Are You Paying Too Much for Your Payroll Provider?
With so many payroll companies to choose from, finding a payroll solution for your company can be a challenge. Especially if you’re a startup or small company. You want a payroll solution to meet your current needs, but you might also want software capable of scaling as you grow.
Have you noticed that it’s very hard to find actual pricing online directly from the different payroll providers?
Price is almost always going to be a major deciding factor when choosing a payroll solution.
Unfortunately, pricing is never straight forward when it comes to payroll. Some companies charge per employee while others charge per employee per pay run. Other costs might include monthly admin fees or an initial set up cost.
Finding the right pricing model will come down to three primary criteria:
Let’s look at the pricing of each of the five companies and then discuss which one you might want to consider based on the aforementioned criteria.
Pricing Model: Charged per payroll run
Cost: Approx. $8.00 – $20.00 per employee per payroll run
ADP charges per payday run and pricing can be negotiated prior to signing up. A representative will
usually assess your companies needs and come up with a suitable pricing structure for you. ADP has
many different packages and pricing structures. The more employees you have, the lower the price per
employee with ADP. A company with 75 employees being paid bi-weekly, may be able to pay around $10
– $12 per employee per payroll run.
ADP can offer extreme discounts, which is why there is such a large difference in pricing. They also can
be very competitive in certain industries and are willing to lower their pricing to compete with an
existing payroll provider.
Pricing Model: Charged per payroll run
Cost: Approx. $6.00 – $12.00 per employee per payroll run
Like ADP, Paychex charges per payroll run. Paychex is slightly cheaper than ADP but there is a $200 initial set up fee. Depending on your circumstances, you can negotiate to have the setup fee reduced or even waived. There are also extra charges for filing W-2s and 1099s. Paychex will also be willing to negotiate if they are up against another competitor.
Pricing Model: Charged per pay payroll
Cost: Approx. $5.00 – $18.00 per employee per payroll run
Heartland can be slightly cheaper than both Paychex and ADP in the right circumstance. Heartland also comes with setup fees which can be reduced or waived with proper negotiations. Heartland usually charges around $5 per employee for annual W-2’s and 1099’s, with a base fee of around $55.
Heartland is willing to reduce the fees, the more employees you have.
Pricing Model: Charged per pay payroll & separate monthly fees
Cost: Approx. $5.00 – $18.00 per employee per payroll run
Paylocity can be slightly cheaper than both Paychex and ADP in the right circumstance. It is comparable with Heartland. Paylocity also comes with setup fees which can range from $500 or more depending on how many services (Payroll, Tim-Off Accrual, Time Clock) are being setup for your company. These fees can be reduced or waived with proper negotiations. Paylocity usually charges around $7 per employee for annual W-2’s and 1099’s, with a base fee of around $50.
Paylocity is willing to reduce the fees, including setup fees, with the more employees you have.
Entry Package: Core
Pricing Model: Per employee
Cost: $6 per employee per month + $39 per month admin fee
Gusto offers the simplest pricing model. Although you have an additional $39 charge, everything is included and there is no additional cost for W-2 and 1099 filings. If you pay your employees weekly,
Gusto will obviously work out significantly cheaper as the monthly fee is fixed and not attached to payday runs like ADP, Paychex, Paylocity or Heartland.
However, Gusto is very self-service oriented and does not have the same level of features and integrations that may be needed for a company over a certain size, depending on how often the payroll is run. We personally don’t recommend Gusto for companies with more than 20 employees.
As a broker, we are paid a fixed commission by the insurance company to manage your benefits. We believe current brokers are getting paid too much for too little work.
We never charge you more than what you are currently paying. This is guaranteed.