Running payroll effectively is crucial, yet often frustrating, for most small business owners.
Intuit Online Payroll aims to simplify payroll processing through an easy-to-use and secure cloud-based solution, promising accurate tax calculations, seamless integrations, and excellent customer support.
In this review, we will explore Intuit Online Payroll's key features, top benefits, ease of use, payroll management capabilities, integrations, security, and customer support to help you determine if their platform is the right fit for your business's payroll needs.
Introduction to Intuit Online Payroll
Intuit is a leading provider of accounting and financial software for small businesses, with products like QuickBooks and TurboTax. Their online payroll processing solution, simply called Intuit Online Payroll, aims to provide an easy way for small business owners to handle payroll tasks.
Overview of Intuit
Founded in 1983, Intuit has decades of experience developing software for managing finances and accounting for consumers and businesses. Their products focus on automating tasks like invoicing, expense tracking, tax preparation, and payroll management.
With over 50 million users worldwide, Intuit has established itself as a trusted provider of DIY financial software. Their solutions help small business owners and sole proprietors manage critical money tasks themselves, without needing to rely fully on accountants or bookkeepers.
Key Features of Online Payroll
Intuit Online Payroll comes with several key features to handle payroll processing from start to finish:
- Tax calculations - Automatically calculates federal, state, and local payroll taxes
- Direct deposit - Employees can receive funds directly into bank accounts
- Payroll reports - Built-in reporting for taxes, wages, time tracking, and more
- Mobile access - Manage payroll tasks remotely through iOS and Android apps
- Integration - Seamlessly works with QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop
Top Benefits for Businesses
Using Intuit Online Payroll offers several major benefits for small businesses and startups:
- Cost savings - Affordable monthly pricing, with bulk discount options
- Accuracy - Minimizes errors by automatically handling tax calculations
- Simplicity - Easy to set up and use, even for beginners
- Accessibility - Mobile app allows remote access from anywhere
With reasonable pricing and a focus on simplicity, Intuit Online Payroll provides an appealing option for small business owners to effectively manage payroll tasks themselves. The automatic tax calculations also help ensure accuracy and compliance when paying employees and filing taxes.
Ease of Setup and Use
Intuit Online Payroll aims to provide a straightforward setup process and user-friendly interface to simplify payroll management.
Intuitive Setup Process
Setting up Intuit Online Payroll involves the following steps:
- Register for an account online or through the mobile app
- Enter basic company information like name, address, tax IDs
- Add employee details including salary, withholdings, benefits
- Set up direct deposit, tax filings, and other preferences
The process is designed to be quick and hassle-free, with handy tips and guidance along the way. Users can easily import employee data from Excel or other payroll systems.
User-Friendly Interface
The Intuit Online Payroll dashboard provides at-a-glance views of:
- Upcoming payroll deadlines
- Recent pay runs and tax payments
- Employee details and salary profiles
Key features like running payroll, editing employee profiles, generating reports, and paying taxes are accessed through simple menus and data entry screens. Contextual help and definitions explain payroll terms and guide users.
The interface works well on desktop and mobile, with responsive design that adapts across devices.
Multiple Access Points
Users can manage Intuit Online Payroll through:
- Web dashboard accessible from any internet browser
- Native apps for iOS and Android mobile devices
- QuickBooks Online integration for combined accounting and payroll
Switching between access points is seamless, with full functionality across platforms. The system provides flexibility to run payroll from anywhere.
In summary, Intuit Online Payroll focuses on usability through process simplification, intuitive interfaces, and multi-platform access. The system aims to make payroll straightforward for small businesses.
Accurate Payroll Tax Management
Automatic Tax Calculations
Intuit Online Payroll automatically calculates federal, state, and local payroll taxes each pay period based on up-to-date tax tables. As tax rates change, the software seamlessly applies the updates behind the scenes so businesses don't have to worry about keeping track of tax law changes. This saves significant time and ensures full compliance with no effort.
Some key features of Intuit's automated tax engine include:
- Federal income tax withholding calculations using the most recent IRS Circular E
- State income tax withholding for all 50 states and Washington D.C.
- Local tax calculations for over 10,000 localities
- Applicable Medicare, Social Security, and Federal Unemployment (FUTA) taxes
By handling tax calculations automatically, Intuit Online Payroll reduces the chance of errors and provides peace of mind that all payroll taxes are done correctly.
Tax Form Filing
Intuit Online Payroll simplifies year-end tax reporting by automatically preparing, printing, and electronically filing key federal and state payroll forms.
Forms filed directly through Intuit Online Payroll include:
- Federal Form 940 (FUTA)
- Federal Form 941 (FICA)
- Federal Form W-2 for employees
- State forms such as DE 9, DE 9C (California)
The software integrates directly with tax agencies to enable e-filing and speed up processing. Intuit also prints and mails W-2 forms to employees for additional convenience.
Automating form preparation, e-filing, printing, and mailing eliminates the manual work involved in tax reporting compliance.
Tax Payment Processing
To fully automate payroll tax workflows, Intuit Online Payroll offers integrated tax payment processing through IRS and state treasury debit programs.
