Payroll Relief

Love this software

Comments: It has made the end of the year a delight. Before it was very hard but with this software it is a breeze

Pros:

It is put together so that it is easy to use and if you need any help they are just a phone call away

Cons:

It doesn't keep ALL years active so that you can look back in them. It only leaves two.

Payroll Processing Done Fast ad Easy

Comments: We like the software. We use all of the products AW offers. We just don't like their customer service. We compromise because for a small business it's a good choice.

Pros:

My favorite things about this software are: 1) Payroll processing for companies under 10 employees takes less than 2 minutes to process 2) You can print, email and archive check copies and reports in a few clicks 3) Clients can so as much or as little as they want 4) It's fairly inexpensive

Cons:

My issue with Payroll Relief and all of the Accountants World software is the customer service. When things don't work and it's because they're having issues, you won't know until you call in. They don't bother informing their customers. We've been with them for over 10 years and while they offer new products or services, when you have an issue, they're very slow to respond or take responsibility.

STAY AWAY..

Comments: Smooth sales people. Promise the moon but deliver nothing

Pros:

Seems to work for a SIMPLE payroll with not many people

Cons:

Lack of service, can't seem to handle complicated payrolls. They take your money and WILL NOT give it back when you decide to move on. They claim they don't have a refund policy. They bill by the number of checks projected to use for a one year period...but you didn't use them and they still won't refund your money. STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY

Very easy and user friendly software. Makes payroll a breeze.

Comments: Ive been very impressed and have told quite a few coworkers about it and gotten them to try it out too.

Pros:

The ease with direct deposit and w2 printing amazed me. Its very simple to understand and learn. Ive also been able to teach it easily to others.

Cons:

I honestly have no complaints. Im grateful i found this program because it makes this part of my job simple.

Review

Comments: It is a great easy payroll software

Pros:

I like that you can efile tax forms for quarterlys no more printing off. Also, I like that it can intergrade with Accountants world.

Cons:

I don't like how customer service has no clue to what is always going on.

Proceed with Caution

Comments: It was good at first, but it kept worsening over time.

Pros:

Easy to use and navigate. Always for decent configuration for complicated payrolls.

Cons:

The price keeps going up, and there are very last-minute notifications, many times on 15-day notice with no time to communicate an adjustment to client pricing. There are no new features or additional value to justify the increased pricing. Their competitors are almost the exact same cost with a lot more value, better accuracy, and files/pays all government jurisdictions. It doesn't file or pay all taxes (local specifically). Customer service is subpar, and there are more and more errors that keep occurring. Lastly, Payroll Relief places everything on the firm's shoulders. If they mess up, the firm has to pay. We are switching away to another software.

DO NOT USE PRR

Comments: I've spent so much extra time fixing errors caused by this software, attempting to get penalties abated, and dealing with their horrible support. There team is rude. They close cases without completing them. Support does NOT return calls and they take no accountability for the softwares errors. The system is not properly paying taxes but does not notify you that there is an underpaid amount, instead it just marks it paid when it is not. DO NOT USE

Pros:

The cost was reasonable but you get what you pay for.

Cons:

The support is HORRIBLE. Issues with returns being filed on time and accurately. Not taking responsibility for the software's mistakes.

Decent Balance of Features and Price

Comments: It is the backbone that our business is built on. Several years ago we attempted to transition to a more robust platform (Evolution) which was a disaster, so we came back and have learned to live within the restrictions of their system. While there have been many enhancements in the 11 years we have been using the product, the developer does a poor job of rolling them out. Doesn't seem to be any beta testing and users and support personnel are often left to fumble through. While they maintain a user forum, management is typically not very inclined to respond to complaints or implement suggestions. While there is no perfect system, overall I would probably give them a rating of about 65%.

Pros:

This software was priced within reach for our startup and allowed up to ramp-up quickly. As we've grown, their tiered pricing has allowed us to increase our margins. It's easy to demo to prospects and overall impression from our clients is that is is easy to use. Integrated ACH services are a critical differentiator.

