in terms of what to change, but it did seem a little confusing the first few times using it. I don't have any issues now, but admittedly I only log on to do the same thing (download the report) each week, quarter, and year.