Paylocity Review
Paylocity's software has HR capabilities, ample integrations, and well-designed mobile apps that are hard to beat if your mid-sized business needs a good payroll option.
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WRITTEN & RESEARCHED BY
Senior Staff Writer
UPDATED
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Paylocity
| Total Rating | 4.5 |
|---|---|
| Pricing | Poor |
| Features | Excellent |
| Customer Service | Good |
| Integrations | Excellent |
| User Reviews | Good |
Payroll Processing Time
VariablePricing
Quote-basedBusiness Size
Small to enterprise-sized with 1,000+ usersPaylocity At A Glance
- Paylocity is software that combines HR management and payroll to provide an all-in-one solution for businesses needing solid payroll features and HR support.
- With impressive customization options, Paylocity shines as a platform that allows businesses to create a custom-tailored solution designed to meet specific payroll and HR needs.
- Paylocity’s lack of pricing transparency, busy feature set, and cost may cause some business owners concern when considering whether to implement the software.
Pros
- Numerous integrations
- Easy for employees
- Copious features
Cons
- Steep learning curve
- Nontransparent pricing
Table of Contents
What Is Paylocity?
Paylocity is software for mid-sized to large businesses that bridges the gap between streamlined payroll and more comprehensive HRM (human resources management) solutions.
This program boasts many integrations for HR, benefits, time tracking, performance reviews, and applications, all fully tailored to your company’s needs and wishes. With a drag-and-drop interface and a specialized account person a phone call away, there is a lot to like about this program.
Paylocity is expensive to set up, and its fully-loaded options run near the top of the price range. Smaller businesses can find more affordable options elsewhere (such as with Gusto or Square Payroll).
Paylocity Pricing
Paylocity doesn’t publish prices online, so you’ll need to get a quote or schedule a demo for pricing information. There are no contracts, and you can cancel your plan at any time.
As the company customizes each plan to individual businesses, pricing tiers and the like aren’t discussed until you speak with a sales representative and provide relevant information about your business.
Is Paylocity Easy To Use?
As a cloud-based payroll solution, Paylocity is compatible with any device as long as you have an internet connection. Paylocity also offers a mobile app for both Apple and Android phones so that you can run your payroll on the go.
Paylocity’s payroll features were initially designed with accountants and HR directors in mind. People without any skill in payroll might not find the program simple enough.
A handful of reviewers say that some integrations are clunky, and there is a steep learning curve to the customizations.
Paylocity Features
| Paylocity Features | Availability |
|---|---|
| Payroll Tax Support | |
| Auto-Schedule Payroll | |
| Bonus Payroll | |
| Off-Cycle Payroll | |
| Employee Management | |
| Paid Time Off | |
| Time Tracking | |
| HR Support | |
| Onboarding Support | |
| Benefits Administration | |
| Number Of Reports | Custom |
Paylocity is best for mid-sized to enterprise businesses. For businesses hoping to expand and find a program that easily combines payroll and human resources management, Paylocity offers many features previously available only to enterprise clients.
In that respect, you get what you pay for. Some small businesses, however, don’t need upgraded HR services and might find Paylocity is too expensive (although the pricing is competitive at the higher levels for enterprise businesses).
Payroll Processing
Paylocity’s Web Pay makes running payroll as easy as a click of a button. Once your employees are enrolled, their hours and pay scales set, and your pay date set, running payroll is simple.
Here’s a look at Paylocity’s payroll features:
- Next-day payroll
- Unlimited payroll processing
- Tax services
- Direct deposit
- Bank checks/check signing
- Check stock for printing
- Employee self-service portal with mobile app
- Garnishments
- Expense management
- New hire reporting
- QuickBooks integration
Employee Management & PTO
Paylocity offers a wealth of employee management and PTO features that businesses can customize to their liking. With Paylocity, employers and employees are connected in ways that outstrip other similar software options.
Paylocity’s employee management and PTO features include:
- Custom-built PTO tracking and management
- Mobile app for employees
- Employee portal
- Send push notifications to employees
- Holiday and sick pay
- Automated scheduling
- Create and manage schedules
- Document library
- Employee reviews
- Community portal to connect employees
Time Tracking
In conjunction with the mobile app, tracking hours has never been easier. Employees can clock in and out on their own devices or from a kiosk at their place of employment. Paylocity recommends pairing its time tracking to payroll instead of using any integrations for time tracking.
Paylocity’s time-tracking features include:
- Mobile app for time tracking
- 100+ time and attendance reports
- Employees can view and request time off
- Time and attendance points system for motivation
- Send push notifications regarding time and attendance
- Employees can swap shifts
- Multiple ways to collect time
Payroll Tax Support
Paylocity will help file and pay your quarterly and yearly payroll tax requirements from the federal and local levels. Here’s a look at Paylocity’s payroll tax support features:
- Tax preparation, review, and filing by tax professionals
- W-2s and 1099s
- Federal and state unemployment tax returns
- State and local annual reconciliation
- State and local withholding tax returns
- Paylocity assumes liability for tax filing
- Compliance support
Reporting
Within Paylocity, if you can think of it, there’s a report for that. The reporting system is varied and extensive. Also, users can customize reports and even add reports to a database for everyone to see and use.
HR & Onboarding
Paylocity’s software offers a ton of features that will help your business recruit, hire, and manage employees.