Cons:

There are significant limitations in reporting and HRIS capabilities. As we continue to reach upmarket to larger, more complex clients, we have been forced to cobble together several different solutions to meet their needs, since these extended features are not available.

Stay away.

Comments: If the software did what it says, it would be amazing. Please, if you are considering this software, read through the facebook users group to see what is really happening. Also, if you can, try this with ONE company and then once you have access to the website, read through the help forum! In my short (less than one year) experience, I had several clients' returns, set to "auto e-file" not be filed (when they had the previous quarter.) No explanation from support. Tax payments were made late, penalties assessed, and no help from support. Software updates create havoc. Features removed without notice. Additional fees assessed mid-year without notice. I really, really wanted this to work. It ended up costing me over $2000 and countless hours (and it's not over yet.)

Pros:

The claims. If it did what it said it would, it would save me time and money.

Cons:

Pay stubs cannot be emailed to employees (unless you want to download one by one and email yourself.) Tax payments and returns set to "auto e-file" may or may not be processed on time.

Payrolls

Pros:

Great to use

Cons:

Just a little complicated but still can be understood if tried

Accountants and Bookkeepers - DO NOT PURCHASE THIS SOFTWARE

Comments: I tried to ask them to refund even a small portion of the fees I prepaid as I had to transfer the majority of my clients over to QuickBooks Online Payroll to ease my clients minds. They refused and eventually stopped responding to my emails. I'm now using the software with a few very simple clients payrolls to try and utilize and recoup some of the money I paid, but there's no way I can put a larger client or one with complicated payroll on the software as I don't have the time to babysit the tax deductions and reporting features. One of my clients also just realized that they withdrew funds for one of the employees payroll which was to be direct deposited to their account, however, the direct deposit didn't show up. I contacted their support team to find out if there was a way we could trace the funds, they said no that they don't have access to that since they are no longer a client and then disconnected the chat on me. I just don't understand how it's possible that they don't have record of a payroll that happened just over a month ago. Their customer service is horrible and you can't get in touch with anyone higher up to escalate the situation. I would absolutely not recommend this software to anyone unless you want to invite stress into your life, the savings is not worth it.

Pros:

The price could have been very affordable, however, I had to cancel my service due to errors within the software and they wouldn't refund my money.

Cons:

I transferred about 25 of my client's payroll over to their software from Intuit Online Payroll. After the transfer we realized that the state of Utah withholdings weren't included on their calculations or payroll reports. I contacted them and let them know that and they had no answers for me and left me hanging for days. In the meantime, I had to explain to my clients the errors and this made them very uneasy about using the software, and understandably so, as calculating taxes and reporting should be the basics of a payroll software. Due to the fact that I had upcoming payrolls, (and I had no answers from support at this point) I had to make the decision to switch to another payroll software to keep everything running for my clients. At the point that this happened I was just over my initial 30 days to cancel and they would offer no refund or even partial refund of the $6000 I had to prepay.

Bait and switch

Comments: Again, I am here to let every other accounting firm know that they will show you the bells and whistles when they first try to sell you. But once you are in, the amount of programming you have to do since this is not at all an intuitive system blows our minds. Don’t just walk away from this huge nightmare....
Run. And run fast. I wish someone could have warned us before we made the switch. Now we are stuck for the next year. If you move forward with this company you will lose sleep and the problems they create for you, with your clients will be the bane of your existence.

Pros:

The development and continued upkeep of this program keeps me from liking anything. They do not even come close to comparing to other software programs out there. This program is NOT current at all in the sense that they offer relevant items applicable to payroll.

