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: 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.

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.

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.

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).

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.