Gusto vs Paychex Flex

The best payroll providers should be there to help you along the way — whether that’s answering any questions you may have or getting you fully onboarded. If you’re switching payroll providers, you should be able to get help with setup and migration at no additional cost. Or if you’re running payroll for the first time, your provider should have flexible support options to ensure you don’t hit any speed bumps along the way.

Both Gusto and Paychex offer phone and chat support, but you may have to upgrade your plan to get a higher level of support. And when it comes to account setup and data migration support, both providers require an upgrade or additional fee if you want it handled by experts. Some other providers get higher marks for their level of customer service.

First off, it’s important to make sure your payroll provider will automate federal, state, and local tax filings and payments. But on top of that, check to see who assumes the responsibility if a mistake is made. You should be offered an accuracy guarantee that puts the responsibility on the provider if they make a mistake.

Both Gusto and Paychex file and pay all federal, state, and local taxes, but neither offer an accuracy guarantee. So if they miss a filing or make a mistake, you would be financially responsible for fixing it. There are other providers that offer an accuracy guarantee as part of their full-service payroll offering (so you can rest knowing things are done right).

The majority of payroll providers not only offer payroll services, but also offer HR features and benefits administration to keep employees happy and healthy. Check to see if integrated health, 401(k), and workers’ comp plans are included. And when it comes to HR, a few of the top features to look out for include PTO tracking and approval, employee self-service with custom onboarding flows, e-signable documents, and organization charts.

Providers like Gusto and Paychex both offer a wide range of integrated benefits and HR options. But there are a few things to keep in mind for each provider: Gusto includes some of these features in their base price, but an upgrade is required to access team management tools and custom workflows. And while Paychex does offer most of these features, they usually come at an additional cost. There is another provider that offers both integrated benefits plans and all the HR tools you need for a lower monthly price.

In addition to integrated benefits and workers’ comp, you also want to ensure your payroll provider integrates with time-tracking and accounting systems as well. These integrations will help you save time entering hours, and allow you to get your information flowing straight into your accounting platform. You also want to be sure these integrations offer the flexibility and customization options you need to get your data organized the way you want it.

Accounting integrations are included in Gusto’s monthly price, but you may be paying extra for some of those accounting integrations with Paychex. Also, the flexibility of the integrations with both Gusto and Paychex Flex is limited, as they don’t offer some of the key customization options that others do.