Cons:

There are so many things I absolutely abhor. You have to know and develop Java script in the system just so it tracks vacation for employees. It doesn’t know how (at all) to show employer paid health insurance on paystubs. The program glitched last week with a major data breech. Each client’s payroll downloaded paystubs from other companies. Their tech support responded with “we are aware of the problem” really? What does that mean!?!? They don’t allow you to put in health insurance for a S Corp shareholder. They act like it isn’t a big deal but these issues are huge considering their competition delivers and actually listens to their clients. This company can care less and they are only interested in taking your money and treating you poorly after you pay. No accounting firm can handle the problems of this company. In fact, it is known amongst the accounting world that payroll relief is a huge joke.

Too many errors

Comments: Although the company seemed to know what they were doing years ago, things have drastically gone downhill. No one would ever turn off automatic tax payments and quarterly reporting for half of their payroll clients at the end of a tax year ever! I feel like their customer service motto was "Blame the customer!"

Pros:

Originally, it was an easy added feature to the accounting software we were using. It made for a great all in one system. It was easy for us to switch to payroll from accounting and vice versa. It pulled payroll journals directly over without us having to enter in any information.

Cons:

The worst problem we had with payroll relief was when the company decided to turn off automatic tax payments and report processing on a random number of our clients. Once the situation was recognized, clearly things were already late as they send things in on the final due date. As it didn't stop filing and tax payments on all, just most, we had to figure out which ones needed attention and then get with each of the taxing agencies over the next 6 months to get the penalties removed. It was a nightmare. We were simply told by support that we had to have manually cancelled the payments and quarterly filings ourselves and they would not assist us further. Also, the payroll journals did not leave any space for editing them. It was not often when they needed to be changed but it causes issues on financial statements when the client's bank account was cancelled due to fraud the day before running payroll. The payroll journal posted to the wrong bank account and customer support was not too interested in helping. These are just two examples of headaches we faced with Payroll Relief.

Great Payroll Software

Comments: Overall I have really enjoyed payroll relief. We have a client who still has me process her quarterly reports in quick books and every time after I do it, I am so thankful for Payroll Relief, the ease to just set up a payroll and process is so worth it, filing reports is so easy, and anytime I have had an issue support has always been really helpful. They have on going training and webinars you can go back and watch and training videos. They have links to forms you need from all the states. Just overall we have been happy with they product and how efficient it has been. Every product will have issues from time to time but so far this is the best one we have used.

Pros:

This software is so easy to use!! initally getting started and figuring out where things are takes a minute but once you get it down it is so simple and just couple of clicks and you can process a payroll.

Cons:

I would like to individualize a few reports more but they are constantly looking at that and trying to add and improve. They did have a feature that let you add time in by each employee and with an update the feature was removed. I would like that option back, but overall any issue I have or anything I think I can't do I am usually able to talk to support and find a way to do it.

Great for Simple Payroll Clients

Comments: Overall Payroll Relief has been a great tool for our office. We have numerous clients whose only employees are the owners who are paid on salary. Being able to set up these clients and then process them all in bulk allows us to provide payroll for many more clients than if we were running them through QuickBooks or another service where we had to individually process each client.

Pros:

The best part of this software is the ability to quickly process payroll for multiple clients and keep track of when payroll needs to be processed for each client.

Cons:

The processing time for direct deposit is longer than it is for other services that are available. The shortest processing time is 2 business days which requires verifying the bank account with an online login. The requirement to wire funds to them when a direct deposit withdrawal is rejected due to insufficient funds is also cumbersome.

It will cost you customers

Comments: I went through a lot to convert clients from Quickbooks payroll to Payroll relief. Once we had everything working and everyone trained, Payroll relief did an update that completely changed the way it operated. Without warning or prior training. I have tried to work through their problems because I do not want to convert all of my clients again, but I think I am going to have to find another program.

Pros:

It has several good function when they work.

Cons:

It is really hard to get a customer account working like it should. A year an a half ago I filed BBB complaint and they never answered it. Tech support is very hard to get, but just OK when they help you.

Reliable Payroll Software

Pros:

Payroll Relief is a tried-and-true web-based payroll system. I like the system's batch processing capabilities and tax payment automation. The company continues to build time saving features into the platform. Overall the software is easy to use and my team is able to customize each account to meet the specific needs of our clients.

