Paylocity's software has HR capabilities, ample integrations, and well-designed mobile apps that are hard to beat if your mid-sized business needs a good payroll option.
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| Total Rating | 4.2 |
|---|---|
| Pricing1.1 | |
| Ease Of Use4.6 | |
| Features4.7 | |
| Customer Service4.7 | |
| User Reviews4.1 | |
Payroll Processing Time
As soon as next-dayPricing Range
Quote-basedBusiness Size
Small to enterprise-sized with 1,000+ usersTable of Contents
Paylocity is software for mid-sized to large businesses that bridges the gap between streamlined payroll and more comprehensive HRM (human resources management) solutions.
This program boasts many integrations for HR, benefits, time tracking, performance reviews, and applications, all fully tailored to your company’s needs and wishes. With a drag-and-drop interface and a specialized account person a phone call away, there is a lot to like about this program.
Paylocity is expensive to set up, and its fully loaded options run near the top of the price range. Smaller businesses can find more affordable options elsewhere.
| Pricing1.1 |
|---|
| Software Plans 0.0 |
| Pricing Transparency 0.0 |
| Pricing Customization 1.5 |
Paylocity’s 1.1/5 star rating in the pricing category comes down to its lack of pricing transparency, set-up fees, and lack of a free trial.
However, Paylocity’s quote-based pricing model seems to be popular with older, well-established payroll service giants such as ADP, Paycom, and Paycor. Newcomers, such as QuickBooks Online Payroll, Gusto, and OnPay, seem to favor transparent pricing, which makes the buying decision much easier.
If you’re interested in the software, you’ll need to schedule a demo for pricing information. There are no contracts, and you can cancel your plan anytime.
As the company customizes each plan to individual businesses, pricing tiers and the like aren’t discussed until you speak with a sales representative and provide relevant information about your business.
| Ease Of Use4.6 |
|---|
| Set Up 4.7 |
| Software Reliability 4.0 |
| Everyday Use 4.0 |
| Integrations 5.0 |
As indicated in its 4.6/5 star rating, Paylocity is very easy to use, set up, and integrate with other solutions.
As a cloud-based payroll solution, Paylocity is compatible with any device as long as you have an internet connection. Paylocity also offers a mobile app for both Apple and Android phones so that you can run your payroll on the go.
Paylocity’s payroll features were initially designed with accountants and HR directors in mind. People without any skill in payroll might not find the program simple enough.
A handful of reviewers say that some integrations are clunky, and there is a steep learning curve to the customizations.
| Features4.7 |
|---|
| Payroll Processing 4.8 |
| Employee Management & PTO 5.0 |
| Time Tracking 5.0 |
| Payroll Tax Support 3.9 |
| Reporting & Tax Forms 5.0 |
| Onboarding & HR 5.0 |
| Benefits Administration 4.4 |
| Niche Features 5.0 |
With an impressive 4.7/5 star rating in the features category, Paylocity is one of the most feature-rich payroll software solutions on the market today. The software’s dropped points come from some limitations in its local payroll tax support, insurance broker management, and extra fees for some features.
Although Paylocity is a great option for small businesses, it’s best for mid-sized to enterprise businesses. For businesses hoping to expand and find a program that easily combines payroll and human resources management, Paylocity offers many features previously available only to enterprise clients.
In that respect, you get what you pay for. Some small businesses, however, don’t need upgraded HR services and might find Paylocity too expensive (although the pricing is competitive at the higher levels for enterprise businesses).
Paylocity’s Web Pay makes running payroll as easy as a click of a button. Once your employees are enrolled, their hours and pay scales set, and your pay date set, running payroll is simple.
Here’s a look at Paylocity’s payroll features:
Paylocity offers a wealth of employee management and PTO features that businesses can customize to their liking. With Paylocity, employers and employees are connected in ways that outstrip other similar software options.
Paylocity’s employee management and PTO features include:
In conjunction with the mobile app, tracking hours has never been easier. Employees can clock in and out on their own devices or from a kiosk at their place of employment. Paylocity recommends pairing its time tracking to payroll instead of using any integrations for time tracking.
Paylocity’s time-tracking features include:
Paylocity will help file and pay your quarterly and yearly payroll tax requirements from the federal and local levels. Here’s a look at Paylocity’s payroll tax support features:
Within Paylocity, if you can think of it, there’s a report for that. The reporting system is varied and extensive. Also, users can customize reports and even add reports to a database for everyone to see and use.
Paylocity’s software offers a ton of features that will help your business recruit, hire, and manage employees.
Paylocity’s HR and onboarding features include:
Paylocity has several options for benefits administration and offers health insurance benefits in partnership with Maxwell Health. Here’s a breakdown of Paylocity’s benefits administration features:
| Customer Service4.7 |
|---|
| Personal Support 4.3 |
| Self-Service 5.0 |
With a near-perfect 4.7/5 star rating in the customer service department, Paylocity is a great option for businesses that value robust self-service options and the ability to get in touch with the company for bigger issues.
