Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
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
Vertex
Score 8.4 out of 10
N/A
Vertex combines tax research with technology to improve tax accuracy and consistency on sales and purchase transactions. The automation aims to support high volume and complex transactions at speed and scale to streamline internal processes and improve audit performance. Integrations to ERP, e-commerce, procurement, and other billing systems enables a single tax engine to seamlessly support a growing business. In addition to tax determination, Vertex provides tools and services to automate and…N/A
Pricing
Paychex FlexVertex
Editions & Modules
Paychex Go
$59
per month/+$4 per employee
Paychex Flex Service
Contact sales team
Paychex Flex Enterprise
Contact sales team
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Paychex FlexVertex
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeRequiredNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Features
Paychex FlexVertex
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
Paychex Flex
6.7
247 Ratings
16% below category average
Vertex
-
Ratings
Employee demographic data8.0197 Ratings00 Ratings
Employment history8.0220 Ratings00 Ratings
Job profiles and administration6.8155 Ratings00 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.7.4154 Ratings00 Ratings
Organizational charting1.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Organization and location management7.9138 Ratings00 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)7.5132 Ratings00 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
Paychex Flex
8.5
288 Ratings
6% above category average
Vertex
-
Ratings
Pay calculation9.0271 Ratings00 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment9.1136 Ratings00 Ratings
Benefit plan administration7.3156 Ratings00 Ratings
Direct deposit files9.3270 Ratings00 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management8.5193 Ratings00 Ratings
Reimbursement management7.9105 Ratings00 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
Paychex Flex
7.0
144 Ratings
14% below category average
Vertex
-
Ratings
Approval workflow6.3102 Ratings00 Ratings
Balance details7.5136 Ratings00 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment7.3110 Ratings00 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
Paychex Flex
8.5
249 Ratings
5% above category average
Vertex
-
Ratings
View and generate pay and benefit information8.6228 Ratings00 Ratings
Update personal information9.0239 Ratings00 Ratings
View company policy documentation7.7111 Ratings00 Ratings
View job history8.7168 Ratings00 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
Paychex Flex
7.8
40 Ratings
1% above category average
Vertex
-
Ratings
Tracking of all physical assets7.840 Ratings00 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Paychex Flex
6.1
164 Ratings
22% below category average
Vertex
-
Ratings
Report builder5.8134 Ratings00 Ratings
Pre-built reports6.9154 Ratings00 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data5.783 Ratings00 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
Paychex Flex
8.0
158 Ratings
0% below category average
Vertex
-
Ratings
New hire portal8.1151 Ratings00 Ratings
Manager tracking tools7.9100 Ratings00 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
Paychex Flex
8.5
59 Ratings
9% above category average
Vertex
-
Ratings
Job Requisition Management9.632 Ratings00 Ratings
Company Website Posting9.730 Ratings00 Ratings
Publish to Social Media6.923 Ratings00 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting6.830 Ratings00 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention6.928 Ratings00 Ratings
Applicant Tracking9.633 Ratings00 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts9.753 Ratings00 Ratings
Type of tax
Comparison of Type of tax features of Product A and Product B
Paychex Flex
-
Ratings
Vertex
8.8
122 Ratings
4% above category average
Sales and Use Taxes00 Ratings9.4120 Ratings
Cross-border Taxes00 Ratings9.837 Ratings
VAT / GST Taxes00 Ratings8.956 Ratings
Energy and Fuel Taxes00 Ratings7.311 Ratings
Tax Reporting & Compliance
Comparison of Tax Reporting & Compliance features of Product A and Product B
Paychex Flex
-
Ratings
Vertex
8.5
117 Ratings
2% above category average
Geolocation for Tax Assessment00 Ratings9.485 Ratings
3rd-Party Software Integrations00 Ratings7.380 Ratings
Tax Data Reporting00 Ratings9.1103 Ratings
Compliance Administration Management00 Ratings9.174 Ratings
Tax Exemption Processing00 Ratings8.386 Ratings
Tax Document Management00 Ratings9.169 Ratings
Complex Tax Scenario Management00 Ratings7.181 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Paychex FlexVertex
Small Businesses
Patriot Software
Patriot Software
Score 9.0 out of 10
Canopy
Canopy
Score 9.5 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.5 out of 10
LOVAT
LOVAT
Score 10.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 7.3 out of 10
ADP SmartCompliance
ADP SmartCompliance
Score 8.2 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Paychex FlexVertex
Likelihood to Recommend
7.7
(298 ratings)
8.7
(147 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.9
(42 ratings)
8.9
(18 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(240 ratings)
8.7
(43 ratings)
Availability
9.3
(10 ratings)
8.3
(7 ratings)
Performance
9.1
(10 ratings)
8.2
(7 ratings)
Support Rating
7.8
(245 ratings)
9.1
(23 ratings)
In-Person Training
4.5
(1 ratings)
8.6
(3 ratings)
Online Training
7.0
(4 ratings)
9.6
(3 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.4
(11 ratings)
7.5
(15 ratings)
Configurability
7.6
(8 ratings)
7.0
(78 ratings)
Ease of integration
9.0
(3 ratings)
8.0
(5 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.3
(10 ratings)
8.0
(37 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
8.9
(31 ratings)
8.2
(18 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
9.2
(32 ratings)
7.4
(12 ratings)
User Testimonials
Paychex FlexVertex
Likelihood to Recommend
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.
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Vertex Inc.
Vertex is pretty diverse in that it can support large or small organizations. If you're looking for a robust tax calculation engine then Vertex is a great option. It offers the sales and use tax calculations, reporting that supports all tax types and that can be used organization wide, and the ability to prepare the required sales tax returns. They keep up on all the tax rules so you don't have to and their customer service is good as well. At this point I've not found a reason that it wouldn't be suited in a tax environment.
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Pros
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.
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Vertex Inc.
  • Vertex does a great job of building in-house industry expertise (leasing in our case) so they truly understand the tax technical and compliance obstacles we face day to day.
