Paychex ERTC Service Review

Pros

• Risk-free ERTC analysis
• Additional business & tax services
• Easy ERTC claim process
• Good customer service

Cons

• Nontransparent fees
• Setup fee for new clients
• No audit support

What Is Paychex ERTC Service?

Paychex is most known for its payroll and HR services but also offers tax services, including its award-winning Paychex ERTC Service. Through this service, Paychex helps eligible small business owners retroactively claim the employee retention tax credit (ERTC). More than 76,000 Paychex customers have already claimed ERTC.

For a fee, current Paychex customers and those who used the service in 2020 or 2021 can claim the credit, while new users can sign up for Paychex to take advantage of ERTC, tax credits, payroll, and more. Unfortunately, though, you have to move fast if you want to use Paychex ERTC Service. With the future of ERC in the air, Paychex is accepting documentation from current clients only through February 29, 2024.

Paychex ERTC Services

Paychex helps current, past, and new customers claim the ERC. Paychex can also assist with other business tax credits, including:

• Research and development (R&D) credit
• Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC)
• Location-based tax credit
• Cost segregation
• Research and Development Wage-Based Credit
• Domestic production deduction
• State tax credits
• Training incentives

Paychex also has software for payroll, HR, employee benefits, insurance, and more for businesses of all sizes.

Paychex ERTC Service Fees

Paychex ERTC Service does not disclose its fees for helping clients claim their tax credits. Paychex does state that current Paychex customers, as well as those who used Paychex in 2020 or 2021, can complete a risk-free questionnaire to determine eligibility and will only pay if credits are identified.

If you’re not a current Paychex customer, you can still use its ERTC services provided you sign up with Paychex. A setup fee is charged, in addition to a fee if credits are identified. All fees are undisclosed, and this lack of transparency negatively affected our rating.

Paychex ERTC Service Features

Paychex ERTC Service doesn’t have some of the bells and whistles you’ll find with other ERC providers. Some points were deducted for a lack of basic features like an ERC calculator, referral program, audit protection, or ERC advances. However, it did receive a perfect score for the availability of other tax and business services.

Paychex RTC Service features worth noting include:

• ERTC Experts: Paychex has a team of specially-trained ERC experts ready to help you claim your tax credit.
• Comprehensive ERC Report: You’ll receive an ERC report backing up all calculations for your credit. This will be a necessary tool if you are audited by the IRS.
• Free Analysis: A risk-free analysis is available to help you determine if you qualify for ERTC.
• Easy Claim Process: Current and past Paychex customers will find the ERC claim process to be a breeze, as Paychex already has wage data ready for calculations. Even if you aren’t a customer, Paychex makes the ERC claim process as painless as possible.
• Additional Services: Paychex offers numerous services, including payroll, HR, benefits administration, and tax credit services.

Paychex ERTC Service Refund Process & Timeline

Unfortunately, Paychex doesn’t specifically outline its ERC process. It does mention that the process is easy. For past and current payroll customers, this process is made even easier, as Paychex has access to wage data that is used to calculate the amount of your credit. An easy prequalification questionnaire, dedicated ERTC experts, secure document uploads, and preparation and filing of amended returns with the IRS all contributed to Paychex’s high score in this area.

Paychex also doesn’t give a specific timeline for how long it processes ERC claims. Based on the fact that Paychex won an award in 2021 for its ERTC service, its experience with tax credits, and the fact that it’s processed many ERC claims for its clients, it’s safe to assume that Paychex has an average ERC processing time.

Paychex ERTC Service Customer Service

Paychex makes it easy to get in touch. A live chat feature on the website is available if you have questions about ERTC, and there’s an online form if you want to become a Paychex customer. You can get in touch by phone to learn more about signing up.

If you’re already a customer, there are additional ways to get in touch. This includes email, phone, a company blog, and social media. Some FAQs, articles, and videos about ERTC all give a good idea of what this tax credit is and how Paychex can help you claim it retroactively.

Our rating for Paychex’s customer service was affected by negative reviews from customers. While the bulk of reviews are positive, there are some complaints about customer service. Worth noting is that these reviews are primarily from Paychex’s payroll customers and do not specifically mention the customer service experience for Paychex ERTC Service.

Paychex ERTC Service Reviews

While the majority of Paychex reviews are positive, there are also negative reviews mixed in. Paychex has thousands of reviews across sites like ConsumerAffairs, G2, and Trustpilot, these reviews are not specific to ERTC services. Based on overall feedback and ratings on review sites, we ranked Paychex ERTC service 4.2/5.

Paychex ERTC Service Complaints

Most of the complaints found online surround Paychex’s payroll, HR, and other services — not ERTC. However, based on our research of Paychex and other ERC providers, here are some potential issues you may encounter:

• Must be a PayChex customer
• Additional fee required for new customers
• Potentially high ERTC fees
• Long processing times

Positive Paychex ERTC Reviews

Since Paychex doesn’t have reviews specific to its ERTC services, we again had to lean on our research to find the most positive aspects of Paychex ERTC Service, which includes:

• Good customer support
• Fewer document uploads for current and past Paychex users
• Risk-free ERTC analysis
• Additional tax & business services

Is Paychex ERTC Service Worth It?

For current Paychex customers who qualify, Paychex ERTC Service would at least be worth considering. Having payroll data already in Paychex eliminates having to gather and upload the right payroll records to calculate the tax credit. Paychex has a good reputation, as well as a host of other financial and tax services that are beneficial to small business owners.

However, it does appear as though Paychex is anticipating possible legislation that could bring the ERC program to a screeching halt and has limited the time current clients have to submit documentation to file their claims. In other words, if you don’t have your foot in the door already, you’re likely to be out of luck.

If ERC does ramp back up, people who don’t already work with Paychex will have to sign up to take advantage of ERTC services. This means they will be paying a monthly fee, a setup fee, and the ERTC fee — all of which add up very quickly.

Although Paychex seems to have a solid product, unfortunately, we would recommend checking out one of our picks for best ERC companies to find a more suitable option. Of course, we will continue to monitor ERC news and will provide updates if Paychex and other ERC companies update their deadlines and begin accepting new clients.

ERC Company Review Methodology

We spend hours researching and evaluating each ERC company that we review at Merchant Maverick, placing special emphasis on key characteristics to generate our service provider ratings.

When rating ERC companies, we use a 22-point rubric that looks at fees, features, refund process and timeline, customer service, and user reviews. We weigh each section differently to calculate the total star rating.

• Fees: 20% of the total star rating
• Features: 30% of the total star rating
• Refund Process & Timeline: 35% of the total star rating
• Customer Service: 5% of the total star rating
• User Reviews: 10% of the total star rating

Each section is further broken down into granular, weighted subsections, in which we look at specific attributes, like whether reduced fees are available for upfront payments, the availability of ERC loans and advances, audit protection, and no-cost ERC consultations.

Learn more about how we rate ERC providers.