The Complete Guide To QuickBooks Desktop Payroll Pricing

If you already use QuickBooks Desktop, you might be interested in QuickBooks Desktop Payroll as a simple solution to your payroll problems. Running payroll can be tedious and includes many steps, such as making sure your small business is set up for payroll taxes, properly recording employees’ tax information, and staying on top of paydays. Automating some of these tasks and keeping your data within a single platform can save you valuable time and improve payroll management.

That said, before investing in QuickBooks Desktop Payroll, you’ll want to ensure that this software provides your business with all the features and tools you need at a rate you can afford. This post covers the cost and features of QuickBooks Desktop Payroll to help you determine if it’s the right payroll software for your business.

Need payroll for QuickBooks Online instead? No problem; we’ve got you covered with our complete Intuit QuickBooks Online Payroll review.

How Much Does QuickBooks Desktop Payroll Cost?

QuickBooks Desktop offers just one payroll plan, QuickBooks Desktop Enhanced Payroll.QuickBooks Desktop Enhanced Payroll is priced at $50/month + $2 per employee. You can also save money by signing up for an annual plan priced at $500/year.

Previously, QuickBooks offered QuickBooks Desktop Assisted Payroll, but this plan was discontinued in July 2022 for new users. Current users are unaffected by this change, and Assisted Payroll is available as part of the QuickBooks Enterprise Diamond bundle.

QuickBooks Enterprise Gold, Platinum, and Diamond users are not required to pay the base subscription fee for QuickBooks Payroll, as Enterprise plans include payroll services.

QuickBooks Enterprise Gold and Platinum plan users will pay $2 per employee paid, plus an additional fee for contractors paid via direct deposit. QuickBooks Enterprise Diamond users will pay just $1/employee.

If you purchased QuickBooks Enterprise 22.0’s Silver plan, which doesn’t include payroll services, you would be required to pay the base monthly subscription price and per employee/contractor paid fee.

QuickBooks Payroll Plans & Pricing

Looking into purchasing QuickBooks Desktop Payroll? First, there are some things you should know. QuickBooks Desktop Enhanced Payroll is compatible with QuickBooks Desktop Pro, QuickBooks Desktop Premier, and QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise. Unfortunately, QuickBooks Desktop Payroll is not supported for QuickBooks Mac.

QuickBooks previously offered QuickBooks Assisted Payroll as an add-on for its plans. Unfortunately, this option has been discontinued for most new customers, except for QuickBooks Enterprise Diamond subscribers.

You can proceed with your QuickBooks Desktop Payroll purchase if you have compatible QuickBooks versions and the right systems to run it. Here’s a look at what QuickBooks Payroll has to offer.

QuickBooks Enhanced Payroll

QuickBooks Enhanced Payroll costs $50/month +$2/month per employee (though Intuit usually offers a discount for QuickBooks payroll ). Enhanced payroll is QuickBooks Desktop’s do-it-yourself payroll option. You can process your payroll and file your taxes directly through QuickBooks.

Enhanced Payroll includes:

• Free tax forms
• Payroll support
• Instant paychecks
• Free direct deposit for employees
• Pay W-2 employees
• Pay 1099 employees
• E-filing and printing for W-2s
• Two-day direct deposit

QuickBooks Enhanced Payroll is included with QuickBooks Enterprise Gold and Platinum plans, so users are not required to pay the monthly base subscription fee.

QuickBooks Assisted Payroll

QuickBooks Assisted Payroll is no longer available to new customers. It is now only available as part of the QuickBooks Enterprise Diamond plan. With QuickBooks Assisted Payroll, QuickBooks processes your payroll for you and automatically files your payroll taxes. QuickBooks Desktop Assisted handles the payroll set up for you as well.

Full-Service Payroll includes:

• Instant paychecks
• Pay W-2 employees
• Pay 1099 employees
• Free direct deposit
• Automatic tax filing
• Automatic tax deductions
• Free tax forms
• No tax penalties
• Assisted payroll setup
• Payroll support
• Next-day direct deposit

QuickBooks Assisted Payroll is included with QuickBooks Enterprise Diamond plans, and users are only required to pay $1 per employee paid +$5/month per employee for QuickBooks Time.

Where To Buy QuickBooks Payroll

There are a few ways to purchase QuickBooks Desktop Payroll: on Intuit’s site or through one of QuickBooks’ resellers.

Office supply stores, like Staples or Office Max, often sell the software. Retail stores like Walmart and Best Buy — and even online giants like Amazon — also carry QuickBooks Payroll software. Often, the software is bundled with the purchase of QuickBooks Desktop Pro, QuickBooks Desktop Premier, or QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise.

If you are a QuickBooks Enterprise Gold, Platinum, or Diamond user, then your QuickBooks subscription already comes with payroll support.

Getting Started With QuickBooks Desktop Payroll

Now that you know what QuickBooks Payroll is capable of, you can make an informed decision if this software is right for you. If you still aren’t sure, take advantage of the free 30-day payroll trial to see if QB payroll is right for your business.

If you do decide to use QuickBooks, be sure to check out our QuickBooks Desktop Pro 101 series to learn how to set up QuickBooks payroll, run payroll, use direct deposit, and more. Here are a few standout resources from the QuickBooks Desktop Pro 101 series to get you started.

How To Set Up QuickBooks Payroll

How To Run Payroll in QuickBooks