  • Vertex actively solicits for and responds to customer feedback on development and product roadmap suggestions. The Leasing users group is an example where Vertex takes an active role in communicating with and taking feedback from our industry.
  • Vertex tax updates are very timely and thorough, which makes the compliance process less stressful for our team.
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Cons
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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Vertex Inc.
  • Reporting: Vertex VAT Compliance is not fully ready to support all EU country's requirements.
  • Data storage.
  • Online reporting in VVC: many countries require to report VAT Declaration in an electronic way. This function is still missing for some of the countries from VVC.
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Likelihood to Renew
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
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Vertex Inc.
We are satisfied with the overall performance of Vertex. The software has provided my company with many efficiencies. We have shorted our audits and found that many audits are happy that we are using Vertex to calculate our taxes. We no longer need to worry about updating our rates each month since Vertex sends us a file to upload
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Usability
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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Vertex Inc.
We have very complicated tax rules for our business, which took some time to set up in Vertex's software, but now it is running almost perfectly smoothly, but there are still sales orders that we need to go in and check the difference in sales tax since we are using two different systems. Without being in two different systems I wouldn't see any need for manual adjustments to sales orders
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Reliability and Availability
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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Vertex Inc.
I have always felt VERTEX support was available when needed, and I have felt comfortable calling in some heavy hitters when needed
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Performance
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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Vertex Inc.
Our Vertex performance is good, although we are now experiencing Error 502 when adding additional data points to our transaction tester single tests. At Exchange, I was told to reach out to support....that most likely the On Demand system needed some additional CPU resource added. I have a currently open ticket, that has not yet been fixed on this matter
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Support Rating
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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Vertex Inc.
I cannot speak from personal experience, but our IT staff has found contacting Vertex support staff to be challenging. One coworker has gone through several support tickets because he was an unrecognized contact. He has also expressed frustration that communication with support staff is conducted solely by email, drawing out issues over an extended length of time that could be more easily resolved by a brief phone call.
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In-Person Training
Paychex, Inc.
We did online training only
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Vertex Inc.
By training I'm referring to our engagement with Vertex Consulting's professional services group. Each person on the engagement had prior leasing industry tax experience and most if not all used O Series before joining Vertex. Consultants with industry specific tax experience provide so much more than just "training". They are able to engage in deep tax technical discussions with actual experience while in private practice. This coupled with having visibility to how numerous other leasing peers approach similar tax issues is a huge plus on top of the standard training.
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Online Training
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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Vertex Inc.
Vertex has offered multiple webinars for the products we have purchased that are informative and helpful. I've also attended a few of the Vertex annual conferences where I was able to strength my knowledge of Vertex. I also found that their online library and videos can be helpful in resolving issues and answering questions.
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Implementation Rating
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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Vertex Inc.
The implementation is challenging, make no mistake but will provide much value over time. Make sure you have full support of IT and your major stakeholders in your company. I found that while many people claimed to understand tax was important, they had no idea how deep tax in entrenched throughout the lease life cycle.
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Alternatives Considered
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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Vertex Inc.
For Sales tax many years ago I had used a product called Alternadev. It probably doesn't even exist anymore. It was created in someones kitchen and there wasn't much support. Other than that for sales tax I have only used Vertex. I have used ONESOURCE but that was for property tax
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Scalability
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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Vertex Inc.
There needs to be a time-consuming setup both in the Enterprise Resource Platform and in Vertex and the related tools as well but once this is all established, Vertex is very proficient at calculating Sales and Use Tax in the USA and in Canada with GST/HST, as well as several of the provinces where we are located. As we added plants in different jurisdictions via greenfield expansion and aquisition, Vertex was able to integrate those as long as the tax department is fully informed of the system.
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Return on Investment
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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Vertex Inc.
  • We use Vertex on a monthly basis to see if tax has been over-accrued or over-charged on invoices. We do save tax every month using the tool. Not at liberty to share too much more - the technology does assist the human efforts.
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ScreenShots

Paychex Flex Screenshots

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Vertex Screenshots

Screenshot of Vertex dashboard