QuickBooks Desktop Payroll: Enhanced vs Assisted vs Full-service

There are small business owners who prefer systems that are installed directly on computers rather than web-based systems. To cater to their software needs, Intuit QuickBooks has desktop versions of its accounting and payroll solutions. QuickBooks Desktop Payroll offers three options: Enhanced Payroll, Assisted Payroll, and Assisted Payroll plus QuickBooks Enterprise Diamond (its full-service package).

• Enhanced Payroll: Best for QuickBooks Desktop users with a handful of employees that handle payroll tax payments and filings themselves to save money.
• Assisted Payroll: Best for QuickBooks Desktop users wanting automated tax filings.
• Assisted Payroll plus QuickBooks Enterprise Diamond: Best for QuickBooks Desktop users that want a full business management software package—from accounting and inventory management to time tracking and payroll.

QuickBooks Desktop Payroll at a Glance

*As of this writing, this pricing info is valid for new users and is applicable only for their first year of using QuickBooks Enterprise.
**Max of four pay periods in a month.

QuickBooks Desktop Payroll: Which Version Is Better?

While all three options offer efficient payroll tools, we recommend QuickBooks Assisted Payroll as it comes with payroll tax filing services. It is optimal for small business owners who want to outsource payroll tax administration since QuickBooks will handle all of your tax payment and tax form submission needs, including year-end reporting. It even comes with a tax penalty guarantee: QuickBooks will pay any late filing penalties—if you provided the correct information on time and have sufficient funds in your account to pay taxes.

While Assisted Payroll is pricier than the Enhanced Payroll option ($109 monthly plus $2 per employee, per paycheck vs $50 plus $2 per employee monthly), the former takes the stress away from having to worry about filing payroll taxes yourself. This enables you to focus more on building your business and less on day-to-day payroll administration tasks.

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When to Use QuickBooks Desktop Enhanced Payroll

QuickBooks Desktop Enhanced Payroll is best for small business owners with fewer than 50 employees—ideally no more than a handful or so—that have simple tax filing needs. It allows you to process payroll in-house for less than half the cost of QuickBooks Desktop Assisted Payroll. Enhanced Payroll also makes it easy to calculate paychecks, print checks, and submit direct deposit payments. While you have to remit tax payments and submit tax forms yourself, the software has e-payment and e-filing capabilities to help streamline the entire process.

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When to Use QuickBooks’ Full-service Package

If you want to improve business productivity and don’t have a limited budget, this package provides you with the essential tools you need to streamline several key processes. Aside from payroll, you are granted access to QuickBooks Enterprise Diamond, which includes a suite of integrated solutions for managing accounting, invoicing, job costings, inventory, and employee attendance. It also comes with all of the features included in QuickBooks Payroll Enhanced but with payroll tax filing services.

Visit Assisted Payroll plus QuickBooks Enterprise Diamond

When to Use an Alternative to QuickBooks Desktop Payroll

QuickBooks Desktop accounting software users have other options for handling payroll. If you’re looking for an alternative to QuickBooks Desktop Payroll and want cloud-based tools, we recommend QuickBooks Online Payroll. All of its plans are full-service, meaning they come with automatic payroll calculations, including payroll tax filings and year-end reporting. The software is also easy to set up and has fast direct deposit options (such as next- and same-day payments).

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QuickBooks Desktop Payroll: Pricing

QuickBooks Desktop Payroll has three options with monthly base fees that range from $50 to more than $300. You also have to pay per-employee fees that cost anywhere from $1 to $5 either on a monthly or per paycheck basis.

• Enhanced Payroll: $50 plus $2 per employee monthly
• Assisted Payroll: $109 per month plus $2 per employee, per paycheck
• Full-service: Starts at $301.50 plus $1 per employee monthly (for Assisted Payroll; max of four pay runs for each month) and $5 per employee monthly (for QuickBooks Time)

Enhanced Payroll is the more affordable option—provided you’re OK with DIY payroll tax e-payments and e-filings. If you have a slightly bigger budget, consider the Assisted Payroll tier as it includes 24/7 priority support and payroll tax filing services. Its full-service package may be the most expensive of the three plans but it bundles payroll with business productivity tools like accounting and inventory management.

Aside from monthly fees, a one-time setup cost of $49 will be charged to those who will get its Assisted Payroll and full-service packages. While these two options include automatic payroll tax filings, note that the service isn’t available in Wyoming and Indiana. If your business is located in these two states and you’re willing to switch to a cloud-based system, we recommend QuickBooks Online Payroll as it doesn’t have state tax filing restrictions.

Employee payments via direct deposits are free and you can use QuickBooks Desktop Payroll to print paychecks, but the paper check stocks cost extra. You do have the option to manually prepare checks, but you have to input the check number into QuickBooks for tracking.

