Executive Summary:
Businesses with hourly workers need payroll software that not only can handle regular payroll processing but also other elements of the employee experience, like scheduling and time tracking.
Best overall: Homebase payroll software provides the best combination of features and pricing for businesses of all sizes.
Best budget software: Gusto packs a capable payroll software into a package that is also highly affordable.
Best for large enterprises: Workforce.com gives large businesses the automation and features they need to manage their hourly workforce.
Best for small businesses: Patriot Software and OnPay provide the combination of service and software needed for small businesses.
When it comes to running a business, time is arguably your most valuable asset. This is doubly true for businesses that employ hourly employees, as you’re not only concerned about the time spent running your business, but you’re also concerned with the amount of time your employees are spending working. In both cases, spending time is also spending money, meaning finding ways to cut down on time spent performing administrative tasks, like payroll, is a must. Of course, running payroll with hourly employees can quickly become a complicated, time-consuming task. While you may not consider things like overtime tracking, scheduling, or time tracking as part of your payroll process, with hourly employees, they're a crucial step. Without good payroll software to help you keep track of it all, you might be wasting precious time.
At Payday HCM, we’re very familiar with the unique challenges of running payroll for hourly employees and how quickly it can become a very time-consuming task. We receive plenty of questions from business owners looking for ways to spend less time on payroll—whether that be through automation, outsourcing, or other means. Oftentimes, one of the most overlooked pieces of the puzzle is software.
That’s why, in this article, we’ll be taking a look at the best payroll software for businesses with hourly employees. For this article, we’ll be talking about a variety of different software, broken up into four main categories:
- Best Overall: Homebase Payroll
- Best Budget Software: Gusto
- Best for Large Enterprises: Workforce.com
- Best for Small Businesses: Patriot Software / OnPay
What to Look for in Payroll Software for Hourly Workers
Before we dive into the payroll software on this list, we need to look at the unique challenges of running payroll for hourly workers and how good software can address them.
Payroll for Hourly Workers Is More Than Just Processing Payroll
The key to finding payroll software that works best for businesses with hourly workers is choosing software designed to handle the entire hourly payroll process. This means software that can not only automate payroll processing itself, but also includes tools for scheduling, time tracking, and other elements of the employee experience.
On top of this, businesses with hourly workers also have unique compliance requirements, meaning that things like automatic overtime calculations and support for multiple pay rates can be crucial. For larger businesses, things like multi-state support can also help ease some of the administrative burden.
1. Best Overall: Homebase Payroll
We’ll start with our number one overall pick for payroll software for businesses with hourly employees: Homebase.
What Homebase Payroll Software Offers
If you’re running a business with a lot of hourly workers, Homebase Payroll is an excellent choice when it comes to payroll software, largely because it was built specifically for shift-based teams. This is largely a result of Homebase’s all-in-one approach to design, taking scheduling, time tracking, payroll, and other employee functions and bringing them together on one platform.
This unified approach helps businesses spend less time on administrative work while improving payroll accuracy. The platform also automates payroll tax calculations and filings, making payday faster and more reliable for employers and employees alike. It also includes solid multi-state compatibility features.
Why Homebase Is the Best Overall Choice
What separates Homebase from many payroll providers is its understanding of how hourly workers function within the payroll process. Running payroll for hourly employees begins with their first clock-in, continues throughout their shift with lunch breaks, and continues throughout the pay period.
With Homebase, employees clock in and out through the Homebase app, managers review and approve timesheets, and approved hours automatically sync into payroll for wage, overtime, PTO, and tax calculations. Their pricing helps too: Homebase offers a free pricing tier, with their paid payroll tiers starting at $39 a month plus $6 per employee per month.
2. Best Budget Software: Gusto
Next up on our list is the best payroll software for businesses with hourly workers operating on a tighter budget.
What Gusto Payroll Software Offers
If you’ve been in the hunt for payroll software, you’ve likely seen the name Gusto. And, well, if you’re operating on a smaller budget, Gusto is an excellent payroll platform that can help balance affordability with payroll automation. Although it serves companies across many industries, its intuitive interface and automated payroll processing make it a strong option for employers managing hourly workers.
Multiple pay schedules, automatic tax calculations and filings, built-in time tracking, and employee self-service tools can help streamline your payroll process. In addition, Gusto also offers tools for employee onboarding, benefits administration, and other HR management functions.
