technology
Streamline payroll processing for your farming business with one of these top-rated payroll software options. Our guide covers the features, pricing, and pros and cons of the best software options for farmers.
With the right payroll software, farm owners can focus on improving their productivity instead of worrying about calculating employee salaries, taxes and benefits. However, payroll software can only benefit your farm or agricultural business if you find the right product at the right price. Below, we review the best payroll software for farms in 2023.
SEE: A Complete Guide to Payroll Software
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| Vendor | Starting monthly price | Free trial | Time tracking | Automatic tax filing | Accounting software integration | Unlimited payruns |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OnPay | $40 + $6/payee | 30 days | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SurePayroll | $19.99 + $4/payee | 30 days | Yes | Yes (full-service plan only) | Yes | Yes |
| Intuit QuickBooks | $45 + $6/payee | 30 days | With some plans | Yes | With QuickBooks only | Yes |
| Gusto | $40 + $6/payee | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Patriot | $17 + $4/payee | 30 days | Additional fee | Yes (full-service plan only) | With QuickBooks only | Yes |
| Paychex | $39 + $5/payee | No | Additional fee | Yes | Additional fee | Yes |
Our star rating: 4.7 out of 5
OnPay is easily one of the best, most user-friendly small-business payroll software providers. Its comprehensive farming payroll software can handle the basic payroll needs of farm businesses across all 50 U.S. states. The software’s simple user interface makes it easy for new users to set up their accounts, add employees and process payroll with a few clicks.
The software has features that can automatically prepare Form 943. With OnPay, you only get charged for active employees to prevent additional charges for off-farm seasons. Your farm business can also leverage OnPay to process minimum wage rates for workers and approve debits from debit cards. OnPay also connects to key accounting solutions such as QuickBooks and Xero.
Check out our full review of OnPay’s payroll software.
OnPay costs a flat rate of $40 per month plus $6 per agricultural employee paid per month.
Our star rating: 4.7 out of 5
SurePayroll offers payroll and tax-filing services specifically tailored to small businesses operating on a budget. As a result, it is suitable for those small or growing farm businesses with agricultural payroll needs. SurePayroll doesn’t charge any setup fees or additional fees for unlimited payroll runs, allowing you to manage your payroll effortlessly and at a lower-than-average monthly cost.
With SurePayroll, farm owners do not need to struggle with the federal tax return for agricultural employees. The software also provides flexible payment options and payroll reporting both on desktop and mobile devices.
Learn more about whether SurePayroll will work for your agricultural business by reading our complete SurePayroll review.
SurePayroll offers two pricing options.
Our star rating: 4.1 out of 5
Intuit QuickBooks Payroll is a cloud payroll service designed to serve every type of business. The payroll solution has enough features to help farm owners automate their payroll needs. For instance, QuickBooks Payroll includes standard features like automated tax calculations and filing, benefits administration, reporting and unlimited payroll runs.
You can use QuickBooks Payroll as a standalone payroll software or integrate it with QuickBooks Online, one of the best, most popular accounting software programs for agricultural businesses across the United States.
To learn more about how QuickBooks Payroll works, read our complete QuickBooks Online Payroll review.
QuickBooks Payroll offers three plans:
QuickBooks Payroll offers new users either a 30-day free trial or 50% off for three months. (Waiving the free trial lets you accept 50% off for three months and vice versa—you can’t choose both options.)
Our star rating: 4.6 out of 5
Gusto’s payroll solution offers excellent payroll features that can simplify challenging payroll processing for farm business owners. The software can automatically file your payroll taxes across all 50 U.S. states, process benefits administrations and integrates with time-tracking software. It also provides unlimited payroll runs and next-day direct deposit.
Gusto’s tax filing covers all federal, state and local payroll taxes. This is done with e-file, e-sign and e-fax technologies, which ensures that everything is paperless and trackable. It also automatically prepares tax forms, including Form 943.
Learn more about Gusto’s payroll software by reading our Gusto review.
Gusto offers multiple agricultural payroll plans:
Our star rating: 4.3 out of 5
Patriot Payroll was designed with simplicity and ease of use in mind. Farm owners can leverage Patriot’s great features and lower pricing to manage payroll needs.
As a farm business owner, different types of work on your farm might call for different hourly rates based on the level of difficulty. Patriot takes care of this in your payroll by allowing you to add up to five different pay rates for each hourly employee.
In addition to running unlimited payruns, Patriot prepares your year-end payroll tax paperwork at no additional charge. Patriot is also known for its flexibility as you can end your contract with the platform anytime and choose whether to use the 1099 e-filing feature.
Find out more about Patriot by reading our comprehensive Patriot Payroll review.
Patriot offers two pricing plans.
Check out our full review of Patriot’s payroll software.
Our star rating: 4.0 out of 5
Paychex is a popular payroll option with multiple plans for many types of businesses. Farm owners can take advantage of Paychex’s automated payroll to calculate, file and pay payroll taxes accurately and effortlessly.
Farm business owners have the option of using Paychex on their mobile device or desktop. They can also enjoy flexibility with Paychex’s multiple payment options, such as direct deposit, same-day ACH and real-time payments.
Learn more about Paychex Flex by reading our Paychex review.
Paychex payroll offers three pricing categories:
Check out our full review of Paychex’s payroll software.
To pick the best payroll software for farms, we prioritized factors we considered crucial to running payroll in the farming industry. Some of the features we picked were the capacity to allow both mobile and desktop use, automated preparation of tax forms peculiar to the agricultural sector, the ability to customize payments to suit on and off seasons, contractor-based payments and the platform’s reputation.
These considerations helped us narrow down our list to the six payroll solutions above and provided enough insight for us to conduct a thorough review of each, highlighting some of their key features, advantages and disadvantages.
Learn more by reading our payroll software review methodology piece.
In addition to the points we highlighted under each software reviewed above, here are some tips to help you choose the best payroll software for your farm.
Before choosing a payroll software solution, evaluating your specific business needs is important. Consider factors like the farm size, the number of employees you have and your current payroll management process. Considering all these will help you decide on the best payroll for your farm.
After evaluating your business needs, the next thing is to closely examine each software’s features and capabilities vis-à-vis your business needs. If possible, make a payroll processing checklist and compare each feature with how it addresses the checklist. Ensure the software you choose includes key payroll management features like time tracking, tax filing and benefits management. You may also want to consider additional features like mobile apps and integrations with other software.
A payroll software might have the best features, but the delivery for end-users might ruin those features in ways such as complex setup, a clustered dashboard and latency issues during use. To get the hang of the platform, you might consider doing a demo or free trial before throwing in your money.
While it is not ideal to prioritize pricing over quality features or services, you should consider your budget for a farmers’ payroll service before making a choice. You may consider going for payroll software with flexible pricing plans or check with the vendor to know if you can customize the product to your specific needs. Taking this step will tailor the product’s price to your specific needs and ensure that you only pay for what you need.
Customer support is essential, especially for farm owners who may find themselves always busy working on the farm during weekdays and weekends. With this in mind, choosing a software solution offering reliable customer support beyond weekdays is vital. Therefore, look for a farm payroll software that provides phone, email or chat support, weekend support, and resources like user guides and FAQs.
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