Intuit Online Payroll (discontinued) vs. Paychex Flex

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Intuit Online Payroll (discontinued)
Score 8.0 out of 10
N/A
Intuit Online Payroll was a small business payroll option available as a standalone SaaS solution, that Intuit announced it was discontinuing in favor of Quickbooks Online Payroll, available via Quickbooks.
$22.50
per month
Paychex Flex
Score 6.7 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
Intuit Online Payroll (discontinued)Paychex Flex
Editions & Modules
Core
22.50 + $4 per employee
per month
Premium
37.50 + $8 per employee
per month
Elite
62.50+ $10 per employee
per month
Paychex Go
$59
per month/+$4 per employee
Paychex Flex Service
Contact sales team
Paychex Flex Enterprise
Contact sales team
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Intuit Online Payroll (discontinued)Paychex Flex
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeRequired
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Intuit Online Payroll (discontinued)Paychex Flex
Considered Both Products
Intuit Online Payroll (discontinued)
Chose Intuit Online Payroll (discontinued)
This is a different product in my eyes. Most of the "outsourcers" really take over the entire payroll function, which divorces it from your accounting records --- and then later they try to stuff the results back into accounting through a GJE entry.
If the circumstances are …
Paychex Flex
Chose Paychex Flex
Paychex Flex works better than Intuit's plan for the simple reason that I have entered data incorrectly into Intuit and Paychex Flex prevents me from entering the data incorrectly. There are checks and balances and in the end, it is generated automatically and accurately.
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Intuit Online Payroll (discontinued)Paychex Flex
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
Intuit Online Payroll (discontinued)
7.3
10 Ratings
10% below category average
Paychex Flex
8.5
288 Ratings
6% above category average
Pay calculation8.99 Ratings9.0271 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors2.26 Ratings00 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment9.33 Ratings9.1136 Ratings
Benefit plan administration8.95 Ratings7.3156 Ratings
Direct deposit files3.89 Ratings9.3270 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management9.27 Ratings8.5193 Ratings
Reimbursement management8.78 Ratings7.9105 Ratings
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
Intuit Online Payroll (discontinued)
-
Ratings
Paychex Flex
6.7
247 Ratings
16% below category average
Employee demographic data00 Ratings8.0197 Ratings
Employment history00 Ratings8.0220 Ratings
Job profiles and administration00 Ratings6.8155 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.00 Ratings7.4154 Ratings
Organizational charting00 Ratings1.01 Ratings
Organization and location management00 Ratings7.9138 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)00 Ratings7.5132 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
Intuit Online Payroll (discontinued)
-
Ratings
Paychex Flex
7.0
144 Ratings
14% below category average
Approval workflow00 Ratings6.3102 Ratings
Balance details00 Ratings7.5136 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment00 Ratings7.3110 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
Intuit Online Payroll (discontinued)
-
Ratings
Paychex Flex
8.5
249 Ratings
5% above category average
View and generate pay and benefit information00 Ratings8.6228 Ratings
Update personal information00 Ratings9.0239 Ratings
View company policy documentation00 Ratings7.7111 Ratings
View job history00 Ratings8.7168 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
Intuit Online Payroll (discontinued)
-
Ratings
Paychex Flex
7.8
40 Ratings
1% above category average
Tracking of all physical assets00 Ratings7.840 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Intuit Online Payroll (discontinued)
-
Ratings
Paychex Flex
6.1
164 Ratings
22% below category average
Report builder00 Ratings5.8134 Ratings
Pre-built reports00 Ratings6.9154 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data00 Ratings5.883 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
Intuit Online Payroll (discontinued)
-
Ratings
Paychex Flex
8.0
158 Ratings
0% below category average
New hire portal00 Ratings8.1151 Ratings
Manager tracking tools00 Ratings7.9100 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
Intuit Online Payroll (discontinued)
-
Ratings
Paychex Flex
8.5
59 Ratings
9% above category average
Job Requisition Management00 Ratings9.632 Ratings
Company Website Posting00 Ratings9.730 Ratings
Publish to Social Media00 Ratings6.923 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting00 Ratings6.830 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention00 Ratings6.928 Ratings
Applicant Tracking00 Ratings9.633 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts00 Ratings9.753 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Intuit Online Payroll (discontinued)Paychex Flex
Small Businesses
Patriot Software
Patriot Software
Score 9.0 out of 10
Patriot Software
Patriot Software
Score 9.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.5 out of 10
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.5 out of 10
Enterprises
Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 7.3 out of 10
Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 7.3 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Intuit Online Payroll (discontinued)Paychex Flex
Likelihood to Recommend
3.1
(17 ratings)
7.7
(298 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(1 ratings)
8.9
(42 ratings)
Usability
3.8
(2 ratings)
8.0
(240 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
9.3
(10 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(10 ratings)
Support Rating
1.5
(5 ratings)
7.8
(245 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
4.5
(1 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
7.0
(4 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
9.4
(11 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
7.6
(8 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(3 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
9.3
(10 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
8.9
(31 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
9.2
(32 ratings)
User Testimonials
Intuit Online Payroll (discontinued)Paychex Flex
Likelihood to Recommend
Intuit
I believe the ideal scenario is when you are already using the Intuit family of products and the payroll bolts on to your existing QuickBooks infrastructure. Payroll software products have been around a long time, and this is a very competitive niche. Most of the companies do a good job of filing taxes promptly, reporting W-2 items properly, providing good reports, etc. Where you might really get some extra efficiency and benefit is the fact that the payroll is woven into the accounting system, creating one seamless enterprise solution. Also, where it might be less appropriate is in a really simple use case such as a one person company where there aren't complex fringe benefits to deal with. In that scenario, you can set up the ACH debits directly with the state agency and the IRS and possibly file your own 941, 940, W-2/W-3 and state equivalent forms. Of course, if you're willing to do this and are good with details, you can save yourself some money.
