Payroll Software Rating Criteria
Almost every business has to run payroll in some form or another. More and more businesses are choosing to do it themselves, using specialized payroll apps and software. Because payroll software is so vital, and because the tax implications of doing it incorrectly are so severe, we take our reviews and ratings very seriously, following a precise methodology. Here are just some of the reasons readers can trust the Merchant Maverick rating system:
- Merchant Maverick has been reviewing payroll systems since 2018.
- Over the years, we’ve evaluated 75+ payroll systems.
- Each review involves 10-15 hours of initial research, followed by 5-10 hours of research for each review update.
- We update our payroll reviews at least every 12 months, though most reviews are updated twice a year, and a few of the platforms most popular with our readers receive quarterly updates.
While we research and compare many different systems, the reviews displayed on the site have been handpicked based on metrics like overall popularity, availability, and quality. The goal is to provide the most actionable and accurate information to our readers, so while we love to recommend great products, we don’t shy away from pointing out the areas where popular providers fall short.
Our expert writers engage in independent research and testing for each payroll review, evaluating usability, cost, depth of features, customer service, contract length, and more. When determining the star rating for a vendor, we score the following areas:
- Pricing
- Ease Of Use
- Features
- Customer Support
- User Reviews
Each section’s score is weighted differently, with the highest weights on features, ease of use, and customer service. The scores for each section are displayed openly in the review and then combined to create a holistic rating for the product out of 5 stars.
Read on for a more minute explanation of how we determine the individual section ratings.
Note: We look at slightly different elements when evaluating aspects of restaurant, retail, and service-based POS.
Pricing
10% of the total score
The Pricing score is broken into three sections:
- Software Plans (20% of the total section rating)
- Pricing Transparency (30% of the total section rating)
- Pricing Customization (70% of the total section rating)
Our expert reviewer looks at many things when determining the Pricing score, including the number of software plans available, the relative baseline affordability compared to the industry average, feature affordability, upfront pricing disclosure, free trial availability, hidden fees, add-ons, and initial set-up fees.
We do account for other costs when they arise in the context of other section ratings, and those considerations are not included in this section’s overall weight.
- Payroll processing times (same + next day)
- Direct deposit & check payments
- White glove set-up
- Multistate payroll processing (included in plans or not)
- Built-in time tracking
- Built-in HR
- Benefits brokering
- Unlimited payroll processing
- Training costs
These costs are built into the weights for features, ease of use, and customer service below.
Ease Of Use
20% of the total score
The Ease Of Use score is broken into four sections:
- Initial Setup (35% of the total section rating)
- Software Reliability (10% of the total section rating)
- Everyday Use (20% of the total section rating)
- Integrations (35% of the total section rating)
When determining the Ease Of Use score, we evaluate white glove setup options, how hard or easy it is to onboard employees and clients, trainability, the navigability of the UI, the presence of glitching or bugs, ease of payroll runs, and how easy it is to integrate the software with other time tracking and accounting apps, among other things.
Features
40% of the total score
The Features score is broken down into several sections.
- Payroll Processing (20% of the total section rating)
- Employee Management & PTO (20% of the total section rating)
- Time Tracking (10% of the total section rating)
- Payroll Tax Support (20% of the total section rating)
- Reporting & Tax Forms (10% of the total section rating)
- Onboarding & HR (5% of the total section rating)
- Benefits Administration (10% of the total section rating)
- Niche Features (5% of the total section rating)
We take many factors into account when evaluating payroll software features. Our expert reviewer examines things like payroll processing time, custom deductions, direct deposit and check payment options, the ability to automate payroll runs, multi-state payroll support, PTO management, time tracking integrations, federal tax support, completion, filing and delivery of W-2s, new hire onboarding, HR integrations, and much more.
Customer Service
20% of the total score
The Customer Service score is broken down into two sections.
- Personal Support (50% of the total section rating)
- Self-Service (50% of the total section rating)
When scoring customer service, we pay the most attention to the number of support options available (phone, email, in-person, etc.), the quality of personal support received, the training options available, and the usability and depth of any online training materials, such as wikis, videos, and webinars.
User Reviews
10% of the total score
The Customer Reviews score is comprised of two sections.
- User Feedback (30% of the total section rating)
- Review Site Aggregate (70% of the total section rating)
We scour the internet for user feedback on all the products we review, looking for positive and negative feedback. Merchant Maverick is not a user review platform, so for part of this total rating we rely on aggregate user scores from review sites such as GetApp, TrustPilot, the App Store, the Play Store, and more.
