Intuit

Intuit Online Payroll Services

Intuit, the innovative creators behind TurboTax, QuickBooks, Mint, ProConnect, and other useful software products is perfectly catered for small businesses, individual users, and accountants.

Intuit Online Payroll at a Glance

The company has its roots in the very early days of personal computers. Back then, PCs were novelty items for playing games. They also supported early versions of word processors, spreadsheets and database software. PCs had some higher purpose, and the search was on to find it.

 

Fun fact!

Intuit Online Payroll Offers a 30-Day Free Trial - Learn More

 

To the founders of Intuit, that higher purpose was to help manage personal finances. In the early days, their flagship product was Quicken. Over the years, the competition in the personal finance software market was fierce. Intuit survived and, today, their flagship products are QuickBooks and TurboTax. QuickBooks immediately became the accounting system of choice for many small businesses. Offering a payroll feature was the next logical step.

Overview of Intuit Online Payroll Features

The payroll is available in nine versions running in four distinct environments. This variety is mainly due to the way that the product evolved. Payroll runs:

  • In the cloud as a standalone product
  • In the cloud as part of QuickBooks Online
  • As installed software running on Windows-based PCs
  • As installed software on Macintosh PCs

A critical restriction in all versions of payroll is that it can only pay up to 150 employees. This limitation might disqualify Intuit Payroll as a choice for many potential clients.

New clients will most likely choose one of the two cloud-based versions. The features and pricing below only describe those two versions that operate standalone.

Self-Service Payroll is one of the two cloud-based versions. It includes:

  • 24-hour free direct deposit for employees and contractors
  • Employee access to pay stubs and W-2 forms through an online portal
  • Email reminders of form-filing deadlines
  • Ability to create special bonus and other checks as needed
  • Ability to run payroll from a smartphone or tablet

Full-Service Payroll is a complete solution. It comes with a 100-percent penalty-free guarantee. In addition to the Self-Service Payroll features, it includes:

  • Calculation, filing, and payment of federal, state and local taxes
  • Same day processing for direct deposits submitted before 7 a.m. PST
  • W-2 preparation and filing with the IRS
  • W-2 delivery to employees
  • Phone and chat access to real-time support
  • Conversion of data from another payroll system
  • Resolution of filing errors and payment of penalties

Intuit Online Payroll Pricing

The price for Self-Service Payroll is $35 plus $4 per employee per month. For Full-Service Payroll, the price is $80 plus $4 per employee per month.

Note that the extra cost of Full-Service Payroll is $45 and does not change with the number of employees. For this reason, the Full-Service Payroll package is always the preferred choice.

Bottom Line

Do not consider Intuit as an online payroll provider when there is a chance of exceeding the 150-employee limit. If that isn’t a problem, consider the following scenarios:

  • It will run completely standalone. It will not feed any other company system. The cloud-based Full-Service Payroll would be the preferred choice.
  • It will feed data to an accounting or another in-house system. Don’t choose Intuit Payroll until the in-house IT specialist offers an opinion.
  • Cloud-based QuickBooks is already in use. This decision is the simplest of all. Select the Full-Service Payroll version.
  • A new or replacement accounting system is in the works. Choose the new accounting system first. If the choice was QuickBooks, Intuit Payroll would be an obvious choice.
  • The current accounting software is QuickBooks Desktop or QuickBooks Pro for the Mac. The best of all options would be to migrate the QuickBooks data to the cloud and then add payroll.

Some payroll providers control the process and run the payroll. Intuit Payroll clients are in control. The ability to maintain control is just one of the reasons why Intuit Payroll is so popular.