Item: Paychex Flex
Rating: 9
Author: Beth Baker

Overall Satisfaction with Paychex Flex

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use it for our payroll service and also our retirement account is now set up through Paychex as well. We do use it in multiple locations for time and attendance. Its great that the time and attendance offers a geo option to ensure that employees are clocking in at the locations and the times that are allotted to them.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Time and attendance
Our account rep is great at handling the issues and questions that I have
Fairly simple to use
great access to reporting

Cons

the vacation time justification could be a little more user friendly

Return on Investment

love that they have to clock in and out on the app, only an issue if they do not have a phone. But overall love it.
trying to get employees to onboard themselves however some don't understand how to do it. But I love the concept
When used correctly by employees, Payroll is very fast and efficient.

Paychex Flex Reporting

Positively - There is such a wide variety of reporting available. I have made customs to use for employee raise evals, I have used them for statistics reporting. Not to mention my regular accounting reporting. Most reports are easy to create and load quickly. As I get more comfortable with the program, I am hoping to be able to utilize the reporting feature more.

Support Rating

Our rep is always very helpful. Hard to get on the phone, but I get an email usually within a few hours. If there is something that I need help with that cannot wait, I will call customer service, they are always helpful and more than willing to help me and explain what they are doing so that if that same issue happens in the future, I can address it myself.

Alternatives Considered

ADP GlobalView Payroll

They used ADP before I started, but the previous office manager did tell me that Paychex was more streamlined, more user friendly, and she loved the features that Paychex had to offer over ADP. I will say in my experience, that customer service is a lot quicker with Paychex.

Key Insights

Do you think Paychex Flex delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Paychex Flex's feature set?

Yes

Did Paychex Flex live up to sales and marketing promises?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of Paychex Flex go as expected?

I wasn't involved with the implementation phase

Would you buy Paychex Flex again?

Yes

Usability

I think that for the most part it is user friendly, the reason for the 8 rating, is I still feel as though some things could be streamlined on the app for employees. There seem to be some glitches that occur where they have issues clocking in or out due to errors on the Paychex end. Also I would suggest more in depth training for the primary users in office. I started with our company 2 months after Paychex Flex was implemented, although I did receive training through one of your members, I feel as though it was very very basic and did not touch on everything. Overall though very happy with Paychex Flex

Other Software Used

QuickBooks Desktop Premier

Likelihood to Recommend

We use it in multiple locations based on my experience starting with zero training it was pretty easy. I would suggest more detailed training for new users for multiple areas of Paychex Flex

Paychex Flex Feature Ratings

Relationship with Paychex, Inc.

Pre-Sale Experience

This was implemented a few months before I started. I will say that my account manager is great and easy to work with. Also Mollie was the person that set everything up with our account and got us started with Paychex. I have had to reach out to her for a few things and she is always more then helpful.

Post-Sale Experience

I have had no issues getting help with Flex, reports or anything along those lines. I will say that we recently implemented a retirement plan through Paychex with Fidelity and that was a nightmare. But overall very satisfied with everything.

Key Negotiation Points

discount for multiple entities. unlimited reporting. I honestly am not sure of the other terms because it was set up by the previous office manager.

Dealing with Paychex, Inc.

I overall have been extremely satisfied with every aspect with the exception of the implementation of the retirement plan.

Using Paychex Flex

Users and Roles

1 - As the Office Manager I submit payroll and correct clock in and clock outs for our entities. I would like to implement certain functions that the location managers can use to fix missed punches and verify clock in and clock out times. The majority of my employees use the Flex AP to clock in and clock out for their daily shifts.

Support Headcount Required

1 - As the Office Manager, everyone comes to me. However if I have issues I do have my Account Manager at Paychex that I can email for questions or concerns. I have run into issues in the past where I needed an answer rather quickly I have called customer support. They have always been extremely helpful and have resolved almost all of my issues on that call.

Business Processes Supported

Employee clock in and clock out
keep track of vacation time
calculate hours for payroll
keep track of holidays worked for holiday pay rate

Innovative Uses

compile special reports for annual pay raise reviews
love the report feature

Future Planned Uses

give more permissions to location managers to allow them the ability to fix employee time errors
to send out mass emails

Likelihood to Renew

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!

Evaluating Paychex Flex and Competitors

Products Replaced

Yes - ADP was used previously. Paychex offered better options and support solutions. Overall it was a better fit for our company. We have multiple locations and several entities that are involved and it really streamlined the process.

Key Differentiators

Scalability
Ease of Use
Other

Ease of use, employee time and attendance , and overall customer service were definitely the top of the list in determining the change from ADP to Paychex

Evaluation Lessons Learned

Overall I am happy with the change.

Paychex Flex Implementation

Implementation Rating

Just take your time to learn the system, and do not be afraid to reach out to your account manager for help. There may be different ways to access the same information, you will find the way that best suits you and what you are comfortable with .

Implementation Details / Implementation Partner

Implemented in-house

Implementation Phases

Change Management Lessons

Change management was a big part of the implementation and was well-handled - Everyone learns in different ways, so you have to be able to explain implementation in different ways. Written, verbal, and hands on. Also most people do not easily adapt to change. Using a new system can be intimidating to some.

Implementation Issues

People learning the new system
Making mistakes and fixing them
getting everyone on board when initiating the new system

Paychex Flex Training

Training Types Used

Online Training

In-Person Training

Online Training

I got the basics of how to submit a payroll and also how to onboard with only basic information.

Configuring Paychex Flex

Product Configurability

There is a lot that I do not know how to do, however if I knew how to do it, it would be easy. I am not sure if that makes sense or not.

UI Customization

Some - we have done small customizations to the interface - I made the grids more custom to our business. It was easy once I learned how to do it.

Extensibility and Customization

No - we have not done any custom code

Paychex Flex Support

Paychex Flex Customer Support Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Quick Resolution Good followup Knowledgeable team Problems get solved No escalation required Immediate help available Support understands my problem Quick Initial Response	Not kept informed

Premium Support

I believe that we have premium. I actually did not make the purchase, it was the office manager before me. I will say that I love that I can call with any questions big or small. Also it is great to be able to access any reports and not have to pay each time which I believe is one of the premium benefits.

Bug Resolution

Yes - After Flex did an update, my employees were unable to access TAA on their mobile devices. They had to uninstall and re-install it in order for it to start working again. We also had an issue for some people that were trying to access W2's that was also resolved quickly.

Exceptional Examples of Paychex Flex Support

Just last week, I had a manual check entry for payroll that did not get posted, as soon as I got the stubs the next day and realized what happened, I called customer support. Norm actually took my call and calmed me down, I was so worried that this employee was not going to get paid on time. He helped me, got her hours and re-ran her check for payroll so that she would get paid in time. Norm in customer service saved the day!!

Using Paychex Flex

Usability Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Like to use Relatively simple Easy to use Well integrated Consistent Quick to learn Convenient	Requires technical support Lots to learn

Easy Tasks

reports
payroll
TAA

Difficult Tasks

TAA for some employees
knowing what report to use regarding the data that is needed
Geo locations

Mobile Interface Availability and Impressions

Yes - I really don't use it much, But I love the flexibility of being able to access Flex from my personal computer. Last August I did payroll while sitting at the beach on vacation.

Comments

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