Most pleased... intuitive and easy to use

Exceptional. Easy to use. Quick response on questions.

Pros

Intuitive, flexible, suits all my needs, takes care of the IRS, W2s, 1099... I love it.. Would cost me four times as much to even think about having a bookkeeper do this for me.. Excellent for small non-profit and for entrepreneurs.

Cons

Not really any. Took a little time to set up, but that is expected.

Patriot Payroll for small business

it does what i need it to do. I recommend it for small businesses with simple payroll needs

Pros

Nothing beat the price. It does what any small businesses need it to. not to mention, the additional 1099 feature and contractor payments.

Cons

Not as user friendly as their competitors such as gusto

great product at a reasonable price

We have had excellent service we have had 2 small issues with filings but the support team took care of everything as soon as I alerted them

Pros

This software was so easy to set up everything went smooth and we were up and running in about an hour

Cons

haven't really run into any cons after 14 months using the system

Overall please with our switch from Quickbooks to Patriot

Overall we have had a great experience with patriot, we had quite a few issues with the transition over (mainly due to the fact we made the switch in the 4th Qtr of 2019 so there was a ton of data to be entered). Because of the amount of data and timing we have had several issues with our tax filing from 2019- but what I love the most about patriot is that they are the most accessible help line that I have ever came across in the business world, you rarely wait on hold for longer than 10 minutes and it has never taken them longer than a few hours to respond to emails- making problem resolutions very quick.

Pros

I love how organized it keeps all of our data and the ability to send our hourly time clocks straight to the payroll.

Cons

I wish that you could hide inactive employees from the reports drop downs, and wish that you could create groups within the reports so that you dont have to hunt and peck for certain employees when running reports. I also wish that there was a way for the managers to view hourly time clocks without needing access to the main admin account.

Get a real company to do your payroll

Pros

It is very inexpensive and takes on clients that have very few employees. Customer service reps are EXTREMELY HELPFUL, polite, and very knowledgeable of the program abilities and shortfalls.

Cons

You can cancel ANYTIME, but then you have to send all the State/Government taxes collect to their respective agencies with the appropriate paperwork. Patriot sends all the taxes back to you to deal with. Some taxes are due annually, due the end of January, so if you want Patriot to file it, you have to keep the subscription until that date. Nickel and diming. If you want them to track sick days, accumulated vacation days etc, it is included. If you want your employees to be able to track it through the online portal, that will cost you additional per month. Check out the list of add-ons to determine what is important to you. They offer QuickBooks import of data, but I have yet to see how anything matches anything on the bank statement. Like taxes are deducted from payroll, they show in a different month than the payroll, and the payroll imports as the gross amount which is not the amount sent to the employee by NatPay. If you use a dummy account in your accounting software (QuickBooks) to run all the payroll functions through, this will not bother you and your accountant will made the journal entry additional adjustments. I could not get my first payroll to reconcile, and it was determined that Patriot made an error and did not collect $ 3.60 in taxes somewhere. I am going with when the taxes were going to be sent to the agency, the error would have been found and corrected (depending on the tax agency, some are sent monthly, some quarterly, some annually.) The next payrolls were done correctly. NatPay is a 3rd party vendor that facilitates the employee direct deposit. If you enter a payroll incorrectly and want to cancel, even seconds later, Patriot says it is canceled, but you have to CALL NATPAY otherwise it goes through. Be sure to not miss the pop-up warning. I was advised they are working on a better solution to make sure it is clear what to do in order to cancel a mistake payroll that was submitted. The site is not all that easy to navigate. There are report and default options that may not be easy to locate how to set. Strongly suggest that you contact customer services and they will walk you quickly through the process. I have worked with 4 different Payroll service companies over the last couple of years. They are not all the same, they each have strengths and weaknesses and wide range of costs. From what I can tell, they all do the payroll functions of collecting and distributing employee payments and taxes correctly. The big difference, besides costs, is what they include in the base price, and if/how they enter this information into your accounting system like QuickBooks. With any payroll service, you always have the option to enter it manually into your system from the paystubs which ensure it is entered how you want it.

Patriot Software is the way to go!

My experience has been wonderful overall with Patriot Payroll. I am able to process my payroll easily and efficiently. I haven't needed external assistance because the system is so user-friendly that I am able to handle all of my needs on my own.

Pros

Patriot Software Payroll is very easy to use! It is very simple to make any adjustments to the employee files and also to print off any necessary reports. I can always find what I am looking for!

Cons

The only feature that I find frustrating, is when I am inputting the information for payroll and then I need to back out of the screen to update an employee file for whatever reason and all of my information that I have entered has to be deleted. It would be better if the information was able to be saved and then edited later, if needed. It is frustrating when you need to make one small change to one employee file and therefore you lose ALL of the input you put in for the other employees and have to re-enter all of the information.

