QuickBooks^® Desktop Payroll Will Be Discontinued. Switch to Payroll Mate^®.

There are numerous advantages to outsourcing payroll, but for many small businesses, outsourcing means relinquishing control of the payroll process, something business owners may not be comfortable doing. One advantage of processing payroll in-house is that it's cost-effective, a big plus for businesses with a limited budget. Handling payroll in-house might be the better option for security-conscious business owners who are uncomfortable putting secure data, such as employee addresses and Social Security numbers, on the cloud.

What's Happening with QuickBooks Desktop?

Until recently, one of the most popular in-house payroll applications used by U.S. small and midsized businesses was QuickBooks Desktop Payroll, which offered three versions: Basic, Standard, and Enhanced. Towards the end of 2023, Intuit announced that both the Basic and Standard payroll plans were being discontinued, with current users of those plans being moved to the Enhanced plan with a substantial price increase, plus an additional fee per employee. This meant a significant price increase for small businesses.

In 2024, Intuit announced that they will no longer offer new subscriptions to QuickBooks Desktop Enhanced Payroll to customers in the U.S., as they continue to move current Desktop users to QuickBooks Online Payroll.

Is it Time to Make a Change?

While current subscribers will not be impacted by Intuit's decision and can continue to use the desktop payroll application, with these two major changes announced within nine months of each other, QuickBooks Desktop Payroll users are likely wondering how long the application will remain available to them. Intuit's decision to stop offering this product also means that businesses looking for a desktop payroll application for the first time will have one less application to choose from.

Luckily, there are options. Instead of waiting to see how long Intuit keeps QuickBooks Desktop Payroll alive, current users can make a proactive move to an in-house payroll system like Payroll Mate, an application built for a Windows environment.

What to look for with an in-house payroll application?

If you're in the market for a new payroll application, you will want to look for the following features:

A free trial - One of the best ways to determine whether a product suits your needs is to try it out first. Instead of making a long-term commitment to purchase a product that you know little about, it can be extremely helpful to give it a test run before making a purchase.

Compatibility with your operating system - The first thing you will need to do when shopping for an in-house payroll application is to ensure that it will work with your current operating system.

Cost - For some business owners, cost is one of the primary factors when searching for a payroll system. Make sure that any product you choose fits into your budget, both short- and long-term.

Easy to use - Learning how to use new software is typically time-consuming. Choosing easy-to-use software with clear instructions and a simple interface is what most customers look for. Making updates and changes should also be an easy process.

Payroll Mate includes a step-by-step easy-to-follow wizard for most functions.

Good integration options - In-house stand-alone applications should offer easy integration with popular accounting software applications, including QuickBooks.

Accessibility - If you prefer an in-house payroll application, you might still want to have occasional access to the software outside of the office. A good payroll program will provide you with the option to access your payroll data whether in or out of the office.

Reporting - The ability to generate comprehensive reports helps reconciliation easier.

Easy Backup/Restore - Maintaining regular backups is one of the essentials that employers and payroll processors should never overlook.

There may be other features you wish to be included in any new payroll system you purchase. Doing your homework before you purchase an application can save you time and money.

Why Payroll Mate is an EXCELLENT Option!

Whether you're looking for a QuickBooks Desktop payroll replacement or in the market for in-house payroll software for the first time, Payroll Mate is an Excellent choice. Payroll Mate is reasonably priced and can process payroll for up to 10 companies, with up to 75 employees in each company, while offering a long list of features, including:

1. The ability to support a variety of payroll frequencies and types

Payroll Mate supports multiple payroll frequencies, including weekly, biweekly, semimonthly, and monthly payroll. The application also supports multiple pay types, including regular salary, hourly pay, overtime pay, double-time pay, bonus pay, and commissions.

2. Automatically calculates Federal and State taxes

Payroll Mate automatically calculates Federal tax withholding, State tax withholding, Social Security tax, and Medicare tax based on the user setup for the employees inside Payroll Mate.

3. Calculates Federal unemployment tax (FUTA), State unemployment tax (SUTA) and State disability insurance tax

Payroll Mate calculates FUTA and SUTA taxes, making it easy and simple for users to generate both Federal and State forms needed.

4. Includes user-defined fields for income, tax, and deduction categories

Payroll Mate offers users a virtually unlimited number of user-defined fields that can be used to track additional income, tax, and deduction categories as needed.

