Paychex Flex vs Payroll City

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Our analysts compared Paychex Flex vs Payroll City based on data from our 400+ point analysis of Payroll Software, user reviews and our own crowdsourced data from our free software selection platform.

Paychex Flex Software Tool

Product Basics

Paychex Flex is a cloud-based compensation and HR solution with the capability to serve thousands of employees. While there is an essential core version that mainly handles financials, it runs a wide range of departments and tasks. Some of its functions include payment management, benefits, talent management, time clocks, attendance, workforce management and more.


It’s a scalable option with unique versions for small, medium and large businesses with different versions for groups of varying sizes, including one to nine, 10 to 49, and 50 to thousands. It also has distinct user roles for workers, managers or administrators. A winner of multiple industry awards, its automation cuts down on time doing manual operations like processing payments, auto calculating taxes and staying up to date with current rates and compliance.
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Payroll City is a comprehensive software solution designed to streamline payroll management and related tasks. It is particularly well-suited for small to medium-sized businesses seeking an efficient and reliable way to handle payroll processing, tax calculations, and compliance requirements. The software offers a range of benefits, including automated payroll calculations, direct deposit capabilities, and detailed reporting features. Users appreciate its intuitive interface and robust customer support, which make it easier to navigate complex payroll tasks.

Popular features of Payroll City include employee self-service portals, time and attendance tracking, and customizable payroll reports. These features help businesses save time and reduce errors, enhancing overall operational efficiency. Compared to similar products, Payroll City is often praised for its user-friendly design and comprehensive functionality, making it a preferred choice for many organizations.

Pricing details for Payroll City are not readily available, and it is recommended that users contact SelectHub for a personalized pricing quote based on their specific needs. This approach ensures that businesses receive a tailored solution that fits their budget and requirements.