Best option there is!

I use Quickbooks for my accounting but when I discovered that QBO could not send tax payments directly to the state of Iowa I quickly went looking for another option. Patriot made it quick and easy. I wish there were a few more options.

Pros

I like that the system is easy and straight forward. The price is right and it works for my situation here in Iowa.

Cons

There is basically no customer service available so when I have a problem I end up calling a friend with more experience. Additionally, if I schedule payrolls for months in advance to save time if there is ever a change due to insurance, termination, or bonuses it charges to modify. The software is what it is and nothing more. It would be really nice if it integrated with my retirement accounts as well.

So happy we discovered Patriot Payroll

Over the last year, we have moved about one-third of our customers to Patriot. It is a great alternative for our cost conscious non-profit clients and it gives an improved functionality over other Payroll processing software such as Quickbooks Online Payroll. We no longer have to worry about fixing payroll mistakes because the customer support is superior and I've never had an experience that wasn't helpful.

Pros

This software is easy to use. The Help section is extensive and procedures up to date. Customer support is timely and representatives are knowledgeable.

Cons

There are situations when pay period dates don't auto-fill. I'd like to see this functionality

Excellent customer service, great product, good pricing

Every time I've contacted customer service, they have been responsive and answered my question or solved my problem.

Pros

The full service payroll pays taxes and files returns automatically. I don't even need to check a box and "submit" or anything. I don't have to think about payroll after I create the checks. They even export/import to my accounting software without me having to do a thing!

Cons

Most of my clients are spoiled by having the payroll taxes deduct from their accounts when the taxes are due. With Patriot (and like most payroll services) payment for taxes comes out of their account immediately. This is only an issue (and a deal breaker) with some of my clients who have tight cash flow.

Ease of Use

Pros

Product is well designed with excellent explanations for non-accounting professionals. Turn key approach with government tax filings is super easy.

Cons

Integration between payroll and external accounting software like QuickBooks could be even easier. There are a few steps required.

Patriot Payroll is the best provider for the money.

Prior to coming to Patriot Payroll, I'd been with ADP for years and Paychex for years, both of which are large, cumbersome and over-priced. Patriot puts out a terrific product at a great price.

Pros

Ease of use. Low cost. Payroll tax returns, filings, and deposits handled by Patriot well.

Cons

A bit cumbersome to adjust specific employee withholdings while running payroll.

Great for tight budgets

Overall, Patriot has been a great tool and it freed me from the clutches of Intuit, maker of Quickbooks. I spend a fraction of what I used to pay Intuit and I get more features with better customer service. I also looked at Gusto and Paychex, but Patriot was the cheapest option with the most features, hands down.

Pros

I signed up as a Partner and got 50% discount off the retail rates. I like that the full service payroll handles all the tax remittances and reporting. Plus, I generated W-2s with the click of a button.

Cons

My biggest disappointment was the 4 day lead time on Direct Deposit. We typically set up pay periods to end on Saturday, so we had to run payroll on Monday in order to make direct deposit show up on Friday. That left no cushion of time and a holiday pushed the direct deposit back to the following Monday! The "solution" was to Prefund the Payroll by giving Patriot a "Deposit" that they used for each payroll and then "refilled" to the set amount. Luckily, this worked for my some of my clients, but many of them can't afford to tie up that much cash. This may be a deal breaker for some companies.

Patriot is an amazing platform for small businesses

I have been a customer for over 4 years. I left for a brief time thinking I could find something better but after only 5 months, I came back to Patriot. There short falls do not add up to their amazing customer service!

Pros

You can't beat the price point for the technology. it's a solid platform for a small business. They are constantly developing new features that enhance the experience. Their customer service is the best in the business, by far! I don't know how they do it but they hire the nicest most helpful people out there.

Cons

Their reports are somewhat limited and the ability to capture history for changes is non-existent.

Game Changer For Us

Pros

We like that we can white label the product. I am big in branding, so beng able to have this as white label, for me, is excellent. The software is easy to use, easy to onboard. The portal works great. We charge our customers, so being a royalty member with multiple clients, I get a good rate, and can always make money doing payroll. Also, it is residual, I always make the difference between what I charge and what I pay. They more clients I get, the less I pay, so the more i make

Cons

There are some features that I wish they had. Auto running payroll for companies that everyone is on salary. Also for sending out 401k, pension, etc, if they did that for us

Awesome Software and Support!

Overall, I am very pleased with Patriot Payroll and am very glad we choose to go with them for the payroll needs of our clients. I work with a lot of small churches and Patriot makes it easier to keep our cost affordable for them.