Why Gusto Is the Best Budget Option
Gusto offers many features typically associated with higher-priced payroll software while maintaining straightforward pricing and an easy setup process. Payroll can be automated after initial configuration, helping to eliminate repetitive administrative work while keeping businesses compliant with payroll tax requirements.
They’re also able to retain relatively low costs by relying on capable software integrations. So, while Gusto may not offer native scheduling software, they do integrate with other platforms like Homebase. Gusto’s Simple payroll tier starts at $49 a month plus $6 per employee per month, which includes single-state payroll and tax filings.
3. Best for Large Enterprises: Workforce.com
For businesses with large multi-state operations overseeing a large number of hourly workers, Workforce is likely the payroll software for you.
What Workforce.com Offers
Organizations with hundreds or potentially even thousands of hourly employees expect much more out of their payroll software than just payroll processing. Luckily, Workforce.com is designed to help businesses of this magnitude, with tools that help employers manage scheduling, attendance, compliance, labor costs, and payroll all in one platform.
Similar to Homebase, Workforce.com is a platform that understands payroll for hourly workers doesn’t start with payroll processing. With software that includes advanced employee scheduling tools, time and attendance tracking, automated overtime calculations, multiple pay rates, and more, Workforce.com can help ease the administrative burden of payroll for large businesses.
Why Workforce.com Excels for Enterprise Organizations
While things like missing punches or incomplete timesheets can be quick fixes for smaller businesses, these kinds of small errors can create big problems for large businesses. Workforce.com addresses these challenges through automated alerts, employee self-service tools, and approval workflows that help managers identify payroll issues before payroll is processed.
On top of this, its advanced reporting, labor forecasting, and workforce analytics also help organizations optimize staffing levels while maintaining compliance with labor regulations. Of course, for a platform of this size, pricing is available by quote only, but businesses with large, complex operations can expect to see a lot of value out of Workforce.com’s platform.
4. Best for Small Businesses: Patriot Software / OnPay
Many payroll software providers claim to have the best payroll software for small businesses. We’ve narrowed it down to two: Patriot Software and OnPay.
What Patriot Software and OnPay Offer
Small businesses have different payroll needs from larger organizations. Probably the most crucial need is access to real customer service agents with an intimate knowledge of your business. Patriot Software and OnPay are both excellent options that can provide this, in tandem with capable payroll software.
Patriot largely focuses on simple, reliable payroll processing at an affordable price. This includes unlimited payroll runs, reporting, and integrations with time and attendance software. OnPay offers a broader suite of payroll and HR functions, including tax filings, multi-state payroll, and employee self-service.
Which Small Business Payroll Software Is Right for You?
Both Patriot Software and OnPay are good options for small businesses. Patriot Software is best for businesses looking for straightforward payroll processing, affordable pricing, and responsive customer support without paying for features you may never use—its Basic payroll tier starts at $8.50 a month plus $2 per employee per month.
OnPay also offers a similarly customer service-oriented experience, but gives you access to a slightly larger suite of tools, with support for HR management, employee onboarding, benefits administration, and scalable workforce administration. Of course, this is reflected in the price: their Payroll Essentials tier starts at $49 a month plus $6 per employee per month.
Don’t Spend Hours On Payroll For Your Hourly Workers
Payroll is one of the most important functions of any business. As such, it can easily become one of the most time-consuming, especially for businesses that employ either exclusively or a large number of hourly employees. Between overtime calculations and scheduling, you may find yourself spending more time managing your employees and running payroll than you do on finding ways to improve your business. With the right payroll software, though, you can alleviate a lot of this administrative burden. With the information provided in this article, you’ll be able to select the software that best fits your business’s needs and helps both you and your employees focus on bettering your business.
Technology is one of the most crucial allies any business has when it comes to streamlining operations and improving both the customer and employee experience. When it comes to payroll and money management, businesses might need to make use of multiple software platforms, which, without the proper communication and compatibility between platforms, might become confusing. That’s why we work with our clients on custom integrations and application programming interfaces (APIs) to ensure their payroll software works with any other accounting or money management software they might be using. Learn more about how Payday leverages custom integrations and APIs to streamline processes by reading our article.