BerniePortal vs. Paychex Flex

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
BerniePortal
Score 7.3 out of 10
N/A
BerniePortal is an online HR platform that helps small and medium-sized employers solve the transactional challenges of HR with software and the strategic challenges of healthcare with a trusted advisor. BerniePortal handles applicant tracking, onboarding, PTO tracking, time and attendance, compliance, benefits administration, 1095-C reporting, Payroll and COBRA administration. BerniePortal also offers a variety of payroll and carrier integration options. BerniePortal is supported by a…
$21
per month per employee
Paychex Flex
Score 6.6 out of 10
N/A
Paychex Flex, of Paychex' Online Payroll Services, is a cloud-based human resource management and payroll platform. Paychex offers core and specialized services, and scales to meet the needs of small businesses, SMBs, and large enterprises.
$59
per month/+$4 per employee
Pricing
BerniePortalPaychex Flex
Editions & Modules
Free
$0
per month per employee
Standard
$11
per month per employee
Plus
$16
per month per employee
Enterprise
$21
per month per employee
Paychex Go
$59
per month/+$4 per employee
Paychex Flex Service
Contact sales team
Paychex Flex Enterprise
Contact sales team
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
BerniePortalPaychex Flex
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeRequired
Additional DetailsAdditional implementation fee based on scope
More Pricing Information
Features
BerniePortalPaychex Flex
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
BerniePortal
9.8
1 Ratings
22% above category average
Paychex Flex
7.1
257 Ratings
10% below category average
Job profiles and administration9.01 Ratings7.8164 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.10.01 Ratings7.5161 Ratings
Organizational charting10.01 Ratings1.01 Ratings
Organization and location management10.01 Ratings8.1146 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)10.01 Ratings8.3137 Ratings
Employee demographic data00 Ratings8.2206 Ratings
Employment history00 Ratings8.6230 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
BerniePortal
9.0
2 Ratings
12% above category average
Paychex Flex
8.9
299 Ratings
11% above category average
Support for external payroll vendors10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Benefit plan administration6.02 Ratings8.1164 Ratings
Direct deposit files10.01 Ratings9.4281 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management10.01 Ratings8.9200 Ratings
Pay calculation00 Ratings9.3282 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment00 Ratings8.5142 Ratings
Reimbursement management00 Ratings8.9111 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
BerniePortal
9.5
1 Ratings
17% above category average
Paychex Flex
7.5
151 Ratings
7% below category average
Approval workflow9.01 Ratings7.3107 Ratings
Balance details10.01 Ratings8.0143 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment00 Ratings7.4117 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
BerniePortal
8.3
2 Ratings
3% above category average
Paychex Flex
8.7
258 Ratings
7% above category average
View and generate pay and benefit information10.01 Ratings8.8236 Ratings
Update personal information9.01 Ratings9.0248 Ratings
View company policy documentation6.02 Ratings8.6114 Ratings
View job history00 Ratings8.4175 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
BerniePortal
10.0
1 Ratings
28% above category average
Paychex Flex
6.5
169 Ratings
15% below category average
Pre-built reports10.01 Ratings7.4159 Ratings
Report builder00 Ratings6.9139 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data00 Ratings5.486 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
BerniePortal
10.0
1 Ratings
23% above category average
Paychex Flex
7.5
165 Ratings
6% below category average
New hire portal10.01 Ratings7.8158 Ratings
Manager tracking tools10.01 Ratings7.2101 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
BerniePortal
10.0
1 Ratings
25% above category average
Paychex Flex
8.1
61 Ratings
4% above category average
Job Requisition Management10.01 Ratings8.233 Ratings
Company Website Posting10.01 Ratings8.831 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting10.01 Ratings7.931 Ratings
Applicant Tracking10.01 Ratings8.135 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts10.01 Ratings8.355 Ratings
Publish to Social Media00 Ratings8.024 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention00 Ratings7.530 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
BerniePortal
-
Ratings
Paychex Flex
7.6
41 Ratings
5% below category average
Tracking of all physical assets00 Ratings7.641 Ratings
Best Alternatives
BerniePortalPaychex Flex
Small Businesses
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.4 out of 10
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.4 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.7 out of 10
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.7 out of 10
Enterprises
Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 7.1 out of 10
Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 7.1 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
BerniePortalPaychex Flex
Likelihood to Recommend
6.0
(2 ratings)
7.8
(309 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(42 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
8.2
(251 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
8.3
(11 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
8.1
(11 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
7.8
(256 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
4.5
(1 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
7.9
(4 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
7.8
(12 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
7.5
(8 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(3 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
9.2
(11 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
8.9
(31 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
9.2
(32 ratings)
User Testimonials
BerniePortalPaychex Flex
Likelihood to Recommend
BerniePortal
It’s way easier than other HR tools. It’s perfect for middle size company [with] 100-500 employees. It requires very [little] effort to perform all tasks. For salary calculation, it sometimes got stuck in the monthly calculation. Other than that it’s all perfect. It decreases a lot of time and allows us to manage other operations. So I would always recommend it over any other software.
Read full review
Paychex, Inc.