Pros

I love that is easy as an accountant to set up and use this payroll software without contacting support for every little thing...even tho their support is one the things I like most about this software! They are very responsive and knowledgeable ....most of the time =) I also like the price. It is the main reason I chose this software. Now I stay because it is awesome software as well =)

Cons

The integration with QBO is not very good. It creates a journal entry in QBO everytime payroll is processed, but we always have to go in and "edit" the JE as it doesn't let you choose classes or even liability accounts to map to =( I also wish it had a way to put some payrolls on "auto" that are always the same, but I heard a rumour that may be a future feature =)

Summary

Major benefit is Patriot is less expensive than ADP and easier to use.

Pros

To generate a payroll period, it is straight forward. I appreciate the fact of Patriot taking care of the tax filings. I also appreciated that they automatically added the FFCRA paid leave and paid FLMA leave . I greatly appreciate their customer service personnel. They appear to train them well and are actually helpful either knowing the answer/solution or will inquire with a supervisor to get an answer if at all possible. If not, they are great in following up with an answer or simply responding that they are still researching.

Cons

Navigating through reports could be improved by having a link on every report window to go back to the Report menu rather than having to use the side menu bar. When navigating EE time cards, it would be nice to have the dates appear at the top of the page as you scroll down to enter other hours to ensure you are entering on the correct day. I would prefer EE timecards would open to the pay period to be entered versus the next pay period due to the date they are entering their hours. Many people end up entering their hours in the upcoming time card versus the time card and time period still to be processed. Improvements to adding Group Term Life income at the end of the year could also be a suggestion. Some reports need to be enhanced utilizing the Department data they have recently added. It needs to be an option on which one sort on. Anniversary reports have difficulty calculating total time for EE who had a break in service.

Patriot Payroll, Perfect for small business's

Anyting you need to do for payroll, taxes, tax filing, W2's etc, it's all there. At the end of the year, print out your payroll and tax papers, give them to your tax preparer and your done. Literally in 10 minutes (including print time) your paperwork is done. They do it all for you!

Pros

When joining Patriot Payroll, I was sceptical about the cost and functionality. I have used 3 "big name" companies, and was always in disagreement about their products, pricing and what they actually did. When you need payroll, it was one cost, then if you needed reports, tax payments, and many other things, the costs just kept going up. Those costs avergaed $150 a month. Now I see why they are multi million dollar companies. As a small business owner, the bottom line is very thin and we always have to be aware in the cost for any service. When I started Patriot Payroll, I was eager to see if they in fact were a true value company, and in the first 6 months, it paid for itself. I am super happy as a customer. For one low price, they help you set-up your employee base, salaries or hourly wages, tax numbers, unemployment taxes and more. When you run a payroll, it really only takes me 3 minutes to complete one. Then when the taxes are paid, Patriot also does that and more. They process and send out my quarterly papers and pay all my taxes after linking to my bank. If you need any reports, they are at your fingertips. No longer paying another company extra when you need to get a duplicate employee payroll report. If your stuck and have no where to go, you call their customer service line or email them and within minutes you have your answer. I have referred many people to this company and for good reason. They are great! The name says it all. Patriot.

Cons

None that I can think of, and after many years of using, that's awesome!

Solid Tool, Some Shortcomings

Performing the payroll function is the easiest and best function. It has been simple to learn overall (with a few exceptions). Those items I had issues with the support team was great in assisting me directly (usually the chat function).

Pros

Ease of performing payroll functions that are beyond my capabilities. Enter all the data and it runs appropriately, collects the taxes, and keeps us legal and current on tax liabilities. These are all functions that would take significantly more time to accomplish without Patriot (and I would be uncertain if they were done correctly).

Cons

Several of the tools are difficult to use/understand how best to use such as the PTO/holiday accrual system, paycheck withdrawals, etc. I did figure out how to use them, but once I did, there were "orphan rules" I no longer needed/wanted and no way to delete them (and no way to make them do what I needed, which is why they were abandoned). The other issue I have had is the way PTO works (rules are limited and I need to make too many manual adjustments). Also, the turnover from 2020 to 2021 was challenging. I had to complete payroll yesterday (1/4/21) before COB and the Patriot Software had a glitch (per my conversation with one of the Patriot representatives) and we were not the only affected company. I did manage to push payroll through, but rather than 30 - 40 minutes running payroll, I spent most of the day. Fixing issues, answering employee questions, etc. On the timecard, I would like to be able to simply and easily enter 100 or more charging categories for projects. I'm looking for a new solution because there isn't really a simple way to administer that type of requirement in the timecard system

Accessible staff to help you get up & running/for ongoing support & very EASY to use.

