Payroll Software

We are in construction. We currently use an outside accountant to do payroll. I use QuickBooks in the office, yes it has payroll, but it is an older versiom (99) and therefore I would have to buy a new one to use it because they no longer support this old version and I can't download tax tables into it etc. I can use it if I do my payroll manually...which I have done for practice beauces i will eventually be doing payroll here in house. Just wondering what the best options are out there.

A non-software solution is ADP. It's inexpensive and doesn't take a lot of time. You get a printout to make your g/l entries into your own accounting software. They file your employment taxes and do the W2's.

Make sure doing payroll in-house is the best use of your time. Payroll is a specialized area with severe penalties if you mess things up. Some alternatives to QB are using online services like

or .

.

ADP is ok. As long as they make no mistakes they are fine. If they do, it can be a difficult process to correct, especially if it is related to the filing of taxes. They do not let clients speak to the tax people in California. So you have to go through your customer service representative who may not understand the problem.

I would get a quote from ADP, Paychex, CBS Payroll (which is Intuit owned), and Alliance Payroll (based in Houston). I have used all of the above except Paychex.

CBS Payroll was great before Intuit purchased it. I have not used it since that time. There reports were clean and simple and about one-third of ADP's quote for size operation. I have a colleague who handles accounting for small restaurant chains. They use it for payroll and she can access the reports via the web about an hour after transmission. You would be able to view the payroll journal and make a correction before it is printed and delivered.

I switched a country club from ADP to Alliance. Like CBS it was about a third of the cost of ADP. Alliance used internet pipeline to transfer payroll, ADP was still on dial-up. Hopefully that has changed in the last year. Alliance has fixed pricing. You can find their price list on the website. ADP's pricing is negotiable. At the country club I got it dropped 25% just by telling them I would have it moved to another provider in less than a week's time. ADP is really too high if you don't watch them.

TK

Meyer1228 wrote:

Hi There QuickBooks, have you thought about it? Not only you can do your payroll, but you can job coast your payroll. Track Vendors and Customers Bills. Creates your own Template for invoicing, you can go fancy with QB 2007. Plus the accounting Portions of it, is Fabulous. Intuit made it easier even if you have not used QuickBooks before. Plus you can post your ads from QuickBooks through Google, Post your services to attract more customers, in addition to the Add words. It's powerful for Small Business. About the Payroll You can choose from a variety out there. the thing is, do you want pay and file your taxes, or you want a payroll service to do it for you. With intuit, you have Standard: you do your payroll base on accurate Tax Table downloaded from Intuit. You file and Pay your Taxes; only Fed forms are available with the standard. Enhanced you do your payroll base on accurate Tax Table downloaded from Intuit. You file and Pay your Taxes, only Fed and states forms are available.

Assisted: your process and submit your Payroll, we will do the rest, with an exception of local Taxes like Yonkers and NY Resident.

Finally Complete Payroll

Web Based interface. You process your payroll online, after the transmission, GL entries are generated and integrated in QB right after your payroll is completed. Run P&L report in seconds. Pre Set up is required about 15 min. Complete Payroll takes care of all taxes including Locals. You can add DD to any of these Payroll options.

You can also go to

it s a website to New Entrepreneurs. Best Luck to you

TKnTexas wrote:

I would recommed

The power the payroll system behind Bank of America and give you many options for something like $15 per month plus per paychek fees (.25 I think).

Dear Jtees,

Sorry for the delay in responding, I've been out of town.

First, you are one of many who are looking for an alternative to QuickBooks. As you can tell by the responses you have received, some people do not accept that there is such a thing as an alternative to QuickBooks. In fact, there is. In truth, you can do payroll yourself and save money--if you have the right software. While you're at it, why not consider a total accounting and payroll solution, replacing QuickBooks entirely?

Please weigh these options for your construction company:

1) Job Cost Accounting is the specific accounting process used in construction. True Job Costing actually uses the "estimate" generated when you bid the job. That Estimate is used as the "budget" for that job. As bills are paid and payrolls are met, job costing tracks "actual" versus "budgeted" expenses, calculating and pinpointing variances, giving you a constant status check on every phase of every job. This is how job costs are monitored and controlled. This is how some builders discover that a Change Order was overlooked, a revelation that can make a huge difference in profitability. Monitoring costs is what Job Costing is all about.

