The 8 Best Payroll Software For Accountants

Gusto Pro is free for accountants, provided you onboard at least one new client every 12 months. For your clients, Gusto pricing plans range from $40-$80/month + $6-$12/month per employee. With your Gusto Pro plan, you can potentially receive discounts of up to 20% off to pass down to your clients.

As a Gusto Partner, you’ll get a generous set of features within Gusto Pro. Most notably, you’ll receive:

• Free Gusto Complete payroll by onboarding a new client every 12 months
• Free trials for clients
• Dedicated account rep
• Discounts to pass to clients or keep as revenue share
• Full-service payroll
• Benefits management
• Compliance and HR support
• Opportunities to earn CPE credits from live webinars
• Integrations with software and apps, including QuickBooks, FreshBooks, and Expensify

Gusto Pro Dashboard

• Gusto’s benefits administration isn’t available in Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
• Gusto does not have a mobile app but can be used on mobile web browsers.
• At higher plan tiers, Gusto may be too expensive for many small business clients.

ADP Accountant Connect is absolutely free. However, your clients will need to subscribe to one of ADP’s payroll plans. Unfortunately, ADP is not transparent when it comes to payroll pricing, so your clients will have to connect with an account rep for more information.

However, you can easily refer clients to ADP through your Accountant Connect dashboard. Simply enter client information, and an account rep will reach out to help them get started.

ADP Accountant Connect makes it easy to manage payroll for multiple clients. Standout features include:

• Single sign-on access for all authorized accounts
• Multi-client payroll reports
• Easy onboarding
• Client Insights feature provides transparency, tips, and emerging trends
• Compensation Benchmarking
• Access to Wolters Kluwer IntelliForms for current tax forms and instructions
• Numerous accounting software and business app integrations, including QuickBooks, Xero, Sage, and Slack
• Hundreds of client letter templates
• Payroll, tax, and retirement calculators
• Accounting Marketing Toolkit

ADP Accountant Connect Dashboard

• ADP charges on a per-payroll run basis, which can raise costs for your clients.
• The full breadth of ADP’s features may be too complex for smaller clients.
• ADP’s customer reviews tend to be lukewarm, with complaints citing poor customer service and trouble with 401(k) accounts and services.

It is free to sign up for QuickBooks Online Accountant and the ProAdvisors Program. You can also pass down your ProAdvisor pricing to your clients, helping them save 30% off QuickBooks Online Payroll. Plans range from $31.50-$87.50/month + $5.10-$8.50/month per contractor or employee.

QBO users already know the benefits of using this robust accounting software. But there are even more benefits to signing up for QuickBooks Online Accountant and the ProAdvisor Program, including:

• Free QuickBooks Online Elite Payroll software for accountants
• Free QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Time Pro for your firm
• Billing options for your firm or directly to your clients
• 30% off discounts for QuickBooks Online accounting software
• 30% off discounts for QuickBooks Online Payroll
• ProConnect Tax Online for syncing QBO data to tax returns
• Marketing resources
• Free training and opportunities to earn CPE credits

QuickBooks For Accountants Dashboard

• QuickBooks Online doesn’t offer free payroll services for accountants, while some competitors, such as Gusto, do offer them at no cost.
• QuickBooks Online Payroll only supports businesses with fewer than 150 contractors or employees.
• While QuickBooks Online Payroll includes a mobile app, it is not well-received, with users citing bugs and glitches.

Rippling does not disclose its pricing online, only stating that plans start at $8/month per user. You must contact Rippling to receive your custom quote.

Rippling is designed to help you automate your payroll processes and improve accuracy, whether you have a single client or thousands. Here’s what to expect when you subscribe to this software:

• Free Rippling payroll and HR for your firm
• All-in-one payroll, HR, benefits, time, and attendance system
• Pay rate auto-calculations
• Integrates with accounting software, including QuickBooks, Xero, NetSuite, and Sage Intacct
• Integrates with time-tracking tools, including QuickBooks Time
• Dedicated support line for accounting firms
• White-glove client payroll migrations
• 20% payroll and HR discount for clients
• Tax support and compliance
• Job costing
• 90-second employee onboarding

Rippling Payroll Dashboard

• Rippling isn’t suited for smaller clients, as its pricing and overly complex feature set may be prohibitive for small business owners.
• Rippling requires businesses to purchase its base plan to access its the Rippling payroll add-on.
• Rippling doesn’t offer a free trial.

