Paychex Flex vs Wagepoint

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Our analysts compared Paychex Flex vs Wagepoint 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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Wagepoint is a comprehensive payroll software designed to streamline the payroll process for small to medium-sized businesses. This software is particularly well-suited for business owners who seek an efficient, user-friendly solution for managing payroll tasks, including the calculation of wages, tax withholdings, and the distribution of employee pay. One of the key benefits of Wagepoint is its ability to automate many of the tedious aspects of payroll, which can save businesses considerable time and reduce the risk of errors. Among its popular features are direct deposit payments, tax filing assistance, and detailed payroll reports, which collectively enhance the payroll management experience. When compared to similar products, users often highlight Wagepoint's simplicity, reliability, and excellent customer support. Pricing for Wagepoint is typically structured on a per payroll basis, with costs varying depending on the number of employees and the frequency of payroll runs, making it a flexible option for businesses with varying payroll needs.

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$39 Monthly
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$24 Monthly
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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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  • Improves Communication: It takes fewer conversations to access important tax info. Users can download W2s, 1099s, pay stubs and other forms.
  • Saves Time: Accounting, administrative and executive staff can get information from one source rather than tracking down data from individual spreadsheets.
  • Provides Peace of Mind: It can automatically calculate and send taxes to keep up with local and federal regulations.
  • Fewer Late Fees: The fully automated processes can cut down on fines, reconciliations and other penalties.
  • Less Administrative Work: It lets executive, administrative or accounting staff skip menial data entry. This allows for more time to analyze overall company trends.
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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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  • Payroll Capabilities: It can pay multiple groups simultaneously, including salaried, hourly or contracted workers. Users can add multiple pay groups for multiple schedules. It also calculates the gross-to-net amount when given the gross pay.
  • Mobile App: Employers and employees can conduct transactions, answer messages and more through the mobile app.
  • Auto-Approve: Pre-established payments are auto-approved. This can calculate taxes, workers’ compensation and more.
  • Security: It’s hosted through the Amazon Web Services cloud and supports international expansion. The connection is secure with a 256-bit SSL encryption.
  • Integrations: It integrates with accounting, HR and other team management solutions including QuickBooks, LessAccounting, T-Sheets, Slack, Deputy and more.
  • Direct Deposit: It can approve direct deposits four days prior to the pay date. Funds get deposited in the company’s bank account and debited to all employees and contractors.
  • Taxes: The platform can auto-calculate, pay and pull reports for the IRS. At the end of the year, it will populate info to W2s and 1099s and submit them by January 31st. Staff can then view and print the documents.
  • Deductions: It can automatically calculate the pay and tax ramifications for deductions on employee paychecks including 401K contributions, parking and health care.
  • New Hires: The solution reports new hires to the state directory, according to state and federal laws. It can automatically send the documents.
  • Other Income: It can add income and account for the tax ramifications such as commissions, bonuses, overtime/holiday pay or expenses.
  • Workers’ Compensation: It offers pay-as-you-go workers’ compensation called E-Comp. It has no deposit or down payment, and it bases premiums on the actual payment amounts rather than the estimated amount.
  • Attendance Tracker: Track is an add-on that tracks attendance. It's made by the same company and lets users clock-in and out, review and approve time, send reminders, track overtime and more. It gets transferred back to the main solution to calculate payment.
  • Time-Off Manager: Luna is an add-on made by the same company. Users can request time off, approve requests, look at a responsive calendar for upcoming employee vacation and more. This information is then ported to the main solution.
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Product Ranking

#6

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Payroll Software

#28

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Payroll Software

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User Sentiment Summary

Great User Sentiment 2205 reviews
Excellent User Sentiment 433 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.

93%
of users recommend this product

Wagepoint has a 'excellent' User Satisfaction Rating of 93% when considering 433 user reviews from 5 recognized software review sites.

4.5 (24)
4.6 (11)
4.2 (1114)
4.6 (43)
4.1 (976)
4.64 (210)
n/a
4.7 (168)
3.8 (91)
4.0 (1)

Awards

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Wagepoint 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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Easy to Use: Users praise Wagepoint for its intuitive design and ease of use, making payroll processing straightforward even for those without prior experience.
Excellent Customer Support: Users consistently highlight the exceptional customer support provided by Wagepoint, with knowledgeable and responsive representatives readily available to assist with any questions or issues.
Accurate and Reliable: Wagepoint is known for its accuracy in calculating payroll and taxes, providing peace of mind to businesses that their employees are being paid correctly.
Time-Saving: Wagepoint automates many payroll tasks, such as tax calculations and filings, freeing up valuable time for business owners and HR professionals.
Comprehensive Features: Wagepoint offers a wide range of features, including direct deposit, employee self-service, and reporting capabilities, catering to the diverse needs of businesses.
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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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Customer Support Challenges: Users have reported difficulties reaching customer support and receiving timely assistance for urgent payroll issues.
Software Glitches: Some users have experienced technical issues and software glitches that have disrupted their payroll processing.
Limited Features: Wagepoint may lack certain advanced payroll features that larger businesses or those with complex payroll needs require.
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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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Get ready to "wage" goodbye to payroll headaches: Wagepoint has been making waves in the payroll software scene, and user reviews from the past year paint a pretty clear picture of what it's all about. Wagepoint seems to hit the sweet spot for businesses of all sizes, but it particularly shines for those who value simplicity and friendly support. Users rave about how easy it is to set up and navigate, even for folks who aren't exactly tech-savvy. Features like employee profile management, time tracking, payroll reports, and direct deposit are all there, making it a one-stop shop for your payroll needs. Plus, their customer support team gets a gold star for being super responsive and helpful. However, no software is perfect, and Wagepoint does have a couple of drawbacks. Some users find the price tag a bit steep compared to other options out there. Additionally, while it does integrate with some accounting software, it might not play nicely with all the tools you're currently using. So, if you've got a complex tech stack, you'll want to double-check compatibility before diving in. What really sets Wagepoint apart is its focus on user-friendliness and top-notch support. It's like having a friendly payroll expert on call whenever you need them. This makes it a great fit for small businesses and startups that might not have a dedicated HR team. If you're looking for a payroll solution that's easy to use, reliable, and comes with a friendly face, Wagepoint is definitely worth checking out. Just remember, the software landscape is constantly evolving, so it's always a good idea to compare the latest offerings before making a decision.

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