I lost my payroll person when covid hit. I was stressed about this because finding anyone to take on more business when lockdown happened wasn't going to happen. Something about that virus caused a vast majority of people to stop working altogether, so it was a stressful time for me. Patriot software personnel did not stop working though. They were right there to ease that stress and keep my business up and running. They have been a blessing to me, and to my staff who have not stopped working. Had they not been there I probably would have closed since I find it very important for my payroll to be accurate. I can run payroll by hand in a pinch but I am not a bookkeeper so it's stressful and risky to do so. Especially with all of the changes with sick pay enacted. I would never have figured that out properly. This company is top of the line. They have the olden days touch of personal help, (I miss that so it's refreshing), with modern technology to keep things up to date. They saved this company, and I'll stay with them for as long as I'm in business if they will keep me:-)

Pros

Biggest thing initially - someone was there when I called to ask for help (when setting up one may have a question or two). When they answer they sound like they are right there with me, and are friendly and patient. Just amazing customer support, which tells me quarterlies & all other data will be accurate when it's submitted (they seem to really care). I love that all of my data is filed within their system as well. Very easy to use. It takes me less than 5 minutes to do payroll from inputting hours to printing out check registers. It does the hard work for you, so you can tend to the business you're running.

Cons

It's difficult to think of something negative because everything a business owner wants is there. If something has been challenging to me, (not experienced in payroll), I just call them up. My advice is to know what your State unemployment rate is when setting it up since this can be different for everyone, and know they are there if one gets confused.

Extremely easy to use - Excellent US-based support

Pros

I absolutely love how responsive Patriot's support is and it's US-based, which is a huge plus because of alternative language barriers or time zone issues. They offer phone, email and/or chat support with low to no wait times. I love how self-explanatory things are - it's easy to 'find' what you're trying to do in most cases, without enlisting the help of Support. Definitely saves me time and money versus using an overpriced and under-delivering PEO, that's for sure.

Cons

Patriot does not yet offer the ability to break employees out by department, which is particularly useful for reporting purposes, when entering info into accounting software such as QBO, etc. While I'm told they're working on this functionality, it's been 9 months since I was told this and am still not hearing updates on progress in rolling this out. But we have since come up with a feasible workaround and realize no single solution will do 100% of what you're needing, in almost any case. So it's not impacting our workflow in an overall negative way, it'd just be nice to have this when it rolls out.

Patriot Software

Customer Service is great . It's not always intuitive with where to find things, but over the year + we've used it they've made a few great improvments (like multi hour wages, and pto tracking).

Pros

We use Patriot Software in a wide variety of industries (restaurant, retail, day care, and more). I love how I can set it up for a client, and show them briefly how to run their own payroll. Very easy for simply payrolls.

Cons

My biggest pet peeve is the inflexibility of making tax adjustments. For Example: a restaurant where they pay out tips each night means that a check would be for sever hours only, usually about $40 for the week. The tips justify enough taxes that they end up with a negative paycheck. In any other system I can manually adjust the taxes held to get the check to zero or close. (the server ends up owing money at the end of the year). With PS, I have to come up with other options for getting the paycheck to zero (like getting the business to cover the taxes in the meantime).

Patriot Payroll has great customer service and is easy to use!!

This is a very user-friendly and inexpensive way to get payroll done. This software has saved our company a lot of time and money. I would recommend this product to small and medium-size companies.

Pros

The customer support is very effective and made Implementation process very smooth. The process for logging employee hours and applying deductions are very easy to understand and straightforward. This product has a very user-friendly UI that is clean and very intuitive, this makes reporting very flexible. This is a cost effective solution for small companies as long as you do not need extensive job costing integration into an accounting system.

Cons

The direct deposit functionality is very restrictive at times and they require that the payroll is processed by Monday for it to be distributed to the employee's account on Friday. Patriot Payroll does use ADP as a third party to do the direct deposits. This doesn't really work well with our paperless environment. After you have entered hours you can not go back and correct any mistakes you may have made on a payroll deduction. This is frustrating at times. You have to delete the entire payroll, edit the deduction and then re-enter the payroll. This makes the software feel very clunky, an alternative would be to approve the payroll void the incorrect check and then re-run another payroll.

Great for Small Business

Pros

Overall Patriot Payroll systems have been very user friendly for our small medical practice. Timecard features are easy to use for employees and payroll administration. Adding payroll features such as insurance deductions, 401(k) contributions and payroll advancement deductions are easy to implement and are immediately updated in the system. Patriot makes it easy to find payroll tax filings and keeping track of accrued time-off benefits for employees. I would highly recommend this software for small businesses looking for an easy-to-maintain payroll solution.

Cons

Some of the payroll tax integrations could be improved on a state-by-state basis. It's not as intuitive if an employee wants to make certain tax deductions (withholding more than just standard deductions). Also, if you have employees who often work at multiple sites, there's no easy way to select the location where the work is performed other than updating the employees profile and changing it on a daily basis when submitting your payroll. Also, it would be nice to have time-off accrual rules built in to the employee profile as opposed to going into the separate module for time-off rules, but this is a very minor issue.