Key features include:
Flexible Payroll Management Tools
Intuit Online Payroll provides several features to help businesses customize payroll processing for their unique needs.
Multiple Pay Schedules
Businesses can set up payroll on a weekly, biweekly, semi-monthly, or custom schedule based on their preferences. This flexibility allows alignment with existing payment cycles or accommodation of seasonal workers paid on alternate calendars.
Robust Pay Rules Engine
An advanced pay rules engine enables configuration of various compensation scenarios like overtime calculations, reimbursements, bonuses, special pay, and more. Users can set up customized rules to automatically handle complex pay situations.
Labor Cost Tracking
Real-time tracking and reporting provide visibility into labor costs across departments or locations. This helps businesses analyze expenses, budget more accurately, and make informed staffing decisions. Dashboards and exports provide at-a-glance views or integration into other systems.
With features like multiple pay schedule options, customizable pay rules, and labor cost tracking, Intuit Online Payroll aims to provide tailored solutions for diverse payroll needs. The system aims to scale with ease as business complexity increases over time.
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Seamless Integration
Intuit Online Payroll provides seamless integration with popular accounting software and bank accounts for easy data sharing and payroll processing.
QuickBooks Sync
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Bi-directional sync automatically transfers payroll data between Intuit Online Payroll and QuickBooks desktop or online. This eliminates duplicate data entry and ensures accuracy between systems.
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Employees, pay items, departments, etc. entered in one system automatically sync to the other system. Any payroll changes made in Intuit Online Payroll sync back to QuickBooks after each payroll run.
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QuickBooks sync saves significant time on administrative tasks. You avoid manual imports, exports, or re-entering data across platforms.
Bank Account Connections
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Directly link bank accounts to Intuit Online Payroll for easy, automated payroll deposits each pay period.
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Supported banks include major national and regional banks. Intuit Online Payroll uses bank-level security protocols for safe linkage.
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Money moves directly from the connected bank account to employee bank accounts on payday. This automates the entire payroll funds transfer process.
Contractor Payments
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Built-in 1099-MISC tax forms streamline yearly tax reporting for independent contractors.
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Automatically calculates contractor gross pay and federal tax withholding based on W-9 details. This simplifies 1099 tax paperwork.
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Issues 1099 forms to contractors at year-end with all details populated. You simply print, sign, and distribute for tax filing.
Secure Cloud-Based System
Intuit Online Payroll provides a secure cloud-based system for processing payroll.
SSL Encryption
Intuit Online Payroll uses 256-bit SSL encryption for all data transmission between the service and client devices. This ensures payroll information remains private as it travels over the internet. SSL certificates with extended validation provide the highest level of authentication and data encryption currently available.
Access Permissions
The system allows administrators to set granular permissions for which employees can view or edit payroll information. Activity logging provides an audit trail showing actions performed by each user. This prevents unauthorized changes and enhances accountability.
Backups and Monitoring
Intuit leverages Amazon Web Services for cloud infrastructure, including automatic backups and built-in redundancy. Server health and uptime are continually monitored, with automatic failover capabilities to prevent potential service disruptions.
In summary, Intuit Online Payroll employs industry best practices for data security, access controls, and reliability through its cloud-based SaaS platform. Businesses can process payroll with confidence knowing sensitive data remains private and available at all times.
Excellent Customer Support
Intuit Online Payroll provides exceptional customer support through various channels to assist users with setup, ongoing use, and any issues that may arise.
Phone and Email
Users can access support 7 days a week via phone and email. Knowledgeable U.S.-based payroll experts are available to provide guidance and troubleshoot any problems. This ensures users can get timely assistance when needed.
Setup Assistance
Intuit offers one-on-one support to help users configure their payroll system initially. Specialists walk through each step of the setup process to ensure proper implementation based on the user's specific needs and payroll structure. This personalized service simplifies setup for a smooth transition.
Ongoing Training
A variety of training resources are provided to users including webinars, community forums, and comprehensive help articles. Users can leverage these self-service options to learn the system and get answers to common payroll questions. This empowers users to maximize value from the system on their own timeline.
Conclusion and Recommendation
Key Takeaways
Intuit Online Payroll provides a streamlined payroll processing solution for small businesses. Key benefits include:
- Easy setup and use with intuitive interface
- Integration with QuickBooks for seamless data syncing
- Multiple plans to fit business size and needs
- Automatic tax calculations and filings
- Mobile access and employee self-service
- Robust reporting and analytics
Ideal Users
Intuit Online Payroll is best suited for small businesses with less complex payroll needs, such as:
- Startups and small companies
- Businesses with hourly employees
- Companies with simple tax and compliance requirements
- Organizations that use QuickBooks or need accounting integrations
It may not be the right solution for large enterprises or companies with complex payrolls.
Final Thoughts
For most small businesses, Intuit Online Payroll provides an affordable, full-featured solution to effectively manage payroll. Its tight integration with QuickBooks, ease of use, mobile access, and rich reporting make it a great choice to automate payroll processing. Unless a business has highly complex needs, Intuit Online Payroll can likely streamline payroll effectively.
