There is an interesting thread in the Xero Blog about All in One Applications versus Best of Breed.
After writing my previous blog about payroll I looked again at Paycycle and considered their recent improvements great enough to make them my payroll provider of choice.
So what goes into making this choice?
- Support. How quickly the supplier gets on to my problem and when do I get a response from a human not a machine.
- It’s not a one time event its a pattern. What you want is consistency.
- Upgrades. How often, how large.
- I’m after evolution not revolution. I don’t want radical change but I also don’t want once a year.
- If you give me 10 new things to try I might try 1 or 2. But if you give me 1 or 2 I might try them all. I’d rather have 1 or 2 every few weeks than 10 things once a quarter. (or in MYOB’s case once a year!)
- Configuration
- I want to be able to configure the payroll in the here and now. Not wait for support
- Browser support.
- I generally use Firefox and Safari.
- Some applications on the web definitely worked better in one browser than another. One broker I use works on F
- Reports.
- I wanted some detailed report and summary reports that came out easily without lots of steps.
- Interface
- Payroll is pretty dry as subjects go but I find that Paycycle has a good use of color to group like items.
So why did I switch camps?
Well right up front is was not support it was more usability.
The number 1 annoyance was browser support and reports. On my Mac I had to use Google Chrome as the browser (for Webpayroll) and then I could get the reports to run. (Postscript: Since I left this issue has been addressed and reports work quite well in a number of browsers on my Mac). But at the time it was only Chrome that really consistently worked and this was the only thing I used Chrome for.
The number 2 was configuration. This is a two edge sword. Having a closed configuration is good in that you get to review where the money goes and is it correctly considered for superannuation, entitlements etc. Make no mistake Payroll is a complex area. But a more open system allows you to configure it now.
What was really pleasing was how easy it was to switch between one and the other.
I discuss a lot with another Xero consultant (Jill Of All Trades) perhaps 2-3 times a week. Yep we compete sometimes but we value each others counsel more. (and a great blogger as well) Payroll is one we’ve gone our own way on. But this is what’s great about Xero. It allows freedom of choice to build the best of breed for you.
I’ve been exposed to PayCycle, WebPayroll and ePayroll now through clients etc. Each application has some great features, but a feature is only great if its important to you. I’ve found there is enough in Paycycle for it to tick all my boxes. And you get a 30 day free trial!
Till next time … Happy Bookkeeping
Mike