QuickBooks Desktop Payroll Features

All three versions of QuickBooks Desktop Payroll allow you to create paychecks, pay employees by check or direct deposit, and generate payroll reports. You are granted access to the same desktop-based payroll software, wherein you simply input the regular work hours and overtime hours of employees into its system, and it will compute the applicable earnings, deductions, and tax withholdings. It can even track paid time off (PTO), workers’ compensation, and benefits insurance details.

Enhanced Payroll includes all payroll tax forms and the capability to submit tax filings and payments electronically. With Assisted Payroll and its full-service package, you only need to run payroll and then QuickBooks will file tax forms and make tax payments on your behalf.

Input your staff’s actual hours worked into QuickBooks Desktop Payroll, and it will calculate the employee’s pay. (Source: QuickBooks Payroll)

Best for Payroll Tax Processing: QuickBooks Desktop Assisted Payroll

Assisted Payroll takes away the burden of remitting tax payments and filing tax forms yourself since QuickBooks will handle this, including year-end tax reporting, for you. You even get faster direct deposits—next-day vs Enhanced Payroll’s two-day option. In addition to 24/7 priority support, you are granted access to a specialist who can help you set up payroll.

When to Consider QuickBooks Desktop Enhanced Payroll

If you have an in-house payroll staff who can manage simple tax payments and filings for fewer than 50 employees, then the Enhanced Payroll is for you. The system automatically fills in federal and most state payroll tax forms with the necessary information, so you don’t need to manually input employee tax details. Plus, QuickBooks makes the entire process easy and simple given its electronic tax payment and filing tools.

When to Consider QuickBooks’ Full-service Package

What sets this package apart from the two other QuickBooks Desktop options are its business productivity tools. It bundles its Assisted Payroll plan with invoicing, accounting, time tracking (Elite version of QuickBooks Time), job costing, and inventory management tools, enabling you to easily manage key business processes without having to purchase separate solutions.

It also comes with next-day direct deposits, payroll tax filing services, and 24/7 support. Salesforce users can even connect QuickBooks to Salesforce through its “Salesforce CRM connector” feature. This service, as provided by DBSync, offers a single data source between sales and support that allows you to generate invoices faster and serve customers better.

QuickBooks Desktop Payroll Ease of Use & Customer Support

Best for Ease of Use: QuickBooks Desktop Assisted Payroll

QuickBooks Desktop Assisted Payroll is the easiest to use because you just review the hours worked by employees, run payroll, and pay via direct deposits (or print paychecks)—then QuickBooks will handle payroll tax payments and filings for you. This is unlike QuickBooks Enhanced Payroll, which is more hands-on, although tools for creating payroll tax forms and making tax payments are straightforward.

Of the three options, the Assisted Payroll plus QuickBooks Enterprise Diamond option requires the most significant effort, mainly because it comes with a lot of solutions. Aside from payroll and time tracking, you are granted access to accounting, invoicing, job costing, and inventory management functionalities. This might be overwhelming for new QuickBooks Desktop users and system administrators.

Best for Customer Support: Assisted Payroll and Full-service

In terms of support, all three QuickBooks Desktop Payroll plans include the full suite of support features, including FAQs and online how-to guides. All of its plans also come with unlimited live customer support through telephone or chat. However, if you need help setting up your payroll and 24/7 customer assistance, consider either of QuickBooks Desktop Payroll’s two higher tiers. The Enhanced Payroll plan doesn’t include payroll setup assistance and only comes with standard weekday support.

QuickBooks Desktop Payroll User Reviews

There are very few up-to-date user reviews about QuickBooks Desktop payroll products as of this writing. The positive reviews we found center around how easy it is to use. On the other hand, some said that there is room for improvement in customer support quality. A few also complained about its expensive pricing.

How We Evaluated QuickBooks Desktop Payroll Plans

In evaluating the different QuickBooks Desktop Payroll options, we looked at pricing, ease of use, and user reviews. We also compared features, the type of support offered, and whether it offers a tax penalty-free guarantee. Ultimately, good payroll services should help you do payroll from beginning to end, starting with calculating payroll checks and ending with filing and making payroll tax payments.

Bottom Line

QuickBooks Desktop users have three options for adding payroll functionality to its accounting platform. Enhanced Payroll provides a complete set of payroll functions for preparing and e-filing tax forms. Assisted Payroll takes payroll tax filings off your “to do” list by taking care of processing and submitting tax forms and making payroll tax payments, while providing a no-penalty guarantee. On the other hand, its Assisted Payroll plus QuickBooks Enterprise Diamond package provides you with all the tools you need to manage several business processes—from payroll and time tracking to accounting and inventory management.

Among these three plans, we recommend QuickBooks Desktop Assisted Payroll. It has all the tools employers need to create paychecks, pay both employees and contractors, and automatically calculate earnings, deductions, and tax withholdings. It also comes with tax payment and filing services, including access to 24/7 support—making it a good option for small business owners who prefer a desktop-based payroll solution.

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