QuickBooks vs Sage payroll

QuickBooks vs Sage payroll

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I want to offer a payroll bureau service to my clients. Top of my consideration list for the software are QuickBooks and Sage but there are significant advantages and disadvantages of each. For example, QuickBooks has an attractive pricing structure and if anything like the accounting side, very user friendly and very "open-item" but has to be integrated to the accounts program. Sage works out to be more expensive but I have heard their support is very good (both technical and payroll related). Can anyone suggest what the best solution would be on balance? Is there another that I should consider?

Ian Parker

Replies (22)

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Stephen Quay
By squay
17th Nov 2005 11:20

TAS Payroll Manager
I have used TAS software since 1994. As a TAS accountants club member I receive all their software for a annual fee which is great because I use it everyday, both TAS Books and TAS Payroll. The payroll is easy to use and as a member you receive a copy of multi company unlimited employees so its ideal to run as a bureau service to clients.

If you don't wish to become a club member or do not qualify then you can licence it in multicompany mode for different employee numbers whilst unlimited is the most expensive obviously.

TAS software is easy to use and does the job well. You can also download a demo and try it for free.
http://www.tassoftware.co.uk/freedemo.asp

or visit TAS for prices and details
http://www.tassoftware.co.uk

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By Bryden
17th Nov 2005 11:49

Tas
I've used Tas payroll and book-keping for several years on a multi company basis. I'm currently running circa 20 payroll clients, and filed on line this year with no hiccups at all.

The programmes are intuitive, and Tech support is generally very good.

Also as a club member, I get all the latest multi company versions free on updates, and the cost is reasonable.

I tried Iris last year, and by comparison found the programme uninspiring and lacking many of the facilites taken for granted in Tas.

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By stirfry
18th Nov 2005 13:29

CalcPay
Angie said
I had a quick look at Calcpay but managed to make the demo version fall over within 10 minutes! I'm sure it's me, but I think I need something a bit more 'bullet-proof'.

Thanks for trying it out. I'm aware of a problem that when a search is done with no employees it will bomb. This is fixed in the next upgrade.
If this was not the problem then please call or email me. I like to give out a wee prize for bugs that are found as this will make CalcPay more robust for future clients. Despite a lot of testing it inevitably is the client that gets hit with bugs.
Please note that there is free support for getting CalcPay up & running.
Also note that it is a Scottish wee.!

01250874580
[email protected]

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By coolmanwithbeard
17th Nov 2005 13:46

QuickBooks for payroll
I have used Iris and QB

QB has really tidied up its PAYE now and achieved the IR standard.

The only hole is that there is no net to gross calculation. It will run happily as just a PAYE package - you don't need to account beside it. If you need support there are those of us who offer it if you find the "official" support a little lacking. Feel free to mail me or find a Professional Advisor in you area from the website.

Iris used to be a great programme when it was Freeway PAYE Master - but since Iris took over the price has gone up and the software does the job - but has not really advanced - It is being left behind.

I have not used Sage in bureau mode but it did a 75odd employee payroll I looked after well. AFAIK it only links with Line100 not 50 so check that out.

Mike
www.quickbookshelp.co.uk

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By rc.falconer
17th Nov 2005 12:28

What about the csutomers?
In all of the replies no one seems to mention the customers! As an accountant in industry having used bureau services, paid the auditors and run payrolls in house I think that an important consideration is what your potential customers want. If whatever package you choose produces payroll journals that that take forever to input it is a problem. If you get a nice succinct document preferably with nominal codes shown life is easier.

I don't know if Sage payroll posts direct to Line 50 - if it does and your potential clients use Line 50 then that must win hands down.

Summary - find out what your customers want. If you fail on this the software cost and time are wasted.
Richard

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By RAFF
17th Nov 2005 12:39

Sage Payroll Bureau
Other than price and support, you should consider the reports side. We have used Sage for many years and and despite always buying the latest versions, we are still frustrated at the inflexibility of it s reports. A typical report we might want to run would be a payroll summary for say Jan to December for use on an Audit, but amazingly unless you are able to write your own report using Sage Report Writer (Which requires a lot of patience) you cant get it. Sage's recent versions allow historical reporting but always include silly figures such as Gross pay earned in previous employments!
We have invested so much time and effort into Sage payroll that it is difficult for us to now change, so chose carefully!