Bang for your buck!

I had tried ADP and PAYCHEX before switching to Patriot. As a sole proprietor running a small business, I was not prepared to handle payroll taxes. ADP was so expensive, i felt. Paychex had me depend on a person to take my info and process it. That person was off one day when my payroll needed completed and i missed payroll! That didn't go over well. For the last few years we have used and fallen in love with the simplicity of Patriot. I input the numbers and it gives me a PDF to print onto my checks instantly. It's all I ever wanted.

Pros

1.) Its simple to use. 2.) Its cheap. 3.) Full featured but lets me print my own checks instantly.

Cons

I thought at first that Patriot was going to send out the Tax documents to my employees. But that wasnt the case. That was a bummer as i wasnt at first prepared. But it makes since that we should send them to know we meet our deadlines and have proof they were sent.

Customer Service and Features / Restrictions

Payroll rules and tax reporting / payments are simplified in one place.

Pros

This software was very easy to use, and as my business grows I am finding the necessary features needed are available to me. Whenever I have called customer service, I usually have gotten a person that is knowledgeable and is able to help me. There have been times that the person called has not been able to help me, and was able to escalate my issue to someone that could.

Cons

Changes to setting sometimes allow changes that are incomplete. In 2019, I added the accounting software to Patriot Payroll. I updated settings in "Payroll Integration Options" but missed some. I was able to save the partial data and run a payroll. When reviewing the accounting journal entry that was generated from the first payroll with the accounting software, I saw the JE generated was incomplete. If I had not checked to verify this JE was correct, this would have been difficult to track down later. This is a big miss, and there should be some warning or stop to prevent this (incomplete data) from happening.

Best Business Decision!

EXCELLENT COMPANY! I LOVE this company! I only wish other businesses were as easy and user friendly as Patriot!

Pros

I do not have a business degree but I have my own medical practice. I used other companies for payroll and they repeated made mistakes and were expensive. I switched to Patriot 2 years ago and have been so happy about my choice! The staff was very helpful getting set up and once I was set up, it is so easy to use! I would never return to the big companies! I recommend Patriot to all of my colleagues!

Cons

The ONLY con is that it takes 5 business days to get the payroll done, so if there is a holiday and we forget it falls in the middle of the week, I end up having to hand write the payroll instead of direct deposit.

Patriot Payroll Rocks!

Saving time and eliminating the risk and liability of missing deadlines for filing are the biggest problems I'm solving. I spend 10 minutes max every two weeks on payroll.

Pros

Having tried filing payrolls documents myself, I found it to be a nightmare of paperwork, made that much more difficult by the State of Maryland, who seems to thrive on making things complicated. Enter Patriot Payroll to the rescue! They make payroll easy and even stay on top of the ever changing requirements doled out by the State. A huge timesaver!

Cons

As a sole proprietorship, I don't have a lot of super complicated payroll tasks, so I likely don't take advantage of the many features. I can't think of anything that I'm lacking as it takes care of 401k, taxes, and all of the straightforward payroll items I need.

Great software and tremendous support

I love Patriot Software. The tech support is unmatched. I ALWAYS get issues resolved in one call. The software is easy to use, and the monthly billing price makes a huge difference for customers with weekly payroll. I have one client that is saving hundreds of dollars per month.

Pros

My clients love the fact that they can process payroll in Patriot (especially using direct deposit) and be done with it. Patriot handles direct deposit, federal, state and local tax payments and filings, generating W-2's, generating 1099's for contract workers, etc. It makes it all very simple.

Cons

There are really only three things I would like to see changed: 1. If you start a payroll and want to change ANYTHING for ANY employee, you have to abandon all that you have done, change the employee information, and start over. I have clients with 40+ employees and this is something that they dread. I can understand the challenges of allowing the underlying data to be changed, but if it could require just re-entering the employee whose information was changed, that would be huge. 2. If I am helping a client and I want to see what they are seeing, I cannot do it in Patriot. I would love to see a read-only mode for consultants so that we could see what our client is seeing. We do this by screen sharing now, but that is an additional hassle. 3. I would love to see an option to group the data that is downloaded to QB Online, but still shows detail. For example: list every gross payroll item, consolidate employer taxes into one entry, consolidate direct deposit withdrawals into one entry, consolidate employer and employee payroll taxes paid into one entry. I do this as a favor for some of my clients, but it would be great if it were done automatically.

Price vs Value

I like it over all, my only one concern for the size of clients I have is the 4 days direct deposit, I don't like neither my clients the other option of add funds to Patriot to have next day direct deposit.

