PayCycle

Average Customer Rating: (1 customer rating)

The Quick Take

Breaking news (June 2, 2009): PayCycle has announced its intention to be acquired by Intuit for $170M.  The acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter of 2009, so if you are a customer of either service, it's unlikely anything should change significantly for you between now and then.  Sometime after that, customers of both PayCycle and Intuit Online Payroll can expect to see changes in product and pricing. BizSnap will continue to monitor the situation and keep our readers posted.

PayCycle is the oldest online payroll service provider and provides a very strong product at a reasonable price. While there is no one right answer for every business, many companies will find that PayCycle is the best option. PayCycle won the recent PC Magazine Editor’s Choice, beating SurePayroll and Intuit Online Payroll. Note, however, that PayCycle only supports e-filing of state taxes in 40 states plus the District of Columbia; if you happen to be in one of the other 10 states, consider SurePayroll which covers the entire country.

Key Features

• Smooth setup process aided by plenty of wizards and online help.
• PayToday allows running payroll the same day you set it up.
• Integrated with MS Money, QuickBooks for Mac, Peachtree, NetBooks, ATX, TaxWise, CCH ProSystems, and ProfitKeeper.
• Self-service web site allows employees to check their payroll stubs online.
• Very strong online help system, with phone support on weekdays and email support on Saturdays.
• Multistate support simplifies payment and filing for employers whose employees are spread across multiple states.

PayCycle – Payroll Packages

Details

PayCycle claims to be the oldest web-based payroll service provider, founded in 1999 by two Intuit colleagues (Rene Lacerte and Martin Gates) who had led Intuit’s QuickBooks into the payroll services arena. PayCycle now claims thousands of customers in all 50 states.

Setup is relatively simple thanks to helpful wizards that guide you through the process, with online help if you have questions. The tax setup interface streamlines the process by suggesting reasonable default numbers for state deposit schedules or filer status in case you don’t know them during setup (you can always change them later). Once you have set up payroll, actually running it is a snap. The overall look and feel of the site is simple and clean, though not particularly aesthetic.

PayCycle allows exporting data to QuickBooks, Quicken, and Peachtree, but offers especially tight integration with Microsoft Money, a PayCycle partner.

Other Services

None. PayCycle specializes in online payroll.