Patriot Payroll Review: Affordable Payroll Services for SMBs

Running payroll can be an extremely tedious and complex process for small and medium sized businesses.

Luckily, Patriot Payroll aims to simplify payroll for SMBs with an affordable, easy-to-use solution.

In this review, we'll take a close look at Patriot Payroll's key features, including its simple setup process, payroll processing, employee management capabilities, and robust reporting. We'll also examine its pricing plans and whether it represents a cost-effective option for budget-conscious SMBs looking to outsource payroll.

Introduction to Patriot Payroll

Patriot Payroll is an affordable payroll processing service catered towards small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). They aim to provide an easy-to-use payroll solution to help business owners simplify payroll tasks and focus on growing their company.

Overview of Patriot Payroll

Patriot Payroll offers automated payroll processing, tax filing and payments, employee onboarding, time tracking, and more. Key benefits include:

• Cost Savings: Patriot Payroll has competitive pricing aimed at SMB budgets. Their plans can save SMBs up to 50% compared to other popular payroll services.

• Simplicity: Their software has an intuitive dashboard to easily run payroll each period. Useful features like direct deposit, tax support, and employee access simplify payroll tasks.

• Accuracy: Patriot Payroll guarantees accurate payroll tax calculations and filings to avoid penalties. Their team of experts double checks all filings.

• Support: Friendly and responsive U.S. based support is available to quickly answer questions and provide guidance when needed.

Patriot Payroll's Key Features

Patriot Payroll has several key features to meet SMB payroll needs:

• Payroll Processing: Automatically calculate paychecks each period, including salaries, hourly wages, bonuses and reimbursements. Support for contractors too.

• Tax Management: File and pay payroll taxes on time. Patriot Payroll handles federal, state and local tax payments and filings.

• Employee Onboarding: Easily collect new hire paperwork online through the payroll platform.

• Time & Attendance Tracking: Employees can clock in/out via web or mobile app. Track PTO too. Data integrates with payroll.

• Accounting Integrations: Seamlessly connect payroll data to popular small business accounting platforms.

• Employee Portal: Employees can access pay stubs, W-2s, update info and more via web and mobile app login.

Patriot Payroll Pricing and Plans

Patriot Payroll offers three plan levels based on number of employees:

• Basic: $29/mo base fee plus $4 per employee per month
• Plus: $39/mo base fee plus $4 per employee per month
• Premium: $49/mo base fee plus $4 per employee per month

The Plus and Premium plans add more advanced features like contractor payments, time tracking, accounting integrations and more.

All plans have no long term contracts and include expert support. Patriot Payroll offers 1 month free for new customers to test drive service.

Getting Set Up with Patriot Payroll

Signing Up

Signing up for a Patriot Payroll account is quick and easy. Simply go to their website and click on the "Get Started" button. You'll need to enter some basic information about your business, choose the right plan for your needs, and set up billing. Patriot Payroll offers plans for businesses of all sizes, with transparent pricing starting at just $10 per month plus $4 per employee.

Once signed up, you can immediately start adding your company details like tax IDs, bank account info, etc. to get your account configured for running payroll. Patriot Payroll has an intuitive setup wizard that walks you through each step.

Configuring Settings

The configuration settings in Patriot Payroll allow you to specify all the details needed to calculate payroll correctly. This includes defining:

• Tax rates and withholdings at the federal, state, and local level
• Pay schedules (weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly)
• Overtime pay rules
• Paid time off policies
• Reimbursements and deductions
• Payroll payment methods

Patriot Payroll pre-fills tax rates and other payroll requirements to streamline setup. You just need to check that everything is accurate for your company. The system also lets you specify custom earnings and deductions codes as needed.

Overall, configuring payroll settings only takes about 10-15 minutes for most small businesses. Patriot Payroll's interface makes the process very straightforward.

Importing Employee Data

To import employee information like salaries, withholdings, paid time off balances etc., Patriot Payroll provides an Excel-based employee import template.

Just fill out the template with your existing payroll data and upload it. Patriot Payroll will automatically import everything and get your employees set up for payroll runs. The import includes key details like:

• Salary and pay rates
• Federal and state tax withholdings
• Retirement plan contributions
• Garnishments or child support
• Accrued vacation and sick time

If any data doesn't import correctly, Patriot Payroll flags those records so you can easily make corrections before the first payroll.

With the employee import, you can get up and running with Patriot Payroll very quickly, without needing to manually enter data for each employee. This makes the startup process much faster and more efficient.

Running Payroll with Patriot Payroll

Patriot Payroll offers a streamlined process for running payroll efficiently. Here is an overview of the key steps:

Processing Payroll

To process payroll, first verify all employee timecards and hours worked in the Patriot Payroll system. Managers can approve hours directly or request any corrections if needed. Once the hours are finalized for the pay period:

• Patriot Payroll automatically calculates gross wages based on hourly rates and any overtime or bonuses earned.
• The system applies payroll deductions like taxes, insurance, 401k contributions, etc.
• You simply review the final payroll summary and submit to trigger direct deposits or pay card distributions.

The automated calculations save significant time compared to manual payroll processing.

Distributing Payments

Patriot Payroll offers flexible, convenient payment options:

• Direct deposit is available to transfer paychecks electronically to employees' checking accounts. Employees can provide account and routing details to set this up.
• Pay cards act as debit cards that allow employees without bank accounts to access funds electronically. Patriot Payroll has partnerships with major pay card providers.

Both options allow fast access to wages without waiting for checks. Employees can also opt into text or email alerts to get notifications when payments are processed.

Filing Taxes

One major benefit of Patriot Payroll is automated tax filing and payment capabilities:

• Payroll taxes are automatically calculated each pay period based on latest federal and state regulations.
• Patriot Payroll files and pays payroll taxes on the company's behalf, saving administrative workload.
• At year-end, annual tax documents like W-2s are generated for employees and tax agencies.