You can receive your Patriot software at a discounted rate when you sign up for its Partner Program.

Pricing is based on your number of clients and ranges from $29.60-$35.15/month + $3.20-$3.80/month per employee or contractor.

You can also receive Patriot’s accounting and payroll software for free if you have six or more active clients.

Patriot’s Partner Program is a free program open to accountants, bookkeepers, and CPAs. Here’s what to expect when you sign up:

• Discounts of 5%-20% on your payroll software
• Free payroll and accounting software for users with six or more clients
• Consolidated billing
• Free two-day direct deposit for qualified clients
• Free co-branding
• Summarized Partner Reports to easily view client data
• A single sign-in to access all client accounts
• Bonuses for referring new clients
• Easy data migration for clients

Patriot Partner Program Dashboard

• Patriot Payroll does not handle new-hire reporting.
• Patriot can get expensive when combining its time tracking, HR, and payroll solutions.
• Patriot Payroll’s third-party integrations are limited compared to other options.
• Patriot Payroll is not suited for larger clients with more complex payroll needs.

Unfortunately, Paychex isn’t very forthcoming on its website with the pricing of its products. You will need to contact the company directly to receive a quote for services.

This cloud-based software offers a number of features for its users, including a nice set of perks for accountants.

Here’s what to expect from Paychex:

• Accountant-specific dashboard in Paychex Flex to manage your client data
• Financial calculators
• Federal and state tax forms
• Free CPE credits through online courses and webinars
• Integration with Paychex General Ledger
• Year-end accounting tools and resources
• Numerous integrations with business apps and software, including QuickBooks and Xero
• 100+ reports
• Offer clients professional HR support through Paychex’s Accountant HR Support
• ERC services
• Full service payroll, time tracking, and benefits solutions
• Discounted retirement plan options
• One month of free payroll, HR, and retirement services for your clients

Paychex Flex Dashboard

• Paychex pricing may be prohibitive for smaller businesses looking for a simple pricing structure with few fees.
• Compared to other payroll providers on this list, Paychex offers fewer accountant-specific benefits.
• Paychex earned a significant number of negative reviews citing issues with its tax services and payroll inaccuracies.

You can get started with SurePayroll For Accountants with a free Reseller Dashboard. Your payroll software is also free if you bring on 10 clients.

If you don’t receive your product for free, you will receive wholesale pricing as a Reseller.

Typical pricing for SurePayroll is $19.99-$29.99/month + $4-$5/month per employee.

SurePayroll For Accountants has a wide selection of features designed to help you manage payroll while boosting your brand and revenue.

Highlights include:

• Free software for your firm by bringing on 10 clients
• White-label option available
• Dedicated Sales and Enrollment specialist and support from a team of payroll experts
• Revenue Share and Direct Invoice consolidated billing options
• Free integrations with accounting software, including QuickBooks Online, Zoho Books, Xero, AccountEdge, and Sage 50
• Marketing tools and other resources for accountants

SurePayroll Dashboard

• Compared to other payroll software solutions, SurePayroll’s features are limited and may struggle to handle the needs of larger businesses or those with complex payroll needs.
• SurePayroll doesn’t support built-in time tracking, so you and your clients will be limited to tracking time via one of the software’s few integrations.
• SurePayroll tends to be a little fee-heavy.

It is free to become an OnPay partner. For your clients, OnPay has a single pricing plan priced at $40/month + $6/month per person. Depending on the number of clients you have, you can receive discounts of up to 20% that can be passed along to your clients.

The OnPay Partner Program is designed to help you streamline your accounting business, manage your clients, and even boost your revenue.

Standout features available to OnPay partners include:

• Free payroll software for your accounting business
• Intuitive dashboard to manage multiple clients in one place
• Multiple user permissions
• Integrations with QuickBooks and Xero
• Discounts of 10%-20% that can be passed to clients or used as revenue sharing
• Marketing resources
• OnPay experts available for support, dashboard setup, and client transitions
• Co-branding available for larger firms

OnPay Payroll Partner Dashboard

• OnPay doesn’t offer a free trial.
• Although OnPay offers several integrations with popular accounting and other third-party software solutions, OnPay’s integrations are limited compared to other software solutions, such as Gusto, ADP, or QuickBooks.
• OnPay doesn’t support built-in time tracking, so you and your clients will need to use a third-party solution to track time when using OnPay.