Payroll can be a time-consuming task for small business owners. Payroll software can make it easier, and help businesses avoid costly mistakes. Patriot offers self-service small business payroll, and it is a solid choice for many small businesses. Find out whether it’s right for yours. 

What is Patriot Software?

Patriot offers affordable, user-friendly accounting and payroll software designed for small businesses. Patriot Payroll software allows employers to run payroll online. It offers free onboarding from USA-based customer support and transparent monthly pricing with no long-term contracts.

Is Patriot The Best Payroll Solution For A Small Business?

Patriot Payroll earns high reviews on review sites like Trustpilot for ease of use and expert support. It offers an excellent payroll plan for small and medium businesses with hourly or salaried employees, or both. 

The cost is affordable and competitive with, or less expensive than, most competitors. 

Small business owners may appreciate that the company was founded by small business owners who have experienced the pain of managing small business payroll and growing a business. 

Reasons Patriot May Not Be The Best Solution For A Small Business

While Patriot Payroll is a great solution for basic payroll, it may not be the right choice for every business. 

If your business has more than 250 employees, for example, Patriot may not be the best payroll software solution as it’s geared to small and medium-sized businesses. 

It is also only available for employees who work in the US. If you need to pay employees outside the US, you may want to consider another solution, such as Remote (see below). 

It’s also worth noting that Patriot only pays and files workers’ compensation for Washington and Wyoming. In other states, you can use Next Insurance, a free integration for Pay As You Go worker’s compensation. 

In addition, Patriot does not currently handle payments of custom deductions and contributions, such as wage garnishments, child support, retirement funds, insurance premiums, etc. While the software will calculate these deductions, the business will need to remit payment. 

You must have a business bank account for payroll. A personal bank account is not acceptable. 

Direct deposit will require either a 4-day or 2-day lead time. Businesses that need same-day direct deposit may want to consider another solution or explore payroll prefunding. 

How Does Payroll Work Using Patriot

You can try Patriot out with a free 30-day trial. Patriot offers cloud-based software so you don’t need to download software. Log in online, from your tablet, or on a smartphone to run payroll or reports. 

When you first set up payroll through Patriot, you can follow onboarding instructions but free payroll set up is also available from the US-based support team. 

Once you’ve set up employees in Patriot, it’s easy to run payroll. Enter employee hours (or use the optional Time and Attendance Software – for an additional cost). The information you use the first time will be used to prefill payroll for the next run. You can turn that feature off if you prefer to enter it manually each time. 

You can pay salaried employees, regular hourly pay, overtime, double time, vacation pay and more. You can also pay commissions, or other benefits like a cell phone allowance. 

Review and approve payroll. Optionally you can print pay stubs, paychecks or both. Eligible customers will be able to access free direct deposit; standard direct deposit takes 4 days and eligible customers may access 20-day direct deposit. Payroll will be deducted from the employer’s designated business bank account via ACH.

Employers can view and download detailed reports including contractor reports, check payment details, current pay rates, deductions and contributions, payroll register and worker’s comp wages. 

Your employees will also get free access to an employee portal they can use to view and update their personal information, view and print their pay stubs, add time worked (if using the Time and Attendance add-on) either by punching in and out or by manually setting their in and out times, manage their direct deposit information (including multiple bank accounts). 

Employees can also use the portal to manage their IRS W-4 form for IRS withholding and they can request their W-2 forms electronically at the end of the year. 

Employees can also run payroll reports, their time worked history and a time off history. 

You can pay contractors through Patriot, and if you do, it will e-File 1099s for those contractors (full-service payroll customers only). 

The Net to Gross Payroll feature is one your employees may appreciate. If you want your employee to take home a bonus of a certain amount, use this tool to enter that amount and Patriot will gross it up to cover the required amount of taxes. 

Overall, Patriot offers a simple straightforward interface that makes running payroll easier. 

How Are Taxes Handled With Patriot Payroll Service

It’s crucial that you file and make tax deposits on time. For full-service payroll customers, Patriot will file and pay local, state and federal payroll taxes. It will also take care of year-end payroll tax filings. 

Although Patriot files in all 50 states, if your business must file in more than one state there is a $12 fee for each additional state. 

Basic customers must file and pay payroll themselves. If you’re comfortable with that responsibility (or your accountant or CPA will handle it), you can choose the less expensive plan. The majority of customers choose the full-service plan and let Patriot take care of that task for them.

Pros And Cons Of Using Patriot For Payroll Processing

Patriot Pricing

Patriot Payroll offers two pricing plans:

Basic	File and pay your own payroll taxes	$17/month + $4/employee or contractor/month
Full-service Payroll	Patriot will file and pay payroll taxes	$37/month + $4/employee or contractor/month

There will be additional charges for these optional services:

Multiple States	$12/month for states beyond the first one
Time and Attendance Software	$6/month + $2/employee/month
HR Software	$6/month + $2/employee/month

Patriot Payroll Software Integrations

Patriot offers several key integrations, though not as many as some other payroll solutions. 

Accounting Software: Payroll can be integrated with Patriot Accounting software, but if you prefer to use QuickBooks Desktop or QuickBooks Online for bookkeeping and accounting, Patriot will integrate with those programs as well. 

Time & Attendance Software: Patriot’s Time and Attendance software is available for an additional fee. Again, it allows employees to clock in and out or manually enter time worked, and track time off. Alternatively, Patriot Payroll integrates with Quickbooks Time.

HR Software: Patriot’s HR Software is available for an additional charge. It provide additional human resources support by allowing employers to upload employee benefits information, track employee information and create employee reports. 

Worker’s comp: Next Insurance (formerly AP Integro) is a free integration for Pay As You Go worker’s compensation. (Businesses must purchase worker’s compensation insurance from the state in North Dakota, Ohio, Washington, or Wyoming.)

Patriot Payroll Software Alternatives

Patriot offers one of the least expensive payroll software solutions. There are other payroll software resources, though, that are similar in cost and may include other features.

Gusto Payroll

Another affordable payroll software, pricing starts at $40/month plus $6 per person/month for single-state payroll.

Paychex

Plans are competitive with Patriot’s plan, start at $39/month plus $5/month/employee

Online Payroll by Intuit QuickBooks

Full-service Quickbooks payroll starts at $75/month plus $5/employee per month with discounts for new customers. 

Square Payroll 

Square Payroll starts at $35/month plus $5 per month per person paid.

Homebase Payroll

Payroll starts at $39/month plus $6/month/person

Remote

International payroll is available by making Remote the employer of record for $599/month per employee.