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Best and Affordable Payroll Software for Startups and Beginners

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Managing payrolls is a hectic task, especially for those just starting their business. There are so many responsibilities like crediting salaries, filing taxes, and handling benefits other than just salary checks when it comes to payrolls.

However challenging these responsibilities can get, payroll software assists in simplifying them.

It is often a misconception that investing in software is an expensive affair that only a large-scale business can afford. However, that’s not true. Considering the difficulties of startups, many payroll companies offer solutions that are pocket-friendly as well as easy to operate.

These payroll tools are feature-packed with various characteristics, each one of them trying to outrank the other. When you plan on investing in one such tool, it is always suggested that you make a list of features, set a budget, and then look for a tool that aligns with your needs.

Here are the top payroll software for startups under budget. Click here to know more.

Wagepoint

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Wagepoint is a cloud-based payroll software that was designed exclusively for small businesses in North America.

It is quick and easy to integrate with your company’s payroll as well as other software that you might be using. If you want to switch from other payroll systems and fear losing the data, Wagepoint offers a free “switch it” data to companies with more than 10 employees. This ensures that your data is safe at all times.

The ultimate features of Wagepoint are:

  1. Government remittance management for all employees.
  2. Tax compliance and W-2 &1099 preparation for hourly and contract-based works.
  3. Year-end reporting and quarterly reporting system to manage the finances.
  4. Pay groups for each category of employees: hourly and contractors.
  5. The pricing starts at $22 with a free trial.

Workful

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Workful employs a holistic approach towards payroll management. It has an inbuilt time tracker, expense tracker, and overtime management sheets to handle various aspects that influence payroll in an organization.

Since it’s self-hosted cloud-based payroll software, you need a dedicated team to handle the technical aspects. You can find such teams at spdload.com. Don’t worry, you will get all the adequate support that is needed from this payroll company.

The ultimate features of Workful are:

  1. Reimbursement requests and time-off requests tabs to handle employee issues within 5 minutes.
  2. Multiple pay rate systems to pay freelancers as well as contractors on time.
  3. Offers a direct deposit option to transfer salaries to employees’ bank accounts.
  4. Document management to store all the employees’ details.
  5. The pricing starts at $25 with a free trial.

Zenefits

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If you need payroll & HR software combined in one, then Zenefits is the right choice. This tool is known for serving different aspects of a business from recruitment to employee insurance.

It compiles all its features under one dashboard to customize it easily for handling various processes. These features certainly prove to be a great value-added for HRs in an organization.

You can bid all the complicated systems for payroll adieu when you’ve Zenefits.

The ultimate features of Zenefits are:

  1. A simple database to manage employees’ time off.
  2. Wage garnishment feature that automates the employees’ appraisal system.
  3. Real-time reporting to understand the exact numbers.
  4. Quickbooks integration to handle accounts seamlessly.
  5. Pricing starts at $8 with a free trial.

UZIO

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UZIO is another one of the top software that offers an integration of payroll and HR software in one. This tool helps you infer the employees’ performance with its real-time tracking facility.

Interestingly, it gives access to all its features when you are taking a free trial, unlike other payroll software.

It provides paperless management for Human Resources, Employee Benefits, and Payroll. In addition to all the regular features in payroll, it handles your company’s financial data as well.

The ultimate features of UZIO are:

  1. One-stop solution for all HR and payroll processes.
  2. Mobile application and desktop accessibility to remain up-to-date.
  3. Certified Payroll services for businesses in North America.
  4. Client control hub to manage proposals and enrollments.
  5. Pricing starts at $3.50 with a free trial.

Patriot Payroll

Source: patriotsoftware.com

Patriot payroll offers budget-friendly online solutions to small businesses. It is exclusively designed for beginners who haven’t used payroll software before.

It requires no technical knowledge to set up, thanks to the user-friendly interface that is offered to the users.

Interestingly, the software has many free offers that other payroll vendors usually charge for. These may include a free employee portal, free direct deposit, and free payroll setup among many others.

The ultimate features of Patriot payroll are:

  1. Scalable set up according to your business needs.
  2. Quickbooks integration and employee time tracking to monitor employees’ working hours.
  3. HR management space to store all employees’ information.
  4. Basic payroll plan that includes managing collections at $10 per month + $4 per employee.
  5. A full-service payroll plan comprises tax deposits and filing at $30 per month + $4 per employee.

Gusto

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From onboarding new employees to managing payrolls of the entire organization, Gusto is a payroll software that is capable of becoming an HR’s companion.

This all-in-one software has been designed especially for modern employers with modern problems. They understand that outsourcing business operations for startups can be a costly affair. Thus, they bring you the solution that is backed by expert support to take care of all the payroll management challenges like a pro.

With the simplified processes such as benefits, payroll, and more, this tool has simplified the lives of the HR managers of every small organization.

The ultimate features of Gusto are:

  1. Automated payroll management system.
  2. Delivers digital paystubs on emails, thus allows paperless transactions.
  3. Takes care of ACA compliance, adopts workflow calculations, time-off calculations, important year-end forms, and payroll taxes, thus saving time.
  4. Eliminates all kinds of human errors.
  5. Pricing starts at $25 with a free trial.

AwedusHR

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Designed especially for SMEs, AwedusHR is yet another all-in-one software that simplifies the day-to-day operations of startups.

This tool makes it easier for HR to manage all the complex and complicated functions seamlessly. From hire to retire, they offer a solution for every problem such as employee management, payroll management, employee self-service portal, and appraisals management among many.

The ultimate features of AwedusHR are:

  1. Automates TDS calculations and exemptions.
  2. Calculate leaves, taxes, sick leaves, and more.
  3. Calculates salaries on the basis of net pay, bonuses, attendance, and predefined salary structure.
  4. Makes it easy to create appraisal strategies.
  5. Pricing starts at $199 with a free trial.

The Final Takeaway

All the above-mentioned software has dedicated features for small businesses. However, we recommend you take a free trial before purchasing the right one.

Written by Marinelle Adams