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Morph
By kevinringer
17th Nov 2005 12:21

QTAC and PTP
We've been using QTAC for a few years as a bureau for about 20 employers. Though QTAC does the business, I find some parts cumbersome and each year's software is taking longer to load, even on a 2.5 GHz XP PC. But the software does work, including efiling P14/P35 (no facility to efile anything else) and support is pretty good.

Does anyone use PTP? We use their tax software and find the software and support excellent.

With so many suggestions it can be difficult knowing what to do next Ian. How about getting demo versions and trying for yourself? Both QTAC and PTP give demo software, no doubt others do too.

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By AnonymousUser
17th Nov 2005 16:50

Iris
Since the latest upgrade of Iris from 4.6.1 to 5.something I've been having lots of problems. The facility to export to a .csv file has disappeared and it doesn't seem possible to look back at backup files unless you overwrite your existing data - dangerous in my opinion.

I had a quick look at Calcpay but managed to make the demo version fall over within 10 minutes! I'm sure it's me, but I think I need something a bit more 'bullet-proof'.

Running 80 licences with up to 200 employess per client I'm currently favouring Sage -particularly as I'm told the integrated report writer in version 12 will allow me to design my own reports and export them directly to Excel.

To be honest I'm dreading the whole changeover, but Sage support does seem to be very good (fingers crossed) based on conversations I have had with them so far.

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By AnonymousUser
17th Nov 2005 18:13

No mention of Pegasus or Intex
The replies to this query are interesting, partly as they make no mention of any Pegasus product or Earnie 32 from Intex.
These both have a reputation as well established Payroll systems, widely used by Bureau services. Earnie has some specific features for payroll bureaus (batch printing of payslips etc, and ability to output N/L update files for a variety of acctg systems). But Pegasus works well and is fairly flexible.
I've no axe to grind on any particular system, I just thought it was odd that two systems with '000s of users weren't getting a mention.

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By User deleted
16th Nov 2005 10:42

I'd go for Sage, I think
For bookkeeping I use and recommend QuickBooks for reasons such as pricing, ease of use & reporting features. Having recently started using Sage Payroll I think I prefer it because of some of the reasons that I dislike the bookkeeping software! For payroll I rather like the discipline which Sage enforces & the need to close-off periods etc. For me that works well for payroll but I would not want it for my bookkeeping! Of course, using 2 separate non-integrated programs presents it's own problems.

Colin

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By spyderbryin
12th Nov 2005 14:37

Considered Outsourcing ?
I'd recommend Quickbooks for ease of use. No need to finalise after every period, and far easier to use in general than Sage. I agree that support is poor, particularly when compared with Sage, but then you pay for it!

Have you considered outsourcing? These people work anonymously for several accountancy practices.

www.comp-pay.co.uk

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By AnonymousUser
16th Nov 2005 11:37

Thanks
This has been really helpful as I am considering changing software following an upgrade of my existing software, which I don't particularly like or trust.

Having spoken to Andica the prices I was quoted are quite different to those shown in this thread, but that maybe because I need 80 licences and more than 99 employees per company?

Can anybody advise me on the Sage Payroll Bureau software? Is it fairly straightforward to use?

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By User deleted
10th Nov 2005 18:41

DOSH
I think alot of people tend to opt for Sage with their far superior support.

I use DOSH payroll for my practice and to sell to clients. I really think it is super - very easy to use and competitively priced with excellent backup.

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By dclark
10th Nov 2005 19:39

QTAC
Ian

There is no right answer. There will be detractors and supporters of both products. You've identified some items, but only you can give weighting to each of how important each item is and therefore as counting towards the best choice.

I would suggest QTAC as an alternative. Bristol based. Excellent payroll. Very competitive prices. www.qtac.co.uk We use it, as do some of our customers

Kind Regards

Daniel Clark
Ryba Macaulay Ltd
[email protected]

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By neilglos
10th Nov 2005 22:03

Iris
Hi

Have you considered Iris PAYE master.