It's better for larger businesses (50+) with various types of pay structures. Employees need to be comfortable with technology to take advantage of the self-service features. I've struggled with the default in the state tax section; extra steps must be taken when an employee lives in a different state than they work, and we don't know where they live until after completing their profile. So we have to go into the system and make the corrections, then notify the employee to go in and complete the state-specific withholding forms and follow up to confirm they do so.
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Pros
BerniePortal
  • Easy to compare current and past elections
  • Centralizes all the documents relevant to benefit plans
  • Site layout is minimal and easy to navigate
Read full review
Paychex, Inc.
  • It provides a well account of Retirement Plan Account Information.
  • Alerts are sent to email when there is new information to access.
  • Employee access both online and thru app.
  • Paperless options.
  • Easy and quick access to paystubs and tax forms.
  • Easy employee retirement management.
Read full review
Cons
BerniePortal
  • It needs little improvement in the leave management system. Employees need to add manually in order to request a leave.
  • It’s interface is bit tricky.
  • Attendance system is perfect but need some changes in its interface.
Read full review
Paychex, Inc.
  • When it comes to audit reports, Paychex Flex could improve on helping clients locate the correct reports for audit purposes more easily
  • When a client receives a discount, it would be helpful if the discount were automatically provided each year, or if the Paychex rep proactively reached out to the client first, versus the client having to call and request that the discount continue.
  • It would be helpful if the invoice was emailed to the client versus the client logging in to access invoices.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
BerniePortal
No answers on this topic
Paychex, Inc.
Overall I like the features that Paychex Flex offers. I am sure that there are other features that I am unaware of, so I am excited to see if there is more that Flex is capable of to make my job easier. The basic features are really user friendly and easy to access. If there ever is an issue customer service is great
Read full review
Usability
BerniePortal
No answers on this topic
Paychex, Inc.
Some things could be streamlined. For example, we could do custom options for the "add items" tab which has so many options that we never use. "Medical Pay" could be something that the system remembers for the applicable employees. Salaried employees' salaries should definitely be auto-filled. Overall the system works well but I think it could be improved to be easier to use and read.
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Reliability and Availability
BerniePortal
No answers on this topic
Paychex, Inc.
We have not experienced any difficulties with unplanned outages. Notifications are always made for outages, and they do not effect normal business operations.
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Performance
BerniePortal
No answers on this topic
Paychex, Inc.
Unless there is lag time within the internet, the Paychex Flex website loads exceptional fast, pages load quickly and reports that I need to print or download load quickly. If I need to create a specialized report, once I complete it I receive an e-mail telling me my report is ready to be downloaded. Changing between web pages is fast as well.
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Support Rating
BerniePortal
No answers on this topic
Paychex, Inc.
Our dedicated representative is one of the main reasons we are sticking with Paychex Flex. If it were not for this person, other platforms could provide the same/similar functionality. It is the ability to speak with someone that understands our business and is willing to get questions answered in a timely fashion that keeps us with Paychex Flex.
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In-Person Training
BerniePortal
No answers on this topic
Paychex, Inc.
We did online training only
Read full review
Online Training
BerniePortal
No answers on this topic
Paychex, Inc.
It was easy to understand and follow along. I do like the informational videos that we can utilize before we opt to call in for customer service support. It has made a difference since sometimes that resolves the issue I may have had and saved myself a phone call to Paychex support.
Read full review
Implementation Rating
BerniePortal
No answers on this topic
Paychex, Inc.
Implementation was very smooth. The most cumbersome task was entering the current employees into the system during initial set up, but Paychex staff handled most of that and verified against prior system reports as well as internal reports provided to ensure 100% accuracy.
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Alternatives Considered
BerniePortal
My organization uses ADP Workforce and Javelo in addition to BerniePortal for other aspects of resource management such as payroll, performance reviews, etc. BerniePortal stood out as our choice of platform for benefits enrollment due to its ease of use and ability to compare plans during the election process.
Read full review
Paychex, Inc.
We still use QB Desktop Pro to maintain a Check Register / Overall Balance for the company, but once having tried QB Payroll Online for about 3 months prior to finding Paychex Flex I can tell you that there's just no comparison. QB online is VERY EXPENSIVE and not so user-friendly. I hated every minute of those 6 payrolls we ran through QB online.
Read full review
Scalability
BerniePortal
No answers on this topic
Paychex, Inc.
I generally do payroll at the office, however I have had to go remote due to internet issues and also had to take payroll on vacation with me. Very easy to log in wherever you are and manage your TAA and payroll
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Return on Investment
BerniePortal
  • It increases team efficiency.
  • It’s one of the best tool and it’s really cheap.
  • It best for a company size 100-500 employees.
Read full review
Paychex, Inc.
  • I do not believe we have saved anything additionally. The time we've had to spend to get things to hopefully work is sad. This is the reason we've had to turn off all extra "products" of Paychex Flex. Time and Attendance is horrible. Benefits management is horrible. The user experience is horrible.
  • One thing I do not understand is why are updates for states, cities, counties, school districts, etc. not automatically updated? Should we not get a big red flag if we have an employee living/working, being paid in CA, but they aren't set up for CA sick time? If it is required to be on the paycheck stub to show the balance of the sick time, why would we not be notified that we are out of compliance?
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ScreenShots

Paychex Flex Screenshots

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