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Optimum Solutions HRIS (discontinued) vs. Patriot Payroll

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Optimum Solutions HRIS (discontinued)

    Score9 out of 10
    Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
    Optimum Solutions, Inc. was a software development company providing Payroll, Human Resources, and Time & Attendance software for both the IBM iSeries (AS/400) and Microsoft Windows platforms or in the cloud. In October 2019 they were acquired by Kronos, Inc (now UKG after merging with Ultimate Software). Former Optimum products are now supported by Kronos / UKG, and are no longer sold available for sale.N/A

    Patriot Payroll

    Score9.7 out of 10
    N/APatriot Software headquartered in Canton, Ohio offers Patriot PAY, their benefits administration and payroll software.

    $17

    per month

    Pricing
    Optimum Solutions HRIS (discontinued)Patriot Payroll
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Basic Payroll
    $17/mo + $4 per employee/contractor
    Accounting Basic
    $20/mo (unlimited use)
    Accounting Premium
    $30/mo (unlimited use)
    Full Service Payroll
    $37/mo + $4 per employee/contractor
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Optimum Solutions HRIS (discontinued)Patriot Payroll
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeRequiredNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsPatriot Software has two payroll options to choose from: Basic Payroll, and Full Service payroll software. Both start with a simple three-step payroll process. With the Full Service Payroll, Patriot will collect, deposit, and file federal, state, and local payroll taxes on the customer's behalf; end-of-the-year payroll tax filing is included at no extra charge. Print W2s on 8 x 1/2 x 11 plain white office paper to hand to employees, or post to the free employee portal. Also, Patriot Software offers free direct deposit.
    More Pricing Information
    Features
    Optimum Solutions HRIS (discontinued)Patriot Payroll
    Payroll Management
    Comparison of Payroll Management features of Optimum Solutions HRIS (discontinued) and Patriot Payroll
    Feature
    Optimum Solutions HRIS (discontinued)
    7.5
    1 Ratings
    9% below category average
    Patriot Payroll
    8.3
    15 Ratings
    1% above category average
    Pay calculation9.11 Ratings9.515 Ratings
    Benefit plan administration5.51 Ratings6.03 Ratings
    Direct deposit files9.11 Ratings9.211 Ratings
    Salary revision and increment management6.41 Ratings8.213 Ratings
    Support for external payroll vendors00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Off-cycle/On-Demand payment00 Ratings8.75 Ratings
    Reimbursement management00 Ratings6.36 Ratings
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    User Ratings
    Optimum Solutions HRIS (discontinued)Patriot Payroll
    Likelihood to Recommend
    10.0
    (3 ratings)
    9.7
    (20 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Usability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.3
    (10 ratings)
    Support Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.7
    (10 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Optimum Solutions HRIS (discontinued)Patriot Payroll
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Discontinued Products
    Optimum Solutions works very well for all our payroll needs. We run payrolls weekly, semi-monthly, monthly and yearly. The end of year process is lined out very well and webinars are available to go over any new regulations required. We haven't utilized the HR part of the software as much on the iSeries but are planning on changing that once we get converted to the Windows version later this year. The main reason for this is the HR part of the software on the iSeries is separate from payroll.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Patriot Software
    Patriot PAY is well-suited to a company that has a 10-day window between the end of the pay period and the payday. The company size makes very little difference and it is easy to use for any company. It is also very progressive in development and improvement. If a company has a small window for turn-around, but fairly consistent payroll amounts (such as a lot of salary workers), Patriot PAY might also be a good fit for them.

