2014 Review of Thomson Reuters Accounting CS Payroll

Each client has a dedicated dashboard that is fully customizable per payroll client. Multiple tabs are available and within each tab separate sections, called portlets, which may be added to further customize the dashboards. Default dashboards and portlets may be established and applied to other client files as required. An interactive map of the United States is provided and as users click on the various states, appropriate form, due date and other related payroll information is displayed.

Payroll items associated with earnings, deductions, withholdings and other benefits are wholly maintained by Accounting CS Payroll. Users simply select the state, and local jurisdictions if necessary, and the appropriate payroll items are automatically generated. As employees are added from other states and localities, appropriate payroll information is automatically added to the company and that specific employee. Further, all addresses go through a verification to ensure they are entered to the correct standards. These steps create a high level of accuracy and consistency within the solution and are not reliant on the accounting professional to remember which forms will always be required.

Accounting CS Payroll is intended to process payroll through batch processing. This allows for multiple checks and multiple clients to be processed simultaneously. This dramatically decreases the time necessary to process payroll. Should the accounting professional need to process payroll one check at a time that is accomplished through a spreadsheet style data entry screen. This allows the accounting professional to control all aspects, including altered direct deposit information, of the paycheck should that be necessary.

Prior to completing the payroll run, an on-screen review tool is provided that details the cash needs and other related information. Once reviewed and processed, payroll is either processed for direct deposit or paper checks are generated. The paper checks may be forwarded to the payroll client for printing through the NetClient CS portal option. A new feature this year is the ability to reprint an exact copy of the original check, including check number, should the check be misplaced, damaged or printed incorrectly on the first run.

Reporting & Monitoring: 4.75 Stars

Accounting CS Payroll has strong reporting options. Included with the system are dozens of preformatted reports. Each of these reports may then be customized through a variety of sorting and filter options. A custom report writer is provided to build reports from scratch if needed. Each report may then be saved and assigned to a report group for future use.

Accounting CS Payroll supports a wide variety of federal, state and local payroll tax compliance forms. Most standard reporting forms are installed with the software.

Upcoming payroll due dates are displayed on the clients dashboard and through a built-in tax calendar. Also displayed, are details on form filing requirements and other related payroll information. All information is wholly controlled by Accounting CS Payroll based on the client payroll setup.

Integration/Import/Export: 4.75 Stars

As noted previously, Accounting CS Payroll is a separately offered module available to firms using Accounting CS, which integrates with a number of other products in the CS Professional Suite. When processing forms W-2 and 1099, appropriate information is automatically shared with UltraTax CS, reducing the data entry needs for this information. Upon each payroll run, any reports or paystubs generated may be archived within FileCabinet CS, the document management solution from Thomson Reuters.

Timekeeping data may be imported from data entered by payroll clients through NetClient CS portals. This time information, along with any approved employee contact information, is automatically imported to Accounting CS Payroll to help reduce manual data entry. Direct import of time may also be achieved through included text and Excel file import utilities. New for the current year, is the ability to import full payroll data information directly from Excel. This aids in setting up new payroll clients or those converting from a different processing solution.

Help/Support: 5 Stars

Accounting CS Payroll support is provided through a U.S.-based support team. This team is responsible for monitoring all phone and email requests and issues. Web based support is provided to users through a frequently asked questions page and a fully searchable Help & How-To Center. Contextual help is provided in the system that changes based on the screen currently in view. All help and support options may be accessed through the dedicated Help menu.

Web-based and live training options, including a two day payroll summit in May, are available to further enhance the user experience. Many web-based videos and documents are in focused areas to assist users who need focused training in specific areas of the software. Fully customized on-site training is also available. Pricing for training is dependent upon the type and duration.

Client Self-Service Features: 5 Stars

Payroll clients and their respective employees may access payroll data through NetClient CS, the portal solution offered by Thomson Reuters. Accounting professionals can fully brand this portal with their logo and website color schemes. Access is tightly controlled through user login information for both payroll clients and employees to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive payroll data.

For payroll clients, the ability to enter, monitor and approve time is provided. This allows all timekeeping to remain in-house and forwarded to the accounting professional only when time to process payroll. This portal interface also provides a secure way for accounting professionals to provide checks and paystubs securely to payroll clients to print on their local printers.

Employees may use the portal solution to enter their time, access recent and previous paystub information, annual W-2 forms and to process changes to withholding allowances. Employees may also update their personal contact and address information. All changes, once approved by the payroll client, is then pushed through the system automatically.

Best Firm Fit

Accounting professionals processing large volumes of payroll clients, whether current or after the fact.

Strengths

• Built for smaller clients and scalable to meet needs of large companies
• Payroll setup is maintained by software for accuracy and consistency
• Strong reporting options
• Tight integration with other CS Professional Suite products (additional licensing required)

Potential Limitations

• Few human resource management capabilities
• Some remote access features require purchase and configuration of NetClient CS

New in 2014

• A new payroll sample client template streamlines the setup of new payroll clients.
• More precise address verification pinpoints addresses by specific street location for more accurate results than the old ZIP code-based verification system. This is useful not only for verifying mailing addresses, but also for local jurisdictions that use address-level tax determination. 
• New tax form options, including the ability to consolidate multiple payroll clients to generate a single tax form.
• More flexible impound payment options, including the ability to combine impound payments.
• Additional garnishment types including Chapter 13 bankruptcy, defaulted student loan.
• New payroll data entry options that provide the ability to exclude pay and deduction items per payroll schedule, as well as direct deposit.

Summary & Pricing

Accounting CS Payroll is a payroll solution designed for accounting professionals processing large volumes of payroll data. The system is designed for batch payroll processing, allowing multiple payrolls to be processed simultaneously. Though intended for smaller payroll organizations, Accounting CS Payroll will scale to meet the needs of organizations of any size. Pricing for Accounting CS Payroll starts at $1,800 for 20 payroll companies. Additional processing may be purchased in bundles of five. Annual renewal pricing is based on a percentage of the initial purchase price.

2014 Overall Rating: 5 Stars