Payroll Relief vs. Optimum Solutions HRIS (discontinued)

Payroll Relief can be customized to work for just about any business. Electronic tax payment and e-filing services are not available in all states so the system may be less appropriate in jurisdictions where there is a lack of automation on the back-end. This lack of automation can be overcome by a payroll processing provider that has good internal processes and an understanding of how to handle their clients' filings/payments directly with these unsupported states

Incentivized

Optimum Solutions works very well for all our payroll needs. We run payrolls weekly, semi-monthly, monthly and yearly. The end of year process is lined out very well and webinars are available to go over any new regulations required. We haven't utilized the HR part of the software as much on the iSeries but are planning on changing that once we get converted to the Windows version later this year. The main reason for this is the HR part of the software on the iSeries is separate from payroll.

Incentivized

• Payroll entry and approval is simple
• The system supports unlimited pay types so it is easy to customize the system for our clients
• The system automates the filing of most tax forms and W-2s

Incentivized

• The setup of Optimum HRIS was intense as the software comes as a basic shell and everything is personalized to our organization. All earnings codes, leave time, employee types, job codes, taxes, etc. are set up for each company. While this was almost overwhelming at the beginning, we have so much control over the set up and better grasp of the inner workings of the system.
• Tax updates come quickly and are easily applied. This is especially welcome at year end.
• The built-in reporting is robust and offers a lot of options, but the ability to dig in to the database using SQL and Excel allows for very powerful reports that are infinitely personalized.

• The site navigation can be confusing.
• The system lacks HR functionality. There is no automated employee onboarding option. PTO can be tracked but there is no way for employees to request time off from their employee portal.
• Payroll processors do not get a dashboard showing a list of payrolls that are scheduled to be processed each day like some other systems do.

Incentivized

• When exporting reports to Excel I found the formatting to be difficult to work with and having to reformat the reports can be a nightmare. My company's IT department created its own business tools to make the reporting format more user friendly.

Incentivized

Payroll relief is more customizable and easier to use than some other systems we have reviewed. The fee structure is better suited for our client base as well.

Incentivized

We evaluated some payroll services but found the ongoing cost greater than the initial cost of purchasing our own software and keeping the payroll process in house. Other payroll software was generally more expensive and we are satisfied with Optimum Solutions. I would say the main reason we stayed with Optimum Solutions, converting from their iSeries version to their Windows version, was because of their outstanding staff and support.

Incentivized

• We can process a large number of payrolls with a relatively small staff.
• Payroll relief is simple to sell and support.

Incentivized

• More accurate payroll processing
• More accurate tax payments and reporting