Item: Paychex
Rating: 10
Author: Barrie Sandy

Overall Satisfaction with Paychex

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I've been Paychex Flex customer for approximately ten years and have been using Paychex Flex for managing my payroll records. I've found the technology to be simple, straightforward and efficient for my needs. My employee and bookkeeper also utilize Paychex Flex to access records, and each one has found it to be very user-friendly.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Access to quarterly payroll records for any given period
Immediate access to pay stub information for some or all of my employees
Easily provides complete payroll history of current and past employees

Cons

Perhaps a search feature in Paychex Flex that was more intuitive
Access to staff could sometimes be easier.

Return on Investment

Highly efficient which gives me great confidence in payroll reports
Considerable time savings in having all payroll reports produced in a timely manner
Employee self-service increases payroll confidence in employees

Paychex Flex Reporting

Positively - I use various reports for end of year P/L and income statements, generating quarterly reports for Work Comp audits and for miscellaneous payroll requests. Everything is at my fingertips which is a big relief when it comes to time sensitive requests for reports for work comp audits and annual payroll figures for my end of year financial reports.

Support Rating

Overall I get the help I need when I ask for it. There have been a number of times in the past where it was difficult to reach someone when I needed assistance. Overall service has been good.

Alternatives Considered

I'm unable to give you a comparison because Paychex is the only payroll service I've used since I started my business over ten years ago. I've had no reason to explore other payroll services or make a change. I trust it will remain that way for as long as I'm in business.

Key Insights

Do you think Paychex delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Paychex's feature set?

Yes

Did Paychex live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Paychex go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Paychex again?

Yes

Usability

There are three key areas I rely on, and Paychex delivers flawlessly with each one. The first area is the processing of my payroll every two weeks. I submit my payroll information and payroll is processed in a timely manner. The second key area for me are the reports I need for my annual workers compensation audits. While I dread the audit, it's very easy for me to pull the quarterly reports required by the company conducting the audit. The third key area are the payroll reports my bookkeeper needs to complete end of the year P&Ls and Income statements.

Other Software Used

Microsoft 365, Microsoft Windows, Salesforce CMS

Likelihood to Recommend

Paychex has been a good provider for processing my payroll for the past ten years. I'm comfortable with the Paychex Flex system most of the time. While there have been some challenges in getting through some issues and getting questions answered in the past, I'm very satisfied with overall service.

Paychex Feature Ratings

Relationship with Paychex, Inc.

Pre-Sale Experience

My account representative was highly knowledgeable about the Paychex services and what a new business needed to get up and running. He went above and beyond in assisting me with some non-Paychex matters and was there for me during that initial period when I was learning to maximize Paychex services.

Post-Sale Experience

While I'll be repeating myself a bit, I can't emphasize enough how helpful my account representative and payroll specialist were in getting us up and running with Paychex. Both of them were gracious in providing the timely responses needed. They were also more than helpful in providing us useful coaching in helping me and my staff navigating Paychex Flex.

Key Negotiation Points

With the Farmers Insurance Agency discount, I simply signed up for basic payroll services. My employees have always been part time so I've yet to pursue other services with Paychex.

Dealing with Paychex Inc.

Though I get everything I need from Paychex, the only thing I might suggest is an occasional phone call from my payroll specialist or someone in customer service to see how everything is going with me as a customer. I'm not looking for more sales calls, but checking in with me is a nice way to build our partnership.

Using Paychex

Users and Roles

2 - We are an insurance agency, so the sales and servicing of insurance products is our focus. Responsibilities include addressing walk-in customers, answering incoming phone calls and making outbound calls to prospects. Considerable time is spent at the computer working up quotes and researching policy issues. Changes to policies are also done along with processing customer payments.

Support Headcount Required

2 - There are only two of us currently. I am the owner of the business, so I am the one providing payroll information every two weeks while my employee uses Paychex to research and print her paystub. I also rely heavily on Paychex to obtain payroll documents for my annual workers compensation audit along with key information for my bookkeeper who prepares my P&L and income statements for my accountant.

Business Processes Supported

Processing payroll every two weeks
Providing quarterly payroll documents for my work comp audits
Providing annual payroll information for my bookkeeper who creates my P&L and income statements

Innovative Uses

Tracking PTO hours
Being kept informed of legislative changes impacting payroll

Future Planned Uses

Retirement programs

Likelihood to Renew

Provides the services I need with technology that is user friendly and highly reliable. I've had a number of payroll specialists assigned to my business and most have been very responsive. Another feature I'm impressed with is getting a response from Paychex when I reach out to my payroll specialist after hours. I will sometimes provide my payroll information in the late afternoon or evening hours and there's almost always someone sending me an email stating my payroll has been processed.

Evaluating Paychex and Competitors

Products Replaced

Key Differentiators

Scalability
Ease of Use
Other

I started with Paychex when I started my business over ten years ago. I remember the account representative I worked with was highly knowledgeable and extremely helpful in getting me started. He actually went above and beyond with some of the services he provided. I found the technology to be very straightforward which didn't require a lot of time I did not have learning a new system. Last, but not least, I receive a discount because of my association with Farmers Insurance. That discount is what got me to look at Paychex initially.

Evaluation Lessons Learned

I suppose I could have taken time to research more payroll services, but I was spending time getting a new business off the ground. That effort is a long list of tasks such as finding an office location, recruiting employees, obtaining office furniture, getting a sign in place and purchasing all of the technology required. This is in addition to marketing my new business and finding new customers.

Paychex Support

Paychex Customer Support Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Quick Resolution Good followup Knowledgeable team Problems get solved Kept well informed No escalation required Immediate help available Support understands my problem Support cares about my success Quick Initial Response	None

Premium Support

I signed up for the basic support and haven't found that I needed an additional level of support in the ten plus years I've been a Paychex customer. Responses to any questions or issues have been timely. If I had a complex issue that needed a higher level of support, I suppose I would look at the premium support package.

Bug Resolution

Exceptional Examples of Paychex Support

There have been several instances where I was not able to report my payroll in time to get it processed for an electronic deposit. This is not good when its a late Friday afternoon and employees are saying they don't see a deposit in their bank account. In a near panic, I've contacted my payroll specialist who was able to provide me the amount to be paid so I could issue checks to my employees in time for them to deposit in their bank accounts.