Calculating payroll and staying compliant with laws can be an overwhelming task for small business owners.
Luckily, solutions like eSmart Paycheck make managing payroll simple by automating calculations, providing easy-to-use reporting, and keeping businesses compliant with laws and regulations.
In this review, we'll take a close look at eSmart Paycheck's features for payroll calculation, payment distribution, reporting, integrations, and ongoing support resources to see how it can effectively meet the payroll needs of small businesses at an affordable price point.
Introduction to eSmart Paycheck
eSmart Paycheck is an online payroll management platform designed to simplify payroll processing for small businesses. With automated tools for calculating, reporting, and distributing payroll, eSmart Paycheck aims to reduce the administrative workload involved with managing employee compensation.
Overview of Core Capabilities
eSmart Paycheck provides the following key features:
- Automated payroll calculations based on hours worked, pay rates, deductions, allowances, etc.
- Payroll reporting with summaries of gross and net pay, taxes, deductions across any time period
- Direct deposit enabled for distributing paychecks electronically
- Tax payments automatically calculated and paid to stay compliant
- Employee self-service portal to access pay history and tax documents
Key Benefits for Small Businesses
Using eSmart Paycheck offers small businesses several advantages:
- Reduced administrative workload by automating manual processes
- Improved compliance with automated tax calculations and filings
- Cost savings from streamlined workflows and simplified reporting
- Enhanced efficiency by eliminating redundant data entry and paperwork
Pricing and Plans
eSmart Paycheck offers both monthly subscription plans as well as pay-as-you-go pricing:
- Monthly plans provide discounted rates for high-volume customers
- Per-payroll pricing charges based on number of employees and pay periods
Plan tiers differ by number of employees supported and add-on features like contractor payments or time tracking.
Ease of Setup and Integration
Implementing eSmart Paycheck involves:
- Employee data upload via CSV template
- System configuration with pay schedules, accounts, etc.
- HRIS integration to synchronize employee and pay data
- Accounting software sync for easy journal entries
Customer Support Options
eSmart Paycheck offers the following support resources:
- Knowledge base with setup guides, user manuals, FAQs
- Email and phone support during business hours
- Onboarding assistance with setup calls and training
Payroll Calculation Features
eSmart Paycheck provides robust tools for automated payroll calculations, including configurable tax withholding, deductions, reimbursements, garnishments, and more to simplify paycheck generation.
Tax Withholding Calculations
The software automatically calculates federal, state, and local tax withholdings based on latest tax tables and each employee's filing status, allowances, and other tax-related information. This ensures accurate, up-to-date tax payments tailored to each employee's situation.
Payroll Deductions
Businesses can easily set up payroll deductions for 401K contributions, health/dental insurance premiums, HSA contributions, union dues, loan repayments, and other voluntary or required deductions. Deduction amounts can be fixed dollar amounts or percentages of gross pay.
Reimbursements and Allowances
eSmart Paycheck supports expense reimbursements and special wage allowances that can be configured as non-taxable earnings. Common examples include mileage reimbursements, phone stipends, meal allowances, and more. These can be set up with fixed dollar amounts or dynamic calculations based on hours worked, miles driven, etc.
Garnishments and Other Special Payments
The system handles garnishments, bonuses, retirement plan payouts, termination pay, and other special wage types that may require adjustments to standard payroll calculations. The flexible system aims to accommodate most special payroll situations.
Pay Frequency Flexibility
Businesses can run payrolls on a weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly, or monthly basis to match their pay schedule needs. Custom pay frequencies are also supported.
Payment Distribution Methods
eSmart Paycheck offers several secure and convenient methods for distributing employee pay.
Direct Deposit
With eSmart Paycheck, businesses can offer direct deposit for employee pay. This allows payments to be automatically split and deposited across multiple employee bank accounts based on customizable rules. For example, businesses can set up deposit rules to allocate a percentage of pay to checking/savings accounts or send a fixed dollar amount to an outside bank. eSmart Paycheck supports an unlimited number of direct deposit splits per employee.
Pay Cards
In addition to direct deposit, eSmart Paycheck offers integrated pay cards for employees. This optional program issues a prepaid debit card to employees who do not have bank accounts. Businesses can instantly pay employees regardless of their banking status. The pay cards allow employees to access wages from ATMs or use like a debit card for purchases.
Paper Checks
While direct deposit and pay cards provide more security and convenience, eSmart Paycheck does support distributing payments via paper checks. This traditional paycheck method involves printing and mailing physical checks to employees. However, paper checks require more time and resources to process and distribute, so they are not generally the recommended method.
International Payments
For businesses with an international workforce, eSmart Paycheck can facilitate payments across borders. The system integrates international wires to send earnings to employees located abroad. Businesses can also explore alternative payout methods depending on the recipient country. This allows seamless, compliant wage payments regardless of geographic boundaries.