Relying on Patriot Payroll's tax experts alleviates stress over properly handling taxes, filings and compliance. Their team stays current as regulations change.

Overall, Patriot Payroll simplifies essential payroll tasks like calculations, payments, and taxes for SMBs. Their automation and integration capabilities streamline processes while reducing administrative burdens.

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Managing Employees in Patriot Payroll

Patriot Payroll offers several useful features to help businesses manage their employees over time. Here are some tips for key tasks like adding new hires, updating employee information, tracking paid time off, and managing access.

Adding and Updating Employees

Adding new employees to Patriot Payroll is straightforward. Simply log in to your account and navigate to the Employees tab. Click "Add Employee" and enter the person's basic information, salary, withholdings, and any benefits they should receive.

To update an existing employee's details like salary, benefits, or tax withholdings, find their name under the Employees tab. Click "Edit Employee", make the necessary changes, and save the updates.

Here are some employee details you may need to update regularly:

• Salary or pay rate changes
• Health, dental, or vision insurance coverage
• 401k contribution percentages
• Federal or state tax withholding allowances
• Bank account for direct deposit

Keeping this information up-to-date ensures payroll and benefits are calculated correctly each pay period.

Tracking PTO and Time Off

Patriot Payroll has built-in tools to track paid time off accruals and balances. As an admin, you can enable PTO policies for different employee groups. Employees can then view their balances and submit PTO requests for approval.

To set up PTO tracking:

1. Go to Company Settings > Time Off
2. Click "Add Time Off Policy"
3. Name the policy, set accrual rules, and designate which employees it applies to
4. Employees included in the policy will now accrue PTO over time

Employees can log in to see their current PTO balance. They can submit requests by going to Timesheets > Request Time Off. As the admin, you will receive email notifications to review and approve requests.

Managing Employee Access and Roles

With Patriot Payroll's access groups, you can control what employees see and access within their accounts. For example, managers may need to view reports and approve timesheets, while lower-level staff only need to access their pay stubs.

To set up access groups:

1. Go to Company Settings > Groups
2. Click "Add Group" and assign a name
3. Set permissions for what the group can access
4. Under the Employees tab, assign employees to the appropriate access groups

With multiple access groups, you maintain security while granting employees the access they need to their personal payroll information. As new hires join or employees change roles, you can easily update their assigned groups.

Patriot Payroll aims to make managing payroll seamless over time. With a few simple settings, you can add employees, keep their details updated, track PTO, and manage access. Reach out to their support team if any questions come up along the way.

Reporting in Patriot Payroll

Patriot Payroll offers robust reporting capabilities to help businesses analyze and optimize their payroll processes.

Standard Reports

Patriot Payroll comes with several pre-built reports that provide actionable insights into key payroll metrics. These include:

• Payroll Overview: See a snapshot of total payroll costs, average pay, employee headcount, and labor cost percentage over custom date ranges.
• Labor Costs: Break down gross wages, total labor costs, and labor cost percentage by department or location.
• Employee Details: View employee info, pay rates, allowances, deductions, and net pay on an individual basis.
• Tax Liabilities: Review federal, state, and local payroll tax liabilities and payments.
• Workers Compensation: Track hours worked and workers compensation premium costs.

The standard reports offer commonly-used views for analyzing payroll expenditures, monitoring tax obligations, and reviewing employee compensation details. The reports can be filtered by date, location, department, and employee as needed.

Custom Reports

For more tailored analytics, Patriot Payroll provides a custom reporting builder to create specialized reports unique to your business. Custom reports can mix and match:

• Data fields like hours worked, gross and net pay, reimbursements, taxes, benefits costs, etc.
• Filters on dates, locations, departments, employees, pay codes, etc.
• Charts and summaries for visual reporting
• Calculated metrics like cost per hour, average wage, overtime pay ratio, etc.

Custom reports require more setup but allow businesses to analyze payroll exactly how they need to, such as calculating job or project costs, evaluating overtime pay, or comparing employee productivity.

Exporting Data

Both standard and custom reports can be exported from Patriot Payroll as printable PDFs or reusable Excel, CSV, and QuickBooks file formats. Exported reports can be shared with stakeholders or integrated into other business systems for further processing and analysis.

Common export uses include:

• Send payroll overviews to finance for cost tracking
• Export timesheets to project management tools
• Sync employee pay data with HR systems
• Import payroll tax liability reports into accounting software

With robust reporting options, data exports, and customization, Patriot Payroll provides businesses with deep visibility into their payroll processes and costs.

Conclusion and Recommendation

Patriot Payroll offers an affordable payroll solution for small and medium-sized businesses looking to manage payroll in-house without breaking the bank.

Best for Budget-Conscious SMBs

With pricing starting at just $10 per month plus $4 per employee, Patriot Payroll is one of the most budget-friendly options on the market. The platform includes all essential payroll features like direct deposit, tax payments, reporting, and more. While the interface is barebones, it gets the job done for basic needs. For SMBs focused strictly on minimizing costs, Patriot Payroll delivers payroll must-haves without extra bells and whistles.

Consider for Growing Mid-Market Companies

Beyond basic payroll, Patriot Payroll provides additional HR features like time tracking, accounting integrations, and employee self-service portals. The system can scale to support unlimited employees. With customizable roles and permissions, it adapts as companies expand. For leadership teams aiming to centralize HR and payroll as operations grow, Patriot merits consideration.

Top Alternative Pick

Gusto stands out as a top alternative for those seeking more polished design and user experience. Though priced higher, Gusto shines when it comes to employee-facing tools, compliance resources, and overall usability. For larger budgets, Gusto strikes an optimal balance of value and functionality.

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