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Product Insights

  • Better Organization: Centralize important files and payroll data in one centralized location, making it easier to access. Assign user roles through administration; organizations control the dissemination of sensitive data.
  • Greater Accuracy: Run auto calculations for taxes and direct deposit and sync the general ledger making it easy to plug the information into an integrated accounting program. Creates a streamlined, easy way to manage all of the relevant data.
  • Increased Efficiency: Save time and work by decreasing the amount of manually input data. Record attendance within the application, making payment more straightforward. Auto-calculate local, state and federal taxes saving tons of manpower and time.
  • Better Scalability: Grow the platform as the company experiences exponential growth. Go from workplaces with as few as two employees to workforces that number in the thousands. Each level comes with more functionality and increased administrative and HR control over the processes.
  • More Open Communication: Use notifications, mass emails and electronic bulletin boards to promote an easy flow of information. Communicate enrollment reminders, announcements or company news seamlessly. Ensure employees, managers, executives, contractors, remote workers and other employees are all on the same page.
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  • Save Time: Process payments faster with a straightforward system. Guarantee employee access to correct wages, without the time-consuming and error-prone manual pay distributions. 
  • Stay Compliant: Rely on automated tax deductions and garnishment to accurately manage finance. Avoid stress and costly mistakes by staying compliant with changing tax laws and requirements. 
  • Cut Labor Costs: Delegate procedures like time and attendance tracking new hire onboarding to the end-to-end platform to save money and decrease billable hours on slow-moving processes. 
  • Grow Together: Concentrate on more pressing growth operations by implementing scalable software. Evolve to meet the changing needs of employees and departments with flexible platform options and attentive support representatives. 
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  • Online Payroll: Handle payroll management. Automatically calculate taxes, payments and files. View critical data, including the cash required for upcoming paydays. Use safeguards such as notifications to prevent errors. Employees can access direct deposit and pay stub information directly. Last, administrators can access documentation and records like cash requirements, the payroll journal and tax deposit notices.
  • Tax Administration: Calculate taxes, add hours to each pay period, file returns and set up direct deposit.
  • Mobile: Access information on W-2s, direct deposit and other important information. For organizations that want to use the solution’s attendance functionality, workers can easily punch in and out on the app. Run it on smartphones and tablets with iOS or Android. It requires iOS 12.0 or higher and an Android OS of 7.0 or higher to run.
  • Reporting: Comes with over 160 dashboards and reports. Access reporting for payroll journals, department summaries, notices of tax deposits and cash requirements. For businesses looking for more robust options, look into the workforce management options.
  • Multiple Versions: Choose from a variety of purchase options to select the option that best meets business needs. The packages include:
    • Small Business Payroll: Use for businesses with under 50 workers. Use payment processing and access to the mobile app. Calculate state, federal and local taxes. Finish onboarding, complete forms, edit personal info and see compensation data. Provide direct deposit, pay cards and paper check for payment options. For businesses with multiple worker types, offer payment hourly, by salary or by contract. Provide help with labor compliance, garnishment payments, new hire reporting and over 160 reports for analytics.
    • Mid-Sized Business Payroll: Use for businesses with 10 to 49 employees. Handle applicant tracking, attendance, recruiting, onboarding, hiring, health benefits, retirement, health insurance and other similar administrative tasks. Expand the platform HR capabilities by including HR record management, an events calendar and reporting and analytics for the department.
    • Enterprise Payroll Management: Use for 50 to over 1,000 workers. Provide more robust HR abilities in addition to compensation management. Works for hiring, recruiting, training, compliance, handling offboarding, applicant tracking, time and attendance, health benefits, HR record management, an events calendar, retirement and expanded HR analytics.
  • Benefits: Complete the benefits management process. Run enrollment and analyze data. Manage group health insurance, retirement, section 125 plans, FSAs, POPs, retirement and more. Update information in real time and change benefit data easily. Give employers more control over invoices, benefit costs and bill reconciliations. Work with financial advisers and educate staff about the retirement plan offerings.
  • Compliance: Keep up with new tax laws and determine the status of essential laws like the Affordable Care Act.
  • Workplace Analytics: Analyze data and create a staff and workforce strategy. Create reports for analytics, HR, payroll and benefits. Generate customized reports for more detail. Provide accountants, financial advisors or bookkeepers with the access they need. Access the quick answers function, giving info on total earnings, net pay, tax liability and hours without pulling a full report. View live reporting to see information as it happens. Export information in various file types, including CSV, fixed-width, PDF and XLS. Send data to third-party software where users can add fields, adjust formatting or even build graphs.
  • Time and Attendance: Provide several options for tracking time and clocking in and out. It integrates with other solutions to track labor costs.
    • Time Kiosk: Allow employers to turn a tablet into a time clock where employees can punch in and out, do job transfer and register lunches and breaks.
    • TrueShift: Offer a time clock that has automated tracking and reporting, making it easy to import to payroll. Use biometric technology to prevent buddy punching. Track up to 500 workers per clock and connect to up to 32 other clocks. Punch in via web or mobile and use a backup camera to verify punches and keep compliant. It can track overtime pay and other wage requirements. Print and email timecard reports and clock in or out with a fingerprint, proximity badge, web punch or PIN entry.
    • InVision Iris Recognition Time Clock: Use iris recognition to ensure employees are working. Integrate with the rest of the HR and time and attendance. Prevent rework and cut down on errors. It works with contacts, goggles, glasses and face masks up to 15 inches away. Track up to 50,000 workers. Unlike a retinal scanner, it doesn’t store images. Instead, encrypt templates to guarantee privacy.
  • Online Learning: Use the built-in learning system. Provide eight free courses to users and customize/build current training, classes, quizzes and videos. Promote skill acquisition, up-skilling and career development. Run classes for on and offsite students. Use the calendar to schedule an in-person training, track transcripts and create content. Access the additional content libraries for purchase and provide surveys so employers can get feedback. Subjects include business, HR compliance, leadership, management, sales, software and workplace safety.
  • Payment Options: Gives options for paying employees, including same-day ACH capability, direct deposit, paper checks and pay cards.
  • Accounting: Manage payment and HR data with the accounting-specific dashboard. Access a library of resources, including tax forms and CPE courses. Import files through the general ledger service and post payroll data through the enterprise solution. Integrate with Sage Intacct, QuickBooks and Xero. Upload or download many files for one or multiple companies from one location.
  • Workers Compensation: Handle workers’ compensation covering medical expenses and lost wages while still ensuring stable cash flow. Provide insurance plans from A-rated national carriers.
  • Onboarding: Give new employees paperwork to fill out online. Customize the experience with personalized messages, welcome videos or other information about the company culture.
  • Payroll Protection: Let managers extend funds from a bank account for up to seven days without services being interrupted or charges for insufficient funds. Process two same-day ACH requests for a last-minute payroll, correcting pay or adding an employee. Help build business credit, deal with fraud, gain small business loans and more.
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  • Comprehensive Pay Management: Calculate and pay accurate wages per employee with detailed history and reporting. Account for tax deductions and filings for any state in the US. 
  • POS Compatibility: Integrate platform with many top POS systems to elevate pay management for companies in the food and service industries. Combine with Aloha, Aldelo, PCAmerica, Revention, Future POS, MicroSale, Digital DIning, POSLink, PCMX and FreeTime for complete pay and POS support. 
  • Analyze Data: Sort through data from pay history, paid time off and employee 401(k)s to run reports from within the program. Spot trends and act accordingly. Adjust tracked fields in the Small Business HRIS to see only the most critical employee data. 
  • Digital Library: Use templates for job descriptions and postings, employee handbooks, job descriptions and postings in the online HR library. Customize templates with company-specific information. 
  • Self-Service Portal: Allow new hires to complete onboarding with digital I9 and W4 filings. Enroll in benefits by using the integrated EaseCentral platform alongside your broker. 
    • Employee Records: Find and reprint past pay stubs in the employee portal for increased record keeping. 
  • Partnerships: Offer accounting professionals a competitive expansion of services instead of stealing their client base. Work with accountants in a turn-key partnership to offer behind-the-scenes office support and extend existing client services and solutions. 
  • Compliance: Avoid costly errors with automatic compliance and garnishments are reflective of changing state and federal laws. Mitigate personnel challenges with ACA and labor administration regulations. 
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Product Ranking