5. Automatically calculates and completes Federal and State forms

One of the main reasons that businesses prefer to outsource payroll is because they don't want to prepare required tax forms such as IRS 940, 941, 943, W-2, and W-3. Payroll Mate generates these forms.

6. Reporting

Payroll Mate generates comprehensive reports such as: Journal Summary, Journal Detail, Tax Liability, Deposit Requirement, Employee Earnings, Employee List, Payroll Totals, Payroll Detail, Taxes & Deductions, State Taxes, and Pay Periods Report. The employee earnings report is ideal for exporting data to HR software and specialized human resources/business management applications.

7. Easy Backup/Restore

Payroll Mate provides one step backup and restore. Our system reminds the user to back up the company data each time the software is closed.

8. Tracks vacation and sick pay accruals

Payroll Mate users can custom add and track both vacation and sick pay accruals for each employee as earned per paycheck.

9. Supports multiple positions per employee

This is a great feature for businesses that have employees working multiple jobs that have different pay rates. For example, a restaurant owner has an employee who waits tables and cashiers. Payroll Mate allows the owner to pay the employee using two separate rates, depending on the job they worked.

10.Exports payroll checks to QuickBooks Accounting as journal entries

In addition to exporting payroll checks to QuickBooks Accounting as journal entries, payroll reports can also be exported to Microsoft Excel or as a CSV file.

11. Easy-to-follow tutorials

Payroll Mate offers a series of tutorials hosted on a dedicated server designed to guide new users through the payroll setup process and changes they may need to make.

12. Online hosting or in the cloud hosting

Payroll Mate can also be hosted through third-party online service providers, for example, Microsoft Azure RemoteApp and Rightworks.

13. Payroll Mate has been an industry leader for two decades

Over the past two decades, thousands of professionals nationwide have trusted and relied on Payroll Mate to prepare their payroll and generate payroll tax forms. Payroll Mate also ranks high on users' reviews and customer satisfaction.

14. Bonus optional features (additional fee is required)

Payroll Mate also offers additional optional features that can be added to the standard Payroll Mate for an additional fee:

Payroll Mate Option #1 (Print W2 Copy A & W3 on blank paper)

Adds the ability to Payroll Mate software to print government-approved substitutes for Forms W2 (Copy A) and W3 on plain white paper using inkjet or laser printer.

Payroll Mate Option #2 (Direct Deposit)

Adds the ability to Payroll Mate software to generate NACHA-formatted direct Deposit Files.

Payroll Mate Option #3 (Additional Companies & Employees + Timesheet Import)

Adds the ability to Payroll Mate software to support to 100 Companies and 100 Employees per company. Also adds the ability to Payroll Mate software to import timesheet (timeclock) data.

Payroll Mate Option #4 (MICR Ink Check Printing)

Adds the ability to Payroll Mate software to print MICR checks on blank check stock.

Payroll Mate Option #5 (State Payroll reporting for IL, TX, CA, FL and NY)

Adds state payroll tax reporting to Payroll Mate for some states. (Other states can still run a report from Payroll Mate with the numbers needed to file the state taxes.

Payroll Mate Option #6 (Vendor and 1099 Center)

Adds support for vendor and 1099 management inside Payroll Mate.

Manage vendors (contractors), print and track vendor checks, generate comprehensive reports and print IRS tax forms 1099-NEC / 1099-MISC / 1096.

Payroll Mate Networking Optional Feature

With this option you can share the data managed by Payroll Mate between more than one machine on your network.

Payroll Mate SSA Wage File Export Optional Feature

Generates wage files for users to electronically upload W-2 forms to the SSA.

In conclusion

For Quickbooks desktop users that have been moved to the enhanced plan, or those who are looking for another method to prepare payroll, this may be the right time to consider Payroll Mate desktop stand-alone payroll software.

Payroll Mate provides an excellent and affordable option with a long list of features, making it suitable for just about any type of small and medium size business environment.

An easy way to find out if Payroll Mate is a good fit for your business is to download the free trial and see for yourself how easy it is to use Payroll Mate.

Once you make the purchase, all data created inside the Payroll Mate trial version can be transferred to the full version.

Payroll Mate also offers a series of tutorials designed to guide new users through the payroll setup process.

With year-end rapidly approaching, now is the best time to take stock of your payroll needs for the upcoming year. Taking a closer look at Payroll Mate is a good start.