Please refer to the table below for a side by side comparison of Payroll Mate 2018 vs QuickBooks Desktop Payroll.
| Feature | Payroll Mate | QuickBooks Desktop Payroll |
| Price | Price per year is $119 (as of December 8, 2017). No monthly fees. Up to 10 companies with 75 employees per company. So if you have for example 30 employees then you pay $119 for one calendar year. | Intuit QuickBooks Enhanced Payroll is $39 per month plus $2 per employee per month(as of December 8, 2017). So if you have for example 30 employees then you pay $1,188 per year. |
| Trial Software | Free trial download by going to Payroll Mate Download Page. | Free 30 day trial on the Intuit QuickBooks website. |
| W2 Filing | Payroll Mate prints the employee copy on regular white paper and the SSA copy on pre-printed forms. Users can buy Payroll Mate option # 1 for $25 which adds the ability to Payroll Mate software to print government-approved substitutes for Forms W2 (Copy A) and W3 on plain white paper using inkjet or laser printer. | Print W-2’s for employees and for the SSA (Fed copy) on regular white paper. |
| Tax Tables Update | Auto update through the internet or by manually installing the latest version from a CD. | Auto update mechanism built into the software. |
| Federal income tax withholding | Yes | Yes |
| Social Security tax withholding | Yes | Yes |
| Medicare tax withholding | Yes | Yes |
| FUTA tax Support | Yes | Yes |
| SUTA tax Support | Yes | Yes |
| MICR Check Printing (Print checks to blank check stock) | Supported through Payroll Mate Option #4 (MICR Ink Check Printing) for $50 extra per year. | Not supported. There are third-party applications that can integrate with QuickBooks that allow for MICR check printing. |
| Per Mile Pay | Yes | Yes |
| Per Piece Pay | Yes | Yes |
| Agricultural Payroll | Yes | Yes |
| Church Payroll | Yes | Yes |
| Form 941 Support | Yes | Yes |
| Form 940 Support | Yes | Yes |
| Payroll Reports | Comprehensive range of reports including Journal Summary, Journal Detail, Tax Liability, Deposit Requirement, Employee Earnings, Employee List, Payroll Totals, Payroll Detail, Pay Periods and Leave Hours. Reports can be printed, exported and emailed. Each report comes with the advanced options to specify the pay period being covered, list of employees and other parameters. | Powerful set of reports such as the Payroll Summary report which includes Employee wages, taxes, and adjustments; Employee sick and vacation time; Net Pay and Employer taxes and contributions. |
| Vacation Pay | Yes | Yes |
| Sick Pay | Yes | Yes |
| Form 1095-C Filing | Through a separate software called 1095 Mate. | Intuit QuickBooks does not offer 1095-C reporting, however there are a number of third party providers with ACA filing solutions that can import from QuickBooks. |
| Video Tutorials | Payroll Mate has a dedicated tutorials website (payrolltutorials.com) with both videos and downloadable step-by-step instructional material. | Intuit offers training with easy How-To-Use video tutorials and visual guides that walk you step by step on how to do various tasks in QuickBooks payroll. |
| Backup / Restore | Yes | Yes |
| Export to Quicken | Yes | NO |
| Contact Information | 1-888-679-1150 , sales@realtaxtools.com, Payroll Mate website | 1-877-202-0537 |
When you operate a business, regardless of sector or industry, you have to keep a variety of balls in the air at once. One of those balls is payroll. After all, without your employees, you likely could not stay in business. While your employees may very well enjoy what they do, they also depend on their job for their livelihood and need to be paid accurately. Payroll administration is one those tasks that is so cumbersome. It can keep most business owners awake at night. In addition to making sure you have enough cash reserves to meet payroll each pay period, you must also make sure you meet a multitude of federal and state reporting requirements. That is not even including the need to administer fringe benefits, handle wage garnishments, and keep all of that data secure. It’s little wonder that payroll administration is the bane of most business owners’ existences.
Payroll software can help to eliminate many of these problems while giving business owners and their accountants more peace of mind. In the past, many business owners tried to rely on generic accounting programs, but the problem with such programs is that they are not designed specifically to handle payroll.
This can prove to be particularly problematic if you are in a specialized industry that might have unique payroll administration needs. For instance, suppose you employ a large number of independent contractors, or you pay certain employees commissions. Whatever the case may be, you need to make sure you have a payroll solution in place that will fit the unique needs of your business. This is exactly what a payroll software solution can do.