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Payroll Reporting and Compliance
Built-In Reporting
Vintti provides customizable payroll reports that offer real-time insights into critical workforce metrics. The user-friendly reporting dashboard allows you to easily analyze labor costs, overtime, employee turnover, time and expense tracking, and more. You can generate on-demand reports or schedule for automated delivery to stay on top of payroll KPIs.
Compliance Resources
To support legal and regulatory requirements across multiple geographies, Vintti offers compliance guides, documentation, and advisory services. Their team of experts keeps payroll policies and procedures up-to-date as regulations change. This helps ensure compliance with labor laws, tax codes, data security standards, and other mandates.
Audit Support
In the event of an audit or related data request, Vintti provides full support through their Audit Assist program. Their team works closely with you to collect and prepare the necessary documentation to fulfill audit requirements. They also provide advisory services to help you understand compliance gaps and how to avoid them in the future.
Employee Self-Service Portal
Vintti's online employee portal offers 24/7 access to pay stubs, tax documents, time sheets, and other payroll information. Employees can view their individual data and make limited updates like address changes or W-4 adjustments. The portal increases transparency and gives staff more ownership over their information.
Integration Capabilities
Vintti offers seamless integration with leading HRIS, accounting, ERP, and other critical business systems to eliminate duplicate data entry and streamline processes.
HRIS Integrations
Sync employee data between Vintti and HRIS platforms like BambooHR, Gusto, Workday, and more to maintain a single source of truth. This bi-directional sync automatically shares employee details as they change on either system.
GL Accounting Integrations
Automatically post payroll journals into general ledger software like QuickBooks Online, Sage Intacct, NetSuite, and others. This eliminates manual journal entries and ensures accuracy between payroll and accounting.
ERP Platform Connectors
Leverage out-of-the-box integrations to connect Vintti's payroll solution into ERPs such as NetSuite, SAP, Microsoft Dynamics, and more. This simplifies payroll processes through the ERP without custom development.
Bank Data Feeds
Vintti integrates with leading banks to enable services like new hire reporting, direct deposit splits, positive pay, and more. This automation eliminates administrative tasks while enhancing security and compliance.
Ongoing Support Resources
Vintti provides several helpful resources to support your ongoing use of their services after initial implementation. These include:
Implementation Wizards
Step-by-step wizards walk you through key setup and configuration tasks to get your new accounting hires onboarded smoothly. They provide guidance on items like:
- Creating user profiles and permissions
- Setting up payment systems
- Establishing reporting workflows
- Integrating with existing software
The wizards simplify initial configuration and ensure you get the most value from the platform.
Knowledge Base
Vintti offers an extensive knowledge base with searchable support articles on all aspects of the service. Whether you need a refresher on a specific process or want to explore a new capability, the knowledge base has you covered. Some key articles cover:
- Managing remote teams best practices
- US accounting standards and regulations
- Custom reporting and analytics
- User access and security
With the knowledge base, help is always available when you need it.
Training Videos
An on-demand video library walks through common use cases and key features step-by-step. The videos range from 2-10 minutes in length, allowing you to quickly get up to speed on topics like:
- Adding new hires
- Processing invoices
- Setting up projects
- Using built-in accounting tools
The videos let you learn visually and accelerate getting value from the platform.
Community Forum
Vintti hosts a community forum for asking questions and getting input from their support team and other customers. Whether you need help troubleshooting an issue or want feedback on a new process, the forum enables collaboration and shared learning. Support reps monitor the forums to provide official responses when needed.
With these integrated support resources, you can maximize adoption, streamline operations, and ensure users get ongoing value from the platform over time. The wizards, knowledge base, videos and community forum provide the help you need, when you need it.
Conclusion and Next Steps
Hiring specialized accounting talent can be challenging and expensive for businesses. eSmart Paycheck offers an innovative solution to help companies streamline payroll and cut costs.
Key benefits of using eSmart Paycheck include:
- Easy to use online platform to calculate, file, and pay payroll taxes
- Integrates with top accounting software
- Automates tax calculations and payments
- Provides access to expert support
For businesses looking to simplify payroll, eSmart Paycheck is worth exploring further. Next steps to get started:
- Sign up for a free demo to see the platform capabilities firsthand
- Speak to an eSmart Paycheck expert to discuss your payroll needs and how the service can help
- Visit the pricing page to understand the costs and find the right plan for your business
Taking these steps will allow you to determine if eSmart Paycheck is the right payroll solution for your accounting and finance needs. The service makes it simple and affordable to manage one of the most complex overhead tasks - payroll. Now is the time to see how it can help you run payroll efficiently while saving money.