Read full review
Paychex, Inc.
In my experience, Paychex Flex is well suited for small to medium sized businesses. It has been helpful in streamlining the onboarding process and it is easy to update and maintain employee profiles and records. It has worked will in a non-profit environment where there is clergy pay and housing, which can get quite complicated. I cannot think of a scenario where it would be less appropriate.
Read full review
Pros
Intuit
  • Integration with QuickBooks Desktop. This is the key strength of IP... it is a complete, native integration and let's you maintain all employee records and time keeping in QuickBooks
  • Job Costing. Another key differentiation -- some payroll outsources say they do true job costing (by work or item code). Don't believe them. If its' not integrated with your accounting system, you will not get "TRUE" job costing. You can get costs ASSIGNED to jobs (which may be fine), but you won't get item level detail in QuickBooks from anyone but Intuit.
  • Variety of Payment options. Use Direct Deposit or manual checks... or whatever you want. Since its in QB, you can make payments any way you want.
  • Cash Flow. This is both good and bad, but IP will not take taxes out of your bank account until they are due. That's different than some other providers that want assurance that you have the tax payments available at the moment you push "SUBMIT."
Read full review
Paychex, Inc.
  • I like I can enter payroll and if I need to leave the program, I can resume at a later time and my information is saved.
  • I like the analytics & reports features.
  • I like how all my employees have easy access to their portal.
Read full review
Cons
Intuit
  • My biggest issue is that they do continue to raise their prices on a regular basis and it makes people feel stuck when there are so many clients already using the system.
  • They do not support roaming employees, so employees that cross over into various tax jurisdictions in one pay period pose a challenge for calculating taxes and pay.
  • The setup can be a bit daunting still if you are not familiar with the system or the various taxes and requirements for reporting.
Read full review
Paychex, Inc.
  • Reporting writing is difficult to figure out
  • Employee turnover inside Paychex was a problem, until we were assigned to Neil Williams - since that time it has settled down
  • Pressure to convert personal connection with payroll advisor to using automated service
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Likelihood to Renew
Intuit
Works perfectly as advertised. Our simple needs are well taken care of.
Read full review
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
Intuit
I would rate it a 0. It gets worse and worse all the time. It seems like every time I go into IOP to run a payroll for one of my clients, I have one more problem.
Read full review
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
Intuit
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.
Read full review
Performance
Intuit
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
Intuit
The customer support personnel have always walked me through the steps they need to take to assist me. Never rushed through anything. Always exceptionally thorough, answering all my questions and even sharing my screen visually (I have control, not them). It actually helps me to resolve future issues and questions, if they should arise.
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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
Intuit
No answers on this topic
Paychex, Inc.
We did online training only
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Online Training
Intuit
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.
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Implementation Rating
Intuit
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
Intuit
It's a payroll software with decent customer support readily available and direct integration with my accounting tools. This made it a prime fit for me, and made payment and tax reporting relatively simple, and errors readily correctable. It does not have time tracking, and I still believe that this software is overpriced, but it's the best fit for me right now.
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.
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Scalability
Intuit
No answers on this topic
Paychex, Inc.
Employees can log in at home and get up to date information on their FSA balance and any medical bill reimbursements they may have uploaded. At renewal time they have the ability to make changes to their FSA or for new employees star the enrollment.
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Return on Investment
Intuit
  • Positive: Less of a learning curve to train payroll accountants, as they are already familiar with using Intuit. Also, in general there are a larger pool of candidates who know this system than many of the other "niche" lesser known payroll products.
  • Positive: More options to choose from depending on the level of service needed. For example, there is a Full Service offering if needed. This might apply to an organization that doesn't have the resources available or an internal person who has the time/bandwidth to handle the entire company's payroll. Thus, it is possible to cherry pick the level of service needed depending on the type of company/situation.
  • Positive: Good audit trail. This can be extremely important and cost efficient when a business is going through an external audit by an outside CPA firm and the payroll accounting function is undergoing testing (ie. less time required by the external auditor would likely lower their bill for their services).
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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