#6

among all
Payroll Software

#120

among all
Payroll Software

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User Sentiment Summary

Great User Sentiment 2205 reviews
Excellent User Sentiment 15 reviews
83%
of users recommend this product

Paychex Flex has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 83% when considering 2205 user reviews from 4 recognized software review sites.

95%
of users recommend this product

Payroll City has a 'excellent' User Satisfaction Rating of 95% when considering 15 user reviews from 1 recognized software review sites.

4.5 (24)
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4.2 (1114)
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4.1 (976)
4.73 (15)
3.8 (91)
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Awards

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Payroll City stands above the rest by achieving an ‘Excellent’ rating as a User Favorite.

User Favorite Award

Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

User-Friendly: Just under 50% of reviews said the user experience was good and the interface worked well.
Good Support: Around 40% had good interactions with customer service and were happy with their level of care.
Proper Functionality: One-third of reviewers felt that the system was fully equipped with the tools they needed and especially liked the efficient payroll processing, benefits management, the transparency employees had on their payments and the PTO features.
Value for Price: Around 20% of reviews felt happy with the price and said it was well worth it.
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User-Friendly Interface: Payroll City is known for its easy-to-use platform, making payroll processing smooth and straightforward.
Strong Customer Support: Users consistently praise Payroll City's responsive and knowledgeable customer support team.
Seamless Integrations: The software integrates well with popular accounting and ERP systems, ensuring data accuracy and reducing manual effort.
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Issues with Features: Just under 40% of reviewers felt the features were lacking. The biggest concerns were that the UI was difficult to learn initially and the reporting wasn’t sophisticated enough.
Time and Attendance Systems: Over 20% of users had problems with the punching system or the biometric clocks.
Poor Customer Service: While users felt that the customer service was helpful overall, they noted a high rate of turnover with their reps which often led to gaps in service.
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User-Friendly Interface: Payroll City is known for its easy-to-use platform, making payroll processing smooth and straightforward.
Strong Customer Support: Users consistently praise Payroll City's responsive and knowledgeable customer support team.
Seamless Integrations: The software integrates well with popular accounting and ERP systems, ensuring data accuracy and reducing manual effort.
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Paychex Flex is a solid payroll processing system best liked for its ease of use, positive customer service interactions, fair price and useful functionality. However, it comes with several drawbacks as well. While it’s easy to use, the onboarding takes time and can be initially frustrating. The customer service is good but the high turnover with representatives can be trying. A small but significant percentage had problems with the time and attendance features, either having issues with their punches not being registered or issues with the physical biometric clocks. Overall, it seems best for small and medium businesses looking to automate their payroll. Any organization with multiple types of workers, complex pay rules or many different kinds of income to report should be sure to demo the system carefully and may want to find a more complex option.

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Is Payroll City the key to unlocking simplified payroll management? Users seem to think so! Payroll City generally receives positive reviews, with users praising its user-friendly interface and responsive customer service. One user raved about the platform's ability to "talk" to their accounting software, highlighting the seamless integration with other systems like ERP and timekeeping, which sets it apart from competitors that suffer from data loss during transfers. This ease of use, coupled with robust features, makes handling complex payroll tasks a breeze. However, some users expressed a desire for more advanced reporting features, indicating room for improvement. A standout feature of Payroll City is its exceptional customer support. Users consistently commend the knowledgeable, friendly, and helpful staff who go above and beyond to provide solutions and address concerns. One user even exclaimed, "Ask for [rep's name], she is the best!!!", showcasing the personalized assistance provided. While a few users mentioned occasional miscommunications with customer service, these instances appear to be rare. Overall, Payroll City excels in its simplicity, making it ideal for small to medium-sized businesses seeking a reliable and efficient payroll solution. The platform's intuitive design, coupled with exceptional customer support, ensures a smooth and hassle-free payroll experience, freeing up businesses to focus on what matters most – growth and success.

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