Pros

The software covers most of the frequently payroll needs. The price is according for what you get. Customer service is quick response, helpful and kind. Easy to navigate between companies. Easy to set up, the steps guide you very well to avoid any error. Contains value information of how to get tax account from other states. The blog contains value HR information.

Cons

The 4 days direct deposit. It does not notify that the date to run is coming up. Prefund next day payment.

Basic Payroll for Small Business

For small business, it's a great value. We are Full Service Payroll customers so I can't speak on partial service. I understand there is some manual effort on your part if you take the partial service option. My CPA was amazed that Patriot does Full Service payroll for what they charge. Like the Accounting Software, it's pretty basic compared to Quickbooks but if you only have a a few employees it's not a big deal. I also like that if you have a payroll question on "Why is this happening" they can answer it. Sometimes the answer goes beyond the functionality of the software and that's ok that their team will do that. Customer Service is excellent. Highly recommend Patriot.

Pros

The full service payroll is totally "hands off". They do everything, including filing reports. For the price it's a bargain. I can run Payroll in less than 5 minutes. The Wizard works well. If you make a mistake, delete the run and start over. Software is highly Available, as it is in AWS as I understand. Have never had an unplanned outage. If you are looking at the Payroll, consider the Accounting package also as the integration is totally seamless.

Cons

The reports can be confusing, but that's not an issue with the software, it's because I'm not an accountant. YTD reporting could be a little better.

Great Product For Accountant Users & Business Owners

Overall a great experience and will continue to use in the future. It gets the job done and it definitely feels like the company continues to grow and expand the product, always in positive directions.

Pros

Pleasant to look at and navigate the UI; has an intuitive design that usually allows one to figure things out quickly; the reports are top notch; and integrates with QBO & XERO. Also, the Advisor program for accountants is intriguing and definitely a plus, though I haven't capitalized on that quite yet.

Cons

At times, certain functions and the design seem basic and possibly below par than the competition in terms of features and additional (though not essential) tools or options. But I'm ok with this since the product does everything I need it to do.

Patriot Payroll Above and Beyond!

Patriots customer service is great. Anytime I have had an issue they have responded promptly with a fix or at least information regarding the issue.

Pros

Patriot is very user friendly and cost effective. Payroll is very easy to run and reports are easy to find and put together.

Cons

There are a few items that could use some help: 1st - Payroll Draws could have a section on the payroll run versus backing out and having to go in under the employee first. 2nd - Having the option to pay out a bonus without zeroing out a salary and adding in hours. System requires a 0 salary but 1 hour to pay out a bonus. 3rd - The option to pay out a bonus with only social security and medicare. Almost all payroll companies offer this....what we have to do is change the W4 and then go back and add it back in...that can cause an error that could easily be fixed. Lastly - No timecard system for Monthly payroll processing. There is a weekly, semiweekly and bi monthly but no option for Monthly. There are still some out there that use this option to pay their employees and not offering a timecard system is a loss to patriot.

Best Customer Service!

Patriot provides a low-cost comprehensive payroll program that offers many of the features and benefits found in higher priced software. The customer service and support I have received when contacting the company is the best of any software we use.

Pros

Patriot is an easy to use, basic payroll program that allows the user to customize many aspects of their payroll processing. The customer service and support at Patriot are top notch!

Cons

I would appreciate more comprehensive reporting and the ability to somewhat customize report layouts to present the relevant information for the end user.

Payroll is best

Just finished our first year and have been really happy we made the change. Growing this portion of our business and we feel like we have a strong ally working with us.

Pros

Easy to use and set up. Customer service has been outstanding, we can get quick response to questions.

Cons

Some of the reports are a bit lacking. Minnesota need to file new hire reports, would be great if we could generate direct. Correcting or changing payroll in process need to cancel out, wish option was available to dial into tax to make changes.

The best decision!

Purchasing access to the Patriot Software program was one of my best decisions. In fact, I wish I had started sooner because it would have saved me a lot of time and money. I appreciate knowing when I call for tech support I will be able to speak with a person in a timely manner, and that person will be patient with me. I cannot imagine growing my business without Patriot Software.

Pros

I am both a scientist and an educator, not a business person by training. Patriot Software was recommended to me by my accountant. I primarily use the payroll features for my small business. It is so easy to use for both myself and employees. I appreciate the fact there is an employee portal. All of the features from running payrolls, to creating W2s is so user-friendly. And when I haven't been sure how to accomplish something the phone in teach support has been amazing. Aside from the product being a wonderful time saver for me to use, it also at a price point that is incredibly reasonable.

Cons

This is one of the rare items I have ever used where I have nothing constructive that should be changed. I have been thrilled with all aspects of the Patriot System.

Great payroll software!