Paylocity offers real human support Monday through Friday from 7 AM-7 PM CST. Here’s a look at Paylocity’s customer service options:
| Paylocity Customer Service | Availability |
|---|---|
| Phone Support | |
| Email Support | |
| Support Tickets | |
| Live Chat | |
| Dedicated Support Representative | |
| Knowledge Base or Help Center | |
| Videos & Tutorials | |
| Company Blog | |
| Social Media |
The pluses: You are assigned an account manager who works with your company specifically. The company prides itself on satisfying customers.
The minuses: Turnover among managers is high. And even though you can get someone on the phone, sometimes fixing software issues takes several calls to fix.
Paylocity wants to stand out as a company that makes its integrations work for you, no matter what. It has over 320+ integrations available in its marketplace — and that number continues to grow.
If there isn’t a program to match your needs, the company is willing to help build integrations specific to your company’s needs.
| User Reviews4.1 |
|---|
| Customer Feedback 4.0 |
| Review Site Aggregate 4.2 |
In the user review category, Paylocity fares well with a 4.1/5star overall rating. Ultimately, users seem to be very happy with the software. This high rating was fueled by Paylocity’s average of 4.2/5 stars earned across multiple user review sites.
Reviewers’ highest praise for Paylocity focuses on helpfulness, the ease of running payroll and paying payroll taxes and reporting options/options to customize.
Complaints surround the difficulty of using some of the integrations and the bugginess of Paylocity’s integrations. For experienced users or businesses with accountants, the customization and integration options outweigh the clunkiness.
Paylocity’s dedication to security is thorough and transparent. Paylocity is certified compliant with the Privacy Shield Framework and is audited yearly by outside sources to test and enhance security continually.
Paylocity’s security relies on a multi-tiered, redundant backup strategy to protect customer information and constantly ensure the company is compliant with all security best practices.
Some of the things Paylocity does to safeguard and encrypt data are:
Paylocity’s features include time tracking, payroll tax support, benefits administration, PTO, an employee portal, and much more. However, Paycom also includes these features, plus a few standouts. Not sure whether Paylocity or Paycom will better suit your business? Keep reading for a breakdown of the differences between Paylocity vs Paycom.
| Paylocity | Paycom | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Quote-based | Quote-based |
| Business Size | Small to enterprise-sized businesses | Small to enterprise-sized businesses |
| Number Of Users | Up to 1,000+ | Up to 10,000+ |
| Number Of States Supported | All 50 states | All 50 states |
| Payroll Processing Time | Next-day | Variable |
| Quality Of Features | Excellent | Excellent |
| Quality Of Support | Good | Good |
As payroll software solutions, Paycom and Paylocity have many similarities, including a quote-based pricing model, solid employee mobile apps, benefits administration solutions, all-level payroll tax support, and strong employee management features.
Although both Paylocity and Paycom prioritize a rich employee experience, Paycom’s distinct option of employee-run payroll gives it the edge over Paylocity. However, for employers that prefer to take a more traditional approach to payroll, Paylocity is the way to go. Additionally, when compared to Paycom, Paylocity offers a far more extensive library of third-party integrations
| Paylocity Review Summary | |
|---|---|
| Pricing Range | Quote-based |
| Choose If You Need |
|
Paylocity’s feature set is a great fit for larger businesses needing combined payroll and HR capabilities. Integrations and security are excellent, and the company is dedicated to client happiness. Weigh the features and the cost and decide if it’s the right fit for you.
Nontransparent pricing is always a letdown. An hour and forty-five-minute sales pitch is a lot to ask for busy small business owners who are just shopping around. It’s hard to crunch numbers and effectively shop around if there’s no way to find out what the packages look like or cost without talking to a rep.
However, if cost is the major deciding factor for your business’s payroll needs, consider checking out one of the best cheap payroll software options available.
Small business owners might also be interested in the best free payroll software for businesses.
We research, evaluate, and test each payroll software app that we review at Merchant Maverick, placing special emphasis on key characteristics to generate granular ratings.
Our exhaustive, 76-point rubric guides the star rating of each payroll provider we review, examining pricing, ease of use, features, customer service, and user reviews. Each section is weighted differently.
When rating payroll software, we are looking for very specific qualities. The speed and cost of payroll runs and the availability of tax filing services are given high weight, as are the quality and availability of accounting, time-tracking, HR integrations, and user onboarding services. We also look for the presence of client and employee portals, benefits administration, PTO and time management tools, and many more vital features.
Learn more about how we rate payroll software providers.
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The vendors that appear on this list were chosen by subject matter experts on the basis of product quality, wide usage and availability, and positive reputation.
Merchant Maverick’s ratings are editorial in nature, and are not aggregated from user reviews. Each staff reviewer at Merchant Maverick is a subject matter expert with experience researching, testing, and evaluating small business software and services. The rating of this company or service is based on the author’s expert opinion and analysis of the product, and assessed and seconded by another subject matter expert on staff before publication. Merchant Maverick’s ratings are not influenced by affiliate partnerships.
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