2) With all due respect, general accounting programs (with a Job Costing function added as an afterthought) typically do not have the same depth of functionality (and ease of use) as accounting software that was written with job costing as the "center" of the accounting process. Why not use the right tool for the job?

3) Why not have accounting software where payroll tax tables can be updated for FREE instead of having your payroll function become dysfunctional just because the tax tables change? Why pay for tax table updates? Do you want to purchase your payroll software or "rent it" by the year?

4) Why not have accounting software that is filled with Job Cost reports designed to meet the unique needs of contractors? JobView even includes "Bonding Reports" literally designed by Surety Bonding companies and accepted by them as valid, reports that are created as a byproduct of your accounting transactions. You don't need to create a spreadsheet and comb through piles of reports to compile a bonding report any longer.

5) Why not have a job costing software that can grow with your company, starting with a version priced for a small company, but having the capacity to grow to handle revenue in the hundreds of millions, employees in the hundreds, and a network, not just for a single person, but for a whole accounting department? Why buy a software that you can outgrow? Why not buy one that will grow with you, adding the functions you need, as you need them, one at a time if necessary?

6) Why not have accounting software that is rated 5-Stars out of 5 by The CPA Technology Advisor," specialists in their area?

Here is the solution I propose. A-Systems JobView is the answer to those questions. You can actually download a Free-Trial version on the internet at:

OR you can request that free trial copy be sent directly to you on CD. The CD will also include comprehensive multimedia training and tools to help you get started. The Free-Trial is just that. You can actually use the built in "wizard" to import certain data from QuickBooks and then complete the setup of your company on JobView. You can set up jobs, pay bills, do payroll, all for FREE. It takes a lot of confidence in our software to provide a complete accounting program for free in advance of any form of payment, but we've done it for years. A few companies offer a money back guarantee with a list of restrictions and exceptions. A-Systems will give you a "Risk-Free Trial, no payment in advance, try it and buy it if you like it, but don't lay out a cent until you are ready" offer. The question is whether JobView "fits" you and the way you do business. Some people are content with handling a web of spreadsheets. Others can't be bothered with job costing, either their jobs are too small or they are reluctant to change a system that "works." Good for them.

Just who is A-Systems? A-Systems has been providing job costing to the construction industry since 1978. A-Systems was the FIRST company to develop job costing software for the PC. No other company can ever say that. A-Systems is an independent company, not owned by any conglomerate or international business. We are an American company that has all of our offices, including our technical support department, in the United States of America, where technicians answer questions instead of read answers from scripts. A-Systems holds national user conferences twice a year where we solicit ideas for enhancements. We just completed a conference in San Diego where we held another suggestion contest. In the four days since that conference, we have already added around 20 new enhancements. They're small things, time saving processes mostly, but it is that kind of responsiveness to our clientele that brings calls to our sales department saying, "I heard about you from a friend that uses your software. They love it because..."

The Free-Trial includes three versions of A-Systems JobView. Based on the information you gave, the Small Builder Advantage edition will probably meet your needs nicely. It is available at the give-away cost of $79.95, including the wizard to get you started, and all of the multimedia training sessions. The CD also has an course that will introduce you to the processes and terminology of accounting. It's called "Bean Counting 101." That's not a slam at accountants. We firmly believe that accountants are worth their weight in gold because accounting is the "language of business" and they speak that language best.

Back to Jobview. When you log into the Free-Trial, you have the choice of the Small Builder Advantage, the Standard Edition, or the Preferred Edition. (You can grow into the Standard Edition or the Preferred Edition later.) Small and startup companies are well served with the SBA edition. Why did we call it the SBA edition? The United States Small Business Administration (the SBA) liked our software so much they purchased a copy for EVERY SBA OFFICE in the nation! They wanted everyone to have access to it. What more can we say than that?

If you are open to paying less for job costing and getting more, look into A-Systems JobView. Obviously, this is my opinion, someone who sells job costing to construction companies every day. I am "tooting my own horn", but the first call I answered this morning was from a company that was looking for an alternative to QuickBooks for their construction company. I told them about the Small Builder Advantage Edition of JobView, pretty much saying what I wrote here and they bought JobView on the spot!!!

That says it all. I hope you have the information you were seeking.

Arnold

jtees4 wrote: