Usually small businesses pick a payroll company and stick with it. The thought of transferring to a new payroll provider can seem painful and would bear the question, "Why would a business or organization even want to change their payroll provider?"
There are a couple reasons why an organization would change their payroll provider. I'll give you a couple of real-life examples.
Story 1: There was an organization that was using the QuickBooks payroll function, but their organization was expanding and it was getting difficult to keep up with all the updates that were happening within QuickBooks. They were also still paying most of their employees with a physical check instead of the more common and more timely direct deposit. They asked for a couple of different solutions and passed on the two of the more used companies, ADP and Paychex. They ended up going with Paychex because it was a little cheaper. But even moving with Paychex, it wasn't all that seamless. The payroll data that had happened previously wasn't easy to transfer over and the services that were provided were not clearly stated. Everything eventually started to run smoothly but it was not an easy process and took much longer than they had desired.
Takeaway: Using one of the main payroll companies (e.g. ADP, Paychex, etc.) is not always going to be the best fit. And if you are a nonprofit, then you need to be doubly diligent in making sure you make the correct choice and have someone that is willing and available to work with you.
Story 2: There was a business that was doing their payroll all in-house. As they grew, it was getting harder to keep up and the accuracy started to decline. They ended up going with Gusto and they knew it could tie directly into their online accounting system (QB online). At first it was little difficult to learn a new system, but the great part was that Gusto added all the previous payroll information from the year. And Gusto is very easily priced, so they knew exactly how much they were going to pay each month (Gusto charges by the month and by the payroll). The overall timing was very quick and it provided easy access to both the business and their accountant.
Takeaway: While Gusto is still growing and new to the payroll scene, they have the luxury of starting in the SaaS world and were able to develop a platform that is user friendly and easy to link with another platform (e.g. Xero).
Two payroll companies that are really growing because of their user interface, easy accessibility to both the business/organization and the accountant advisory, easy price understanding (and in almost all cases is cheaper), and the ability to sync with so many of the online accounting platforms that most businesses, are Gusto and APS Payroll.
Gusto is custom fit for the accounting platform Xero. The syncing process is so quick and easy. Gusto also probably has the cheapest payroll rates among its competitors, as you only pay on a monthly basis instead of per payroll, allowing organizations to pay bi-weekly instead of bi-monthly as most people are accustomed to.
APS Payroll is a solid fit with Sage Intacct. Sage Intacct is known for its ability to use dimensions (e.g. location, department, class, item, etc.) to create some very comprehensive and custom reports. These same dimensions also affect payroll depending on the employee and APS Payroll is able to sync with all of them to create a streamlined payroll entry. And they too also are like Gusto in that they are most likely always cheaper than the regular providers (e.i. ADP & Paychex).
Conclusion: Do NOT be afraid to change-up your payroll. If you have been using the same vendor for a while, it might be time to do some research and see if any of the newer alternatives would be easier, save time, and save money.