Optimum Solutions HRIS (discontinued) vs. Toast Payroll & Team Management

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

I believe StratEx is well suited for any type of business at any size. However, I believe the sweet spot would be hotels and restaurants that are small to midsize. With the right HR staff in place, StratEx is so user-friendly and moldable to the needs of the business that it can be used in any industry, location, or by any company with any employee population.

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.

• Tip splitting
• Payroll by class
• Specific reports

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

• HR - We used to receive HR support and that is something that we really miss.
• StratEx was also our broker so made the health care side of things seamless and we miss that too.
• Support - Sometimes the support we get is lacking or we get different answers from different people.

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

Without a doubt, StratEx wins. Against all the major players in the HRS/HRIS industry, StratEx's biggest win is cost, both implementation and ongoing costs. The other's we evaluated offered tons of flashy things that most companies don't really need. When it was all said it done, we looked at what we needed and what we will need and determined that there is no reason to pay for a "big" brand name and be a small fish in their large ponds. I cannot imagine there is a company that would need anything StratEx doesn't offer. And, when it came down to it, all the major players came down from their original proposals by $100,000 or more to be more competitive with StratEx and we still went with StratEx. They've kept every promise, they've always been available, and they know where they are going as a company.

Incentivized

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

• Great reports and analytics
• Moderately high fees
• Convenience

Incentivized