Paychex vs. Toast Payroll & Team Management

It's better for larger businesses (50+) with various types of pay structures. Employees need to be comfortable with technology to take advantage of the self-service features. I've struggled with the default in the state tax section; extra steps must be taken when an employee lives in a different state than they work, and we don't know where they live until after completing their profile. So we have to go into the system and make the corrections, then notify the employee to go in and complete the state-specific withholding forms and follow up to confirm they do so.

Incentivized

Toast Payroll and Team Management is great for people in the restaurant business that have trouble keeping record of tips and splitting tips among several employees. Restaurant business can also print reports by category to see earnings by type of employee. The software is niched to mainly restaurants, so any other industry would typically not use Toast Payroll.

Incentivized

• It provides a well account of Retirement Plan Account Information.
• Alerts are sent to email when there is new information to access.
• Employee access both online and thru app.
• Paperless options.
• Easy and quick access to paystubs and tax forms.
• Easy employee retirement management.

Incentivized

• HR Services. StratEx provides you a dedicated HR Services Account Manager. This person not only knows the intricacies of the HR software, but also supports all HR functions within the organization. Our StratEx HR Services Manager stays up-to-date on all laws and governmental guidance and provides support across our multi-location workforce.
• Sales Experience. We sat through several proposals and demos from lots of companies (including the big players, like ADP, Ultimate, and Ceridian) and all of them were just completely useless. We often left with more questions than we had and we could get no answers--just the same corporate jargon. StratEx offered a different experience. A quick introductory call before we even started looking, and a low-pressure, friendly conversation where they really discovered who we are as a company and then proposed how they could meet our needs.
• Software support. From the very beginning, the software support was out of this world. During implementation, I could pick up the phone and call one of two people who I had started building a relationship with. They knew me, our account, our practices --- everything. They waited until I told them I was ready to move to General Support. General Support isn't a bad thing! Our dedicated team of two specialized in implementation and they were released to go work on the next client. General Support is a dedicated group of three or four people who also know me and our practices. They are available when I need them to support any issues or changes that come up. StratEx's support is fantastic.

Incentivized

• When it comes to audit reports, Paychex Flex could improve on helping clients locate the correct reports for audit purposes more easily
• When a client receives a discount, it would be helpful if the discount were automatically provided each year, or if the Paychex rep proactively reached out to the client first, versus the client having to call and request that the discount continue.
• It would be helpful if the invoice was emailed to the client versus the client logging in to access invoices.

Incentivized

• Fees
• Accounting integration and syncing

Incentivized

there are a lot of competitors on the market such as BambooHR and Insperity. Paychex need to make significant improvement on their offline customer service in order to compete with the other guys. Everything is online now and timely response to customer's questions is vital. Customers won't enjoy being put on hold for 45 mins every time they have a question regarding their HSA problems

Incentivized

Some things could be streamlined. For example, we could do custom options for the "add items" tab which has so many options that we never use. "Medical Pay" could be something that the system remembers for the applicable employees. Salaried employees' salaries should definitely be auto-filled. Overall the system works well but I think it could be improved to be easier to use and read.

Incentivized

We have not experienced any difficulties with unplanned outages. Notifications are always made for outages, and they do not effect normal business operations.

Incentivized

Unless there is lag time within the internet, the Paychex Flex website loads exceptional fast, pages load quickly and reports that I need to print or download load quickly. If I need to create a specialized report, once I complete it I receive an e-mail telling me my report is ready to be downloaded. Changing between web pages is fast as well.

Incentivized

Neil Williams makes this entire system work - without our direct contact with our professional advisor - this would be just like any other platform and the relationship would not have the dimension that is has. Using chat or phone support with a new person every time you need support wastes time, as generally the person you are talking to does not have an intimate knowledge of our company. By having an assigned professional representative that knows our companies, this provides a level of confidence of caring coming from the Paychex side.

Incentivized

We did online training only

Incentivized

It was easy to understand and follow along. I do like the informational videos that we can utilize before we opt to call in for customer service support. It has made a difference since sometimes that resolves the issue I may have had and saved myself a phone call to Paychex support.

Incentivized

Implementation was very smooth. The most cumbersome task was entering the current employees into the system during initial set up, but Paychex staff handled most of that and verified against prior system reports as well as internal reports provided to ensure 100% accuracy.

Incentivized

In addition to the ones listed above, we also used BenePay, a local payroll company. We found Paychex Flex priced in the middle, with ADP the most expensive and too complicated, with many features that were unnecessary for us. We found that Paychex Flex's features and reporting to be sized right for our size (around 30 employees). Paychex Flex also offered a very reasonable service to apply for the ERTC

Incentivized

Without a doubt, StratEx wins. Against all the major players in the HRS/HRIS industry, StratEx's biggest win is cost, both implementation and ongoing costs. The other's we evaluated offered tons of flashy things that most companies don't really need. When it was all said it done, we looked at what we needed and what we will need and determined that there is no reason to pay for a "big" brand name and be a small fish in their large ponds. I cannot imagine there is a company that would need anything StratEx doesn't offer. And, when it came down to it, all the major players came down from their original proposals by $100,000 or more to be more competitive with StratEx and we still went with StratEx. They've kept every promise, they've always been available, and they know where they are going as a company.

Incentivized

Employees can log in at home and get up to date information on their FSA balance and any medical bill reimbursements they may have uploaded. At renewal time they have the ability to make changes to their FSA or for new employees star the enrollment.

Incentivized

• With Paychex Flex we have been able to improve our compliance with required documentation for new/rehires
• Moving everyone to direct deposit and mobile clock in/out eliminated lines at punching stations and paycheck pickup stations
• Lost checks is a thing of the past

Incentivized

• It has streamlined our expense reporting & reimbursement process and has saved us time & money by saving us time.
• It has streamlined our health care benefits administration and renewals.
• It has streamlined our PTO process - calculations are much easier and faster to do now.

Incentivized