Pros

I was able to scale up my needs without changing platforms or disrutping my currrent processes. When I hired one employee I was comfortable doing my own tax filings and paying taxes myself--Payroll ran the calcuations for me and I did the rest. As I scaled up, it made more sense to let someone else do the filing and tax payments for me so I switched over to full service payroll. It was a seamless transition and has been easy to manage. I still have plenty of control but know that deadlines are met and payments are made. I also really like that I'm not paying for services I don't need or don't care about.

Cons

It is occasionally difficult to figure out how to run reports to get certain information. In time, I've learned my way around but it doesn't always feel intuitive. However, the customer service when I do get stuck has been great! It is usually a longish wait on the phone but they are efficient and very helpful once I do get in touch.

Best support you could ask for

I am so pleased with Patriot. I am very happy that I moved my practice from SAGE to Patriot and I try to tell anyone who will listen that Patriot is a superb product

Pros

The software is very user friendly. but in the even that there is an issue, I have reached out to customer support and received EXCELLENT support anytime it is needed

Cons

There are a few quirks that you have to learn but nothing major. And the setup process can be a little stressful at times

Kicks Qickbooks aside for the value

It has been great , and the value and ease of access are phenomenal.

Pros

First of all, very affordable. Next, it is very easy to run payroll, the dates are already selected. I just put in the number of hours and download the pay stubs. The reports are very easy to use as well and come in extremely handy when paying taxes, especially at the end of the year!

Cons

I was going to say nothing until recently. A new employee started and she is working low hours however the software was not taking out a federal income tax for her. I realize that is a precaution against someone not being liable if they do not make enough, but it is a problem when the company owes monthly federal payments and the system does not accept a $0.00 when the obvious other taxes are being paid. I'm actually going to have to call customer service soon...

Saves so much time and has proved critical in 2020.

The software itself has worked flawlessly from my perspective. It's been nice saving a lot of time since we started using it at the start of 2020. The direct deposit feature is something we didn't have before, and that's been really nice.

Pros

We love being able to use direct deposit for our employees. Saves me time writing checks, and employees like it better. In 2020, it was so helpful having things automated for purposes of PPP loan forgiveness. It probably saved me 5-10 hours of work that would have had to be done otherwise. Also, the ease of generating W2s for 2020 was a great help. I no longer need to spend money on W2 forms and software every January. It is well worth the monthly fees, in my opinion.

Cons

I really can't think of any cons. I guess the only con would be having to pay for it monthly, but it is well worth the fees, and really I feel like it's a good value. I guess the only thing I would like to see is an easy way to show how many employees we had at any given pay period (for filing the 940 forms quarterly). I haven't seen how to do that in the reports section, so I just have to manually check the books and see how many checks I wrote for employees on any given pay period.

Outstanding Product

Customer service can sometimes seem limited and that is knowledgeable as you would like. But overall customer service just stand out for the willingness to try to meet the demand.

Pros

The software is exceptional in value As integration of employees and tax documents. Patriot software it’s a user-friendly and intuitive product that is easily and asset for any company organization.

Cons

Customer service can sometimes seem limited and that is knowledgeable as you would like. But overall customer service does stand out for the willingness to try to meet the demand

Easy to use and accurate

Pros

Payroll is easy. It takes just a few minutes and there are no hassles.

Cons

If you start a payroll, you can't go back and edit employee information without cancelling the payroll and starting over. Also, if you have some employees on direct deposit and others on paper checks, you have to set the pay date based on the constraints of direct deposit. You can't submit the direct deposit for Friday payment, and allow paper check employees to pick-up their checks as soon as they are printed. The checks will be post-dated.

Best Payroll Software Out There!

Pros

I have used several different payroll systems and Patriot is my favorite. It is easy to use and has a great price! All the reporting and paychecks are automatic, which makes it super easy for me, who is not an accounting expert. Our bookkeeper is a Patriot Partner and is fabulous with helping if we have any questions. As a non-profit, having less money go to payroll allows us to have more money to help our students.

Cons

Being super picky, the dashboard doesn't come up when you open the software. Also, in the employer portal, when processing payroll, I always have to change the date of the payroll in order to run payroll. Just an extra step.

Love Patriot

Overall, we are very pleased with Patriot Payroll. We moved from Quickbooks Payroll in 2018 and for the most part, it is great. Every now and then, we have something that comes up that is out of the ordinary, BUT Patriot is always able to work it out for us, other than the coding of taxes to more than one week. The reports are very self explanatory and very useful.

Pros

We like the ease of use of Patriot. We are a very small office, with only 9 employees and our payroll is basically the same every week, with the exception of hours changing, We have 2 salary employees and everyone else is hourly.