    Companies with tight turn-around times or payrolls that vary significantly in direct deposit amounts might have difficulty using Patriot PAY.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Discontinued Products
    • The setup of Optimum HRIS was intense as the software comes as a basic shell and everything is personalized to our organization. All earnings codes, leave time, employee types, job codes, taxes, etc. are set up for each company. While this was almost overwhelming at the beginning, we have so much control over the set up and better grasp of the inner workings of the system.
    • Tax updates come quickly and are easily applied. This is especially welcome at year end.
    • The built-in reporting is robust and offers a lot of options, but the ability to dig in to the database using SQL and Excel allows for very powerful reports that are infinitely personalized.
    Read full review
    Patriot Software
    • It is simple, intuitive and straightforward in its design. Someone with little experience with roles in human resources roles, bookkeeping or payroll can quickly learn how to set-up the software and run payroll regularly by reading through the support portion of the site, or by contacting the helpful staff at Patriot. Patriot staff have walked me through issues or guided me on the phone as I learned how to use a function of the software.
    • Patriot provides comprehensive quarterly tax filing records, including 941s, state unemployment compensation tax payments, state employer's tax and local employer's tax filings. You can also generate payroll or tax deposit reports over a specific time period or per employee.
    • The support and FAQ pages available on Patriot are very practical and written in an easy to understand manner. Using the information provided there, I was able to properly set up new employees according to local and state filing requirements.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Discontinued Products
    • When exporting reports to Excel I found the formatting to be difficult to work with and having to reformat the reports can be a nightmare. My company's IT department created its own business tools to make the reporting format more user friendly.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Patriot Software
    • Connecting with outside software - we have an issue of Patriot not recognizing donors when connected to other websites when all the information is the same minus a middle initial
    • Giving an error page when something small is off. Instead of giving an easy to fix error notification, Patriot brings the user to an error page and they have to reenter everything.
    • Fixing dates easily. If a date is entered incorrectly, 8/13/21 instead of 2021, an error pop up appears but the user has to click enter/okay many times or refresh the page in order to fix this issue.
    • Enter vs Tab key - Patriot loves the tab key but if the user clicks enter instead, many times it brings them to the home page.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Patriot Software
    It works well because it is cheap for us.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Patriot Software
    I think it is great once things are setup as for general user looking to look for simple things like a copy of a paystub or a current pay rate for an employee. However, to find specialized things like a state withholding number or payroll integration settings those do require a bit more digging to find or possibly a call to customer service for help.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Patriot Software
    Generally speaking it is pretty good that when I need to call somebody up for a payroll question I can generally within five minutes get somebody on the phone and they can help me resolve the problem or specify where specifically I need to go or contact to find my answers. However, that being said, for my specific situation as a partner my assigned contact has not always been very responsive.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Discontinued Products
    We evaluated some payroll services but found the ongoing cost greater than the initial cost of purchasing our own software and keeping the payroll process in house. Other payroll software was generally more expensive and we are satisfied with Optimum Solutions. I would say the main reason we stayed with Optimum Solutions, converting from their iSeries version to their Windows version, was because of their outstanding staff and support.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Patriot Software
    I briefly used Intuit Online Payroll, and it was expensive, had no support, and was very frustrating to use. I also used 3 local tax companies for payroll - they were extremely expensive and messed up all of the time. Their employee turnover was very annoying (and it seemed to happen every other month) and each employee did things differently. When I let one of my employees go, the last company paid them after termination (2 weeks of salary), and had to get into a legal battle because the employee would not give the money back.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Discontinued Products
    • More accurate payroll processing
    • More accurate tax payments and reporting
    Read full review
    Patriot Software
    • It boosts my time available for client-facing activities by not having to spend as much time processing payroll.
    • It helps me deliver accurate reports to my CPA at tax time regarding employee wages and employer taxes.
    • Through the online portal, I can easily track year-to-date taxes my company has paid.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Optimum Solutions HRIS (discontinued) Screenshots

    Screenshot of Main Employee Screen

    Patriot Payroll Screenshots

    Screenshot of the 3-step process to carry out payrollScreenshot of the Payroll interface, which can be used run payroll on any device with internet or data connection. There is no need to download and maintain a separate payroll app.Screenshot of a payroll report, to sort by work location, employee, and date range.