Cons:

The system has two vertical navigation bars. Both contain links to screens that are used quite often. Employee screens and payroll reports are accessible from the right navigation bar while payroll processing screens, and tax forms are accessible from the left navigation bar. I would prefer all of these screens to be accessible from the left navigation bar.

A fully automated simple to use system that makes you look like a large payroll provider

Comments: The benefit of being able to offer payroll directly to my clients which not only creates a new profit center, but also allows me to post directly into the accounting software.

Pros:

A fully automated system that I can run remotely from my iPad if needed. Once payroll is finalized, nothing more to do. Direct deposits generated, tax payments scheduled, third party check/ACH payments done, reports emails to client, and complete quarterly & annual form filing.....all done for me. 24/7 access from wherever you have an internet connection. Client and employee email and text notifications

Cons:

The need for a cross year detailed earnings report. The inability to work with some smaller local banks

Excellent Program for Small Business Users

Comments: Our business has confidently relied on Payroll Relief to power our payroll business for 10 years. Going forward we know that we can always count on Payroll Relief to adapt and be ahead of the curve of the continually changing compliance landscape.

Pros:

Payroll Relief has been able to maintain a balance between providing an affordable software option for small business users without sacrificing the robust, powerful features of the software.

Cons:

The process to setup a new client can be a challenge to navigate.

Payroll Relief is a true relief for accountants

Pros:

Excellent payroll system. It's simple, user friendly, complete and robust. It integrates with other softwares and is able to produce numerous reports useful for tax liability, worker's comp, etc.

Cons:

The PTO accrual system needs to be improved.

Very Good

Comments: The benefits allow the small accounting and payroll firm to compete with ADP and the larger firms. We can offer similar service at a reasonable cost.

Pros:

The program is efficient and easy to use. The program is powerful and allows our company to offer a broader base of service than other programs available to small accounting and payroll firms.

Cons:

The cost of the program cuts into our profits and limits us to a small extent. The lead time on direct deposits are very tight. For a Friday payroll, the payroll must be processed by 8 pm on Tuesday. It would be nice to have until 8 pm on Wednesday.

Used to be better

Comments: They don't listen to users when they want to make changes. They had a really good product a couple of years ago, but I no longer recommend it. I have lost confidence in the management team and the future path for this software.

Pros:

What I love most are the reports. In the past, I liked that it was solid, reliable, pretty much error-free software.

Cons:

In the summer of 2019, they did a major software update that is still causing big problems a year later. They are not necessarily quick to fix the problems and they are never proactive in notifying users of problems.

Works for me

Comments: Overall I'm happy with the software. I have also had an Accountants World website for 25+ years.

Pros:

Robust features at a reasonable price. No software is perfect. I had PayCycle, which was simple and dependable. But Intuit messed that up. This software provides additional features, but is not as dependable as PayCycle.

Cons:

There is a learning curve because the software does have its quirks.

Not the product I thought I bought

Comments: Not good...

Pros:

Software is easy to use and doesn't take much time to figure out.

Cons:

Cannot file electronically for my state. Calculates multiple state tax items incorrectly. Does not allow you to customize or make changes to calculate correctly. Tax liabilities do not flow to Form 941 or State Form. Local taxes do not feed over to forms. Some local taxes populate the wrong area of the form. Every single quarterly report must be printed to PDF so we can modify, update, over-write and correct wrong data. It has added hours of labor for my PR staff to complete our clients quarterly reporting. Looking forward to moving away from this product.

A fully automated system that pretty much runs itself

Comments: New profit center and integration with accounting system

Pros:

Fully automated, all functionality included system that allows an accounting firm look like a professional payroll company and providing all the functionality, and more

Cons:

Needs 3 days to process direct deposits. If a client had an NSF then all automated tax payments are turned off and you must make all ACH payments manually