OnPay review

OnPay is a neat option for any small businesses looking for a more streamlined approach to office administration tasks. The cloud-based software lets users amalgamate several chores into one workflow, with the focus primarily on payroll. However, OnPay can also be called upon to help you handle tax-related issues, HR duties and other miscellaneous office tasks too.

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More recently, the OnPay package has been carefully honed and adds in lots more functionality, which alongside its already generous suite of features leaves users with lots of options for managing their payroll more efficiently. While it’s not the cheapest cloud-based software package you can buy, it does represent great value. Combined with its fast and efficient feature set, OnPay certainly deserves closer inspection.

OnPay: Pricing

Following the coronavirus pandemic, small businesses are looking for more value than ever. While OnPay isn't exactly a bargain-basement cloud-based software package, what it does provide is value. 

Currently the pricing structure offers a first month free option, with no charges for getting set up either. From there, the base fee is $36 per month with an additional $4 per month charge for each person who needs to use the software. There’s actually a handy slider on the pricing page that gives you a dynamic price quote based on the amount of people you’d expect to add. 

Interestingly, it goes right up to 1000 people with a price of $4036 per month, although that is perhaps an extreme example. Either way, OnPay says that you’re only billed for workers who are paid in a given month.

OnPay: Features

Following a fairly recent update, OnPay has plenty of features to make the cloud-based solution of interest to small businesses. There are unlimited monthly pay runs with all tax filings and payments covered. The revised dashboard also allows you to pay W-2 employees and 1099 workers, while payments themselves can be carried out using direct deposit, debit card or good old-fashioned check. 

OnPay is versatile too, with the option to set multiple pay rates and schedules, take garnishments and handle unemployment insurance. OnPay is also adaptable if you have to pay employees that are located in more than one state, and works across all 50. 

The added bonus of using OnPay is that it can be tailored to suit different kinds of small business, including restaurants, farms and agriculture concerns, non-profits and even churches and clergy. What’s more, there’s the capacity for plenty of employee involvement too, thanks to the OnPay built-in self-service side of things.

OnPay: Performance

With OnPay being cloud-based software and able to work on Windows and Mac platforms you should be sure of decent performance. However, while the package works a treat on a desktop or laptop machine, the experience on mobile is less impressive. 

You’re essentially faced with using the same desktop offering, but in a smaller environment, rather than via a dedicated app, which if you’re handling lots of data could prove rather sluggish. In its preferred environment though, OnPay zips along nicely.

OnPay: Ease of use

Working with payroll is invariably complicated and time-consuming, which means that the wizard option in the latest version of OnPay will prove useful if you’re configuring for the first time. Not only that, OnPay has had plenty of tweaks that makes it even easier to use in other areas, with the employee records aspect proving invaluable if you have issues to log outside of regular hours, salary and so on. 

Considering that, even the smallest of businesses will find it has lots of data to process OnPay has been designed so nicely that this is generally presented in a crisp and clear fashion. That doesn't quite extend to the mobile variant as we’ve already mentioned, but generally OnPay is easier to grasp than others of its ilk. 

OnPay’s recent facelift also means that there are now plenty of options when it comes to custom reporting, which is easier than ever to use. Similarly, its creators have also done a great job with the latest integration features, with plenty of accounting and time-tracking options at your disposal. 

If you’re looking for an easier way to integrate your other applications with OnPay then the latest edition makes that pretty straightforward. It can be used in conjunction with the likes of QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop, Xero, TSheets, Deputy, WhenIWork, Humanity, ThinkHR and PosterElite too.

OnPay: Support

The online support aspect of OnPay is particularly impressive with lots of practical information available. The tax information is of definite value if you're a small business owner who wants to be sure everything is being done to the letter. In terms of getting in touch with support staff then OnPay offers all of the usual options including phone, chat and email routes into the support team. 

While phone support is available during business hours Monday to Friday, the OnPay email support is on hand at weekends too should you need to chase up something urgently.

OnPay: Final verdict

OnPay is maturing all the time and its latest incarnation has plenty to offer the small business owner who has to contend with running payroll and other tasks. The new edition has been fine-tuned to take into account all of the issues surrounding COVID-19 too, with plenty of assistance on that front. 

This cloud-based software delivers an enjoyable user experience, with a dashboard and supporting layout that makes even those tedious data-heavy tasks that little more bearable. The lack of an app makes using OnPay via a mobile browser less appealing, which is slightly disappointing but it’s a doddle when you’re working within a desktop environment thanks to the revised dashboard. 

Cost-wise, OnPay also seems pretty good value considering what you get as part of the package. All told, it’s an interesting proposition for small businesses and easily stands up for itself when put alongside the opposition.

Other business software options worth looking at include Sage Business Cloud Accounting, QuickBooks, Xero, FreshBooks, Freeagent, GoSimpleTax, TaxCalc, Nomisma, ABC Self-Assessment or Crunch.

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