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Here are the best payroll services your small business can benefit from. Unsplash (CC0)

Should you invest in a payroll service for your small business? For some business owners, doing things the traditional way still seems like the better option. However, you can benefit a lot from a good payroll service like OnPay, actiTime, ZarMoney and Gusto.

The importance of payroll software

Doing the payroll is not a simple task. As it involves money, it requires time, training and accuracy to avoid any errors. A previous study conducted by the National Small Business Association found that more than half of business owners who opted to handle payroll internally spent at least three to five hours per month on administrating payroll taxes alone.

As an essential part of any business, it is a must to have a good payroll system in place to accurately keep track of everything and get everyone properly compensated.

This is where payroll software services come in. A modern necessity for any business big enough to have its own staff, payroll software services help automate all the necessary requirements to avoid any headaches every pay period.

With an intuitive and efficient payroll system in place, any small business owner can:

  • Keep track of their employee’s tax information
  • Help employees view their benefits
  • Track attendance information and paid time-off
  • Take care of special payment circumstances legally
  • Keep track of quarterly/monthly/annual reports

So if you’re a small business owner and you want to maximize your time, streamlining and delegating tasks is the way to go. Start with adopting a payroll software service for your business.

Quality payroll service without the premium cost

There may be a lot of available payroll software services and choosing one can be quite tricky. But what makes some stand out are great pricing and extra features. Here are our top choices:

1. OnPay

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OnPay offers one of the most affordable pricing plans for payroll services that small businesses can benefit from. onpay.com

As The Blueprint's number one choice for payroll services in the small business sector, OnPay checks all the critical boxes of what these businesses need. You’d be hard pressed to find a much better service that offers more features at the same price.

Optimized for small businesses and ease of use, OnPay offers a one service plan for all of its users, charging a very affordable $36 base fee and then a $4 charge for each employee. This base fee remains the same all throughout, which means you’ll know upon sign-up exactly how much you’ll be paying each month and this will only change if you remove or add an employee.

Another OnPay benefit is that the first month service is free. You can sign up and try using it for a month to check if you like it. If it doesn’t, you can easily cancel without any penalties.

OnPay shines against the competition thanks to its impressive list of features, which include:

  • Payroll processing
  • Unlimited payroll runs
  • Payroll deductions
  • Multiple payment options
  • Taxes
  • Employee self-service
  • Paid time-offs
  • Multistate payroll
  • New-hire reporting

In addition, OnPay offers a variety of HR tools, an online HR library, employee benefits, workers’ compensation insurance and even retirement savings plans. It also integrates with popular programs and services that many businesses use. It helps you save time and resources.

OnPay also offers superb customer service and a fantastic user dashboard that is both intuitive and easy to use. Learn more about OnPay and its offerings by clicking here.

2. actiTIME

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actiTIME is an excellent time tracking and recording tool for small businesses. actitime.com

If your small business is data-driven, then actiTIME is a fantastic choice. Made by Canadian company, Actimind and operating as the ultimate time-tracking software, actiTIME is ideal for businesses of all types and sizes, but its time tracking features are especially helpful for small companies.

As for its payroll services, actiTIME lets you keep track of every project cost, based on the hourly pay rates of your employees. From here, you can easily run detailed reports to automate payroll and have everyone paid. Since you have all of the available data, you can easily use the software’s templates to create invoices, billings etc.

One other feature is that it lets you review your billable vs. non-billable hours, letting you assess the overall profitability of a project to maximize costs and resources. While not as automated as other payroll services, actiTIME’s intuitive time and data-tracking feature is perfect for data-driven companies that employ contractors and freelancers.

This data accounting feature is also useful for bigger companies with a larger workforce, as keeping track of all available data and presenting these in a simple format can save a lot of time.

As for pricing, actiTIMe offers one of the lowest in the industry:

  • $6 per user/monthly (1-40 users)
  • $5 per user/monthly (41-200 users)
  • Fixed cost/monthly (200+ to unlimited users)

All pricing plans are billed annually, but there’s also a free version if you want to test the waters first and check if the service is right for you. Simply visit actiTIME by clicking here.

3. ZarMoney

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If your small business is growing, then ZarMoney's accounting and payroll services can be of great help. zarmoney.com

If your small business is experiencing exponential growth, then you’d benefit from a service like ZarMoney. Founded in Los Angeles to give businesses streamlined and inexpensive accounting software tools, ZarMoney is well-regarded and known for its collaboration, productivity and inventory features.

Its billing and inventory features stand out as great options for small businesses. Offering easy system navigation, ZarMoney lets you print, fax or email invoices to customers and employees. Its invoice customization is worth noting since you can adjust your payment and payroll terms, take credit cards over the internet, create and enforce limits and so much more.

When it comes to pricing, you can avail of ZarMoney's services for only $20 a month for small businesses and $350 a month for enterprises. Aside from its accounting features, these pricing plans include all of its offerings, like its fantastic productivity tools, bookkeeping, inventory management, app integrations and excellent customer support.

Learn more about ZarMoney by clicking here.

4. Gusto

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While young, Gusto offers a set of comprehensive payroll and HR tools and services. gusto.com

Despite being relatively new in the industry, Gusto stands out in a number of ways. Presenting itself as a comprehensive payroll solution, Gusto will provide you with a solid set of tried-and-tested payroll tools as well as handle your HR-related needs.

Operating as a cloud-hosted, all-purpose solution that you can use as a payroll software or an HR solution as well, Gusto's features include:

  • Automated payroll processing
  • Multiple payment options
  • Payroll taxes
  • Year-end forms
  • Employee types
  • Paid time-offs
  • Software and app integration
  • New-hire reporting
  • Full-fledged human resource services

Other features include health savings and flexible spending accounts, 401(k) retirement plans, 529 college savings plans, health benefits, workers’ compensation insurance and commuter benefits.

Part of Gusto’s appeal is its ease of use, requiring you to neither install nor maintain any special software. Instead, the software can be accessed from any web browser and provides an interface where everything is laid out properly. It also has great customer support whether via call, chat or email.

Gusto offers four pricing plans:

  • Core - base fee of $39 per month, plus $6 for every employee
  • Complete - base fee of $39 per month, plus $12 per employee
  • Concierge - base fee of $149 per month, plus $12 per employee
  • Contractor-only plan - no base fee, $6 per contractor

Each plan has its own set of features and you can switch plans anytime. Another great thing about Gusto is that you only pay month to month. There are also no setup fees nor cancellation penalties, making it another great payroll option for any small business.

You may click here to learn more about Gusto.