2019 Review of Justworks Payroll

From the 2019 review of professional payroll systems.

Designated a Professional Service Organization (PEO), Justworks provides small businesses with a bundled product that includes payroll, compliance, HR, and benefits in a single application that is best suited for smaller businesses. 

Justworks currently offers two plans; Basic and Plus, with both plans including payroll, compliance reporting, and HR tools and resources, with the Plus plan also offering access to a variety of benefit options including insurance and retirement plans. Justworks supports both salaried and hourly employees, but automatically sets up salaried employees to be paid semi-monthly. Users can opt to change salaried employee pay dates, but the process will need to be completed by Justworks support or the assigned account manager. In addition, there is no mechanism in place for businesses to track hours for salaried employees, which may be required, depending on the state. 

The Dashboard is where all system tasks can be accessed, including payroll, HR, and management. Alerts are displayed for tasks that need completion, and upcoming pay dates are displayed as well. In addition to standard payroll, bonus, commission, and other off-cycle payments are also supported in Justworks.

The account is setup for users to enter time for salaried and non-salaried employees, though there is an option to enable the Employee Timecard Entry, which allows employees to enter their own hours, which will then be approved. Once paid, an employee will receive an email notification that they were paid, with an option to view their checkstub.

Complete tax compliance is offered through Justworks, which includes tax tables for all 50 states. In addition to all payroll and tax related payments and reports, the application also processes numerous compliance forms.

Reports in Justworks are categorized by Benefits, HR, and Payroll, with a decent selection of pre-built reports available. Reports can be accessed from the user dashboard, including employee payroll reports that can be customized to include the information desired, with the report available by week, month, year, or any custom time frame. There are also a variety of HR reports available including onboarding status, which provides employee personal information, payment, including direct deposit information, health insurance enrollment, if any, and I-9 completion status. All reports can be exported as a CSV file and customized in Microsoft Excel, or saved as a PDF.

Justworks offers integration with third-party applications such as QuickBooks, QuickBooks Online and Xero, with the ability to sync data between applications. 

Along with complete payroll processing and tax compliance, Justworks includes HR Tools that will track paid time off, onboard new employees, and share and store important HR documents. Users also have access to HR professionals during regular business hours. A benefits option is available in Justworks, where users can choose from a variety of available benefits to offer their employees.  Along with processing state and federal taxes, Justworks also supports both W-2 and 1099 filing, ACA filings, COBRA management, EEO-1 filings, New Hire reporting, and wage garnishments.

The Support center in Justworks provides access to a variety of help options including toll-free telephone support, as well as email, chat, Slack, and SMS support options, with support available 24/7. The Help Center includes a searchable knowledgebase, with featured articles included, with access to payroll, HR, and benefits support as well. Justworks also offers a variety of resources aimed at small business owners including Benefits and Perks, Hiring and Onboarding, Managing Your Team, Keeping Compliant, and Running a Business 101. Justworks product updates can also be downloaded directly from the Justworks website. 

Justworks is best suited for very small businesses that wish to combine payroll, HR, and benefits administration into a single application.  Available in two editions; Basic, which is $49 per employee per month, and Plus, which is $99 per employee, per month, both editions include complete payroll processing, online employee onboarding, and access to HR consulting, with the Plus edition also including access to benefits such as health insurance, 401(k) plan, and other benefits such as dental and vision insurance along with health and wellness perks. Designed to take the place of a dedicated HR department, Justworks can be a good alternative for very small businesses, but pricing may become prohibitive for larger businesses.  

2019 Overall Rating – 4.5 Stars