The Complete Guide To QuickBooks Desktop Payroll Pricing

QuickBooks Desktop Payroll automates small business payroll, including calculating payroll taxes, properly recording employees’ tax information, and staying on top of paydays. That said, the feature-rich QuickBooks Desktop payroll pricing is a bit expensive.

So before adding payroll to your QuickBooks Desktop solution, 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 Payroll pricing is simple, as it offers just one payroll plan: QuickBooks Desktop Enhanced Payroll. QuickBooks Desktop Enhanced Payroll is priced at $50/month + $5 per employee. You can also save money by signing up for an annual plan priced at $500/year + $5 per employee.

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. If you’re considering an Enterprise Silver, Gold, or Platinum plan, note that you’ll be locked in for a full year of monthly payments (unless you cancel services within 60-days of purchase).

All QuickBooks Enterprise plan users pay an additional fee for contractors paid via direct deposit. QuickBooks Enterprise Diamond users will pay just $1/employee paid per month under the Assisted Payroll plan.

If you purchased QuickBooks Enterprise 23.0’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 when you add Enhanced Payroll.

QuickBooks Payroll Plans & Pricing

Are you 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 +$5/month per employee or $500/year + $5/month per employee depending on whether you choose to pay monthly or annually (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 or a monthly per-employee-paid fee. Additional fees are incurred when contractors are paid by direct deposit.

QuickBooks Assisted Payroll

QuickBooks Assisted Payroll is only available to new customers under the QuickBooks Enterprise Diamond plan and starts at $350/month. With QuickBooks Assisted Payroll, QuickBooks processes your payroll for you and automatically files your payroll taxes. QuickBooks Desktop Assisted handles the payroll setup 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 with users required to pay an additional $1 per employee paid, $5/month per employee for QuickBooks Time, and a fee for each contractor paid by direct deposit.

Please note that QuickBooks Assisted Payroll is not available in Indiana or Wyoming.

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, such as Staples or Office Max, often sell the software. Retail stores, such as Walmart, Best Buy, and even online giant Amazon, also carry QuickBooks Payroll software. The software is often 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, 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 are still unsure, 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

QuickBooks Desktop Payroll Pricing FAQs