Paylocity’s HR and onboarding features include:
- Enhanced HR
- Benefit essentials
- Web recruiting and background checks
- Web onboarding
- Employee performance management
- Access to learning management systems
- Performance management
- Reviews
- Onboarding checklist
- Track onboarding progress
- Secure document library
- Employee self-service dashboard
- HR analytics
- Compliance management
Benefits Administrations
Paylocity has several options for benefits administration and offers health insurance benefits in partnership with Maxwell Health. Here’s a breakdown of Paylocity’s benefits administration features:
- Workers’ comp
- Benefits administration automation
- Employee benefits management from mobile app
- FSAs, HSAs, COBRA, and TMAs
- Medical, dental, and vision benefits (Maxwell Health)
Paylocity Customer Service
| Paylocity Support | Availability |
|---|---|
| Phone Support | |
| Email Support | |
| Support Tickets | |
| Live Chat | |
| Dedicated Support Representative | |
| Knowledge Base or Help Center | |
| Videos & Tutorials | |
| Company Blog | |
| Social Media |
Paylocity offers real human support Monday through Friday from 7 AM-7 PM CST.
The pluses: You are assigned an account manager who works with your company specifically. The company prides itself on satisfying customers.
The minuses: Turnover among managers is high. And even though you can get someone on the phone, sometimes fixing software issues takes several calls to fix.
Paylocity Integrations
Paylocity wants to stand out as a company that makes its integrations work for you, no matter what. It has over 320+ integrations available in its marketplace — and that number continues to grow. If there isn’t a program to match your needs, the company is willing to help build integrations specific to your company’s needs.
Paylocity User Reviews
Reviewers’ highest praise for Paylocity focuses on helpfulness, the ease of running payroll and paying payroll taxes, and reporting options/options to customize. The software receives 4.3/5 stars on Capterra (based on 670+ ratings).
Complaints surround the difficulty of using some of the integrations and the bugginess of Paylocity’s integrations. For experienced users or businesses with accountants, the customization and integration options outweigh the clunkiness.
Negative Paylocity Reviews & Complaints
- Not suited for all small businesses
- No à la carte options
- Hard to find a payroll expert
Positive Paylocity Reviews
- Easy to use
- Loaded with features
- One-stop-shop
- Employee-friendly
Is Paylocity Secure?
Paylocity’s dedication to security is thorough and transparent. Paylocity is certified compliant in the Privacy Shield Framework and is audited yearly by outside sources to test and enhance security continually.
Paylocity’s security relies on a multi-tiered, redundant backup strategy to protect customer information and constantly ensure the company is compliant with all security best practices.
Some of the things Paylocity does to safeguard and encrypt data are:
- Intrusion prevention systems (IPS) and intrusion detection systems (IDS)
- Web application firewalls
- Network firewalls
- Virus and malware detection
- Data loss prevention
- Penetration testing
- Vulnerability scanning
- Employee data security training
How Does Paylocity Compare To Other Payroll Software?
Paylocity’s features include time tracking, payroll tax support, benefits administration, PTO, an employee portal, and much more. However, Paycom also includes these features plus a few standouts. Not sure whether Paylocity or Paycom will better suit your business? Keep reading for a breakdown of the differences between Paylocity vs Paycom.
Paylocity VS Paycom
| Paylocity | Paycom | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Quote-based | Quote-based |
| Business Size | Small to enterprise-sized businesses | Small to enterprise-sized businesses |
| Number Of Users | Up to 1,000+ | Up to 10,000+ |
| Number Of States Supported | All 50 states | All 50 states |
| Payroll Processing Time | Next-day | Variable |
| Quality Of Features | Excellent | Excellent |
| Quality Of Support | Good | Good |
As payroll software solutions, Paycom and Paylocity have many similarities, including a quote-based pricing model, solid employee mobile apps, benefits administration solutions, all-level payroll tax support, and strong employee management features.
Although both Paylocity and Paycom prioritize a rich employee experience, Paycom’s distinct option of employee-run payroll gives it the edge over Paylocity. However, for employers that prefer to take a more traditional approach to payroll, Paylocity is the way to go. Additionally, when compared to Paycom, Paylocity offers a far more extensive library of third-party integrations
The Final Verdict: Is Paylocity Worth It?
| Paylocity Review Summary | |
|---|---|
| Pricing | Quote-based |
| Choose If You Need |
|
Paylocity’s feature set is a great fit for larger businesses needing combined payroll and HR capabilities. Integrations and security are excellent, and the company is dedicated to client happiness. Weigh the features and the cost and decide if it’s the right fit for you.
Nontransparent pricing is always a letdown. An hour and forty-five-minute sales pitch is a lot to ask for busy small business owners who are just shopping around. It’s hard to crunch numbers and effectively shop around if there’s no way to find out what the packages look like or cost without talking to a rep.
For small businesses with accountants or that want more features as they grow, or for larger businesses, Paylocity is a good fit and is preferred by customers over Intuit QuickBooks. (Small business owners might also be interested in another of our articles, The Best Free Payroll Software For Businesses.)
Paylocity FAQs
Davina Ward
Senior Staff Writer
Davina joined Merchant Maverick in 2022, covering small business payroll and accounting. She began writing for small businesses in 2018 and has since gained expertise in the SaaS industry. She earned her Bachelor’s of Arts in English Literature from SUNY Geneseo in 2018. She currently resides in New York.
View Davina Ward's professional experience on LinkedIn.
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Try A Top Pick For Payroll
ADP Payroll |
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We like ADP Payroll for its advanced employee management, strong payroll features, and great customer support. Get three months free when you sign up through our links! Get Started.
