2017 Review of Xero Payroll

Xero is cloud-based, so both accountants and their clients have easy access to all payroll related features, though accountants can determine the level of access that clients will receive.  All authorized users can also access Xero from any mobile device.

Xero offers easy management of all clients through their dashboards, so accountants can easily access the clients that they will be processing payroll for.  The activity feed provides system users with alerts for each of the clients in the system, and a client list is available in order to quickly access the necessary client(s). Users will need to check the website prior to setting up the payroll option in Xero to ensure that the payroll option is available in their state.  Currently, Xero Payroll is offered in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. 

In addition, federal tax forms 940, 941, 944, and federal employment and unemployment taxes can be filed both electronically or processed manually and paid separate from Xero.  State electronic tax filing and payment remittance is only available in California, Florida, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Utah, and Virginia.  Xero offers a solid selection of payroll related reports, which are divided into categories including Employee Reports, Time off Reports, Timesheet Reports, Payroll Reports, and Opening Balance Reports. Xero users can opt to export all payroll reports to either Excel or save the reports as a PDF if desired.

Xero is a complete accounting and payroll application, with features such as complete online accounting, Payroll, Inventory, and Bank Reconciliation capability. Xero also integrates with Gusto, ADP, and Sure Payroll. The product is designed to integrate with numerous time tracking apps including Workflow MAX, Deputy, T Sheets, Streamline, and a host of others. Xero also offers easy integration with Zenefits, am HR and Payroll app, which handles new employee onboarding, along with employee records management.  Zenefits also handles all benefits administration as well. For additional functionality, the add-on App Marketplace offers more than 500 apps that are designed to work with Xero, providing additional product functionality.

Xero offers an employee portal where employees can simply log into Xero and enter their work hours and submit it to the employer. They also have the capability of entering and requesting time off directly through the employee portal. If the employee is a manager, they will also be able to manage the employee time off request and work hours submitted. Employees can access payroll related data such as current and historical paystubs. Xero has the XeroMe app (iOS and Android) that compliments the employee portal by allowing the employees to have all that access on the go.

2017 Overall Rating: 4.5 Stars