Cons

We wish there a way to code a specific payroll for a person that is a large item, like a commission so that the software would tax it for more than one week. The commission may be for more than one week, so it would be great it there was a way to specify to tax it for say 4 weeks. When I used ADP at a previous employer, they had that option and it was great.

Great software for new small businesses

It's been a good overall experience. I have been using the product since Jan 2018.

Pros

The software is easy to use. Customer service has always been responsive. It is less expensive than QuickBooks but has similar features. New features are frequently added throughout the year, and this includes adapting to new laws for Covid-19.

Cons

I cannot yet delegate the timecard approval to a manager without that manager seeing everyone's payroll including the owner.

Love Patriot - Glad I heard all the ads on the radio

positive, straightforward. Only needed to contact support 2x in the last year and their FAQs are to the point and easy to deal with.

Pros

easy, straightforward, simple to use, none of the things I don't want/need as a small business owner

Cons

I moved to Patriot because of all the things I disliked about GUSTO. I don't have any complaints about Patriot after a year of use.

The Perfect Payroll Solution for Us

This is a product that I cannot say enough about. and In the very few cases where I have needed assistance they have product support like I've never seen before. Patient, smart humans will take all the time I need to help me with any issue, without exception.

Pros

It is super easy to use from setting it up. Once set up it is quick complete and a truly perfect solution for a smaller business.

Cons

Not really a con, but sometimes I have to look around to find what I need, but it's all there and easy to use even for a non accountant.

I LOVE PATRIOT PAYROLL!!!

I love this software- it is clean, simple and very professional in the way it keeps up with tax and accounting laws. I love the COVID-19 features recently added- a good example of how invested Patriot is to making our work easy!

Pros

As a small business owner, I love having a comprehensive payroll system that not only accurately manages payroll for my team, but it "helps" me to follow laws (that constantly change) by having accurate data structures and helpful "tips" embedded right into the GUI.

Cons

Pulling reports is not as intuitive as it could be. My accountant can probably manage fine, but I am not a fiscal expert. It would be great to be able to pull reports that were labeled for non-financial users.

Small business user

Patriot saves me so much time! I have used their program for a while so I get the payroll completed in no time. With direct deposit, Patriot doing all the tax filings, easy to find and print reports, it really is a fairly priced payroll system that I highly recommend.

Pros

It is very easy to set up new employees and maintain current employees. Patriot added reporting needed to comply with the Payroll Protection Program during the pandemic which was extremely valuable. Tax filings are completed properly and on time. Having used a large payroll provider previously, and being treated as if my small company didn't matter, and the very high prices, I'm glad I found Patriot.

Cons

I do wish Patriot had better ways to get customer support. It can be difficult to get an answer and then you are waiting for a return email or call. One of the specialists told me they were short staffed and that is an issue all its own.

Small Business Owner

Very Good. Even though I had to work through some glitches with Owner Distributions, I would highly recommend Patriot.

Pros

I had used a large payroll provider prior to Patriot but did not need or use all the features since there were only 6 employees total. This is exactly what I was looking for. Does everything I need to have done and provide information to our accountant for Tax Returns. I also love that my employees can log into their own portal and it provides them everything they need on a personal basis.

Cons

As an owner who has paid employees as well as Distributions to the owner, I feel like the software needs more instruction on how to set up distributions. The first year I had the software, I was provided instructions on how to set up Owner Distributions but the deductions were still treated like I was a W2 employee. This caused me to have to file an amended personal TR. Patriot worked with me at a discounted charge but I would like to see better instructions for Owner Distributions.

Really good pros, not without cons

Some things that were easier on the old manual system (eg., changing the state UI rates as you have to every year) are frustrating on Patriot as you have to wade through multiple "help" categories and go through a whole multistep process. I found there will be a very good explanation on how to do anything you need to do SOMEWHERE but finding it can be challenging and time consuming. This was generally a better option than trying to get help from phone or instant messaging, however, and i was never able to email them questions - you will get dumped into FAQ land and have to log out and back in to get out of there. Overall, though , doing payroll is light speed faster.

Pros

Such a timesaver over doing the payroll manually like i have done for the last 35 years! The W2s and W3 was literally pushing a few buttons instead of spending hours calculating and documenting. Doing the paychecks is also a breeze after the initial setup.

Cons

The six month "free trial" is not real. It starts (non-negotiably) from when you express interest in signing up and with all the hoops they made us jump through, including opening a new bank account, it had expired before we actually got the program up and running. You also have to sign a waiver stating you are responsible for checking the reports to guarantee their accuracy. The only way i could realistically do that is do it manually and then what would be the point of paying for the software?? For Mac, the software does not seem to work as well as it must for PC. I had multiple problems in getting set up where i couldn't see the full screen or things were hidden or overwritten so as to be invisible and the help people could not help me at all, as even with supposed screen sharing they could not see what i was seeing.