Its more affordable than sage, especially for multi-company/bureau versions.

www.iris.co.uk

Neil

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By AnonymousUser
11th Nov 2005 08:41

Moneysoft very easy to use and very reasonably priced - Quickbooks is not as easy to use and the support is questionable.

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By AnonymousUser
11th Nov 2005 13:50

Calcpay
www.calcpay.co.uk downloas a free evaluation copy, i use it and have found it to be very good,

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By acctsoft
11th Nov 2005 15:34

Andica Payroll Software
Hi Ian

Have a look at Andica Payroll Software http://www.andica.com

The software is competitively priced and provides a selection of employee bands. Call or email for full working evaluation software CD.

Here is a brief comparison between Sage Payroll, QuickBooks and Andica:

Multi Companies:
(Price comparison for 100 employee software)
QuickBooks provide 99 companies as standard within the price of £100 per annum. You will also need to purchase QB accounts software. QB Regular accounts software with Payroll option costs about £200. http://www.accounting-software-shop.co.uk

Sage Payroll provides 1 company as standard at £350, additional companies are charged at £100 for 1st additional company thereafter £50 per company (up to 10)

Andica provides 1 company as standard at £169+VAT, additional companies are charged at £25 for 4 additional companies thereafter £25 for bands of 5.

Number of employees (per company):
QuickBooks - 99
Sage - 50, 100 or unlimited employees packages.
Andica – 10, 25, 50, 100 or unlimited employees packages.

Support includes:
QuickBooks – telephone support, legislative updates (£100 p.a.).
Sage – telephone support, legislative updates (from £250 p.a.)
Andica – telephone support, legislative updates, software version upgrades (from £59 p.a.)

Links to Accounts:
QuickBooks – QB accounts software required.
Sage – Stand alone (can be linked to Sage accounts)
Andica – Stand alone, no links necessary.

Software upgrades:
QuickBooks – Must upgrade every 2-3 years at full software price.
Sage – new versions every year, upgrades not necessary if new feature are not required, prices start from £250 or free with SageCover Extra
Andica – free upgrades included with support.

Hope this is useful.

Bharat Vithlani
Andica Ltd
0870-766 1515
[email protected]

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By stirfry
17th Nov 2005 11:10

CalcPay payroll specialist
Perhaps Angie would like to know that CalcPay would cost her £99.00 for her 80 licences & more than 99 employees per company.
She could also email the payslips as an encrypted PDF file to her clients for printing, either directly onto a Sage payslip or one of our more sophisticated plain paper payslips.
Our next update will include a hours worked analysis.
[email protected]

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By Andy Reeves
17th Nov 2005 11:04

Join the Sage club
We joined the Sage Accountants Club and get reduced rates and better support.

The need to close each period in Sage is to stop untrained users missing periods entirely and is very much needed in my experience.

I have never seen any good software by Quickbooks and personally wouldn't touch them even with a very long pole. Still, some people swear by it so I must be missing something.

Some clients use Iris, and they seem very happy with it. Whether it is any good for a bureau, I cannot comment.

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By stirfry
11th Nov 2005 14:26

CalcPay allows you to have 99 clients for £99.00, unlimited employees, Accredited. Does NOT use .net, only 2 files are registered with windows, (help & zip). Small clean installation. In the process of getting 'Compliance' ie the ability to produce a file for the IR PAYE audit. Videos & pictorial help files on the web page.
Try it, if you don't like it just zap the calcpay folder.
http://www.calcpay.co.uk
[email protected]

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By tomtrainer
11th Nov 2005 10:02

QuickBooks, Moneysoft, and IRIS
I have used both Moneysoft and IRIS, and would never recommend IRIS. Moneysoft is better in every way and, I believe, cheaper too.

Also, the Moneysoft help line (an 0845 number) is cheaper than the IRIS one (an 0870 number).

QuickBooks is a good accounting package, but I wouldn't bother with the payroll function.

QuickBooks support is virtually non-existent.

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