CenterPoint Payroll Review: 2023 Pros, Cons, Ratings

What Is CenterPoint Payroll?

The platform helps small to mid-sized businesses manage and streamline their payroll processes efficiently. CenterPoint Payroll offers various features, including customizable payroll processing, time tracking, tax management, direct deposit, and detailed reporting.

Additionally, it supports multiple pay rates and benefit accruals and integrates seamlessly with various accounting systems. Companies can deploy the software on-premises or in the cloud, providing flexibility and scalability to meet their evolving payroll needs. We met with two Red Wing Software team members to demo CenterPoint Payroll.

Our Ratings

Who Uses CenterPoint Payroll?

CenterPoint Payroll is best for small to medium companies ranging from 10 to 500 employees across diverse industries. The software works well for businesses with multi-state employees or operations, including agriculture and those with H2A employees. CenterPoint Payroll is ideal for organizations that require customizability in payroll codes, deductions and benefits, and pay structures.

Accurate Multi-State Payroll

CenterPoint Payroll simplifies complex payroll management in multiple states, each with its own tax regulations and requirements. It also has functionalities to detect data entry errors and discrepancies in employee information, ensuring accuracy and preventing costly mistakes down the road.

• Streamlined compliance: CenterPoint Payroll automates the calculation and withholding of taxes at the federal and state levels. It provides accurate calculations based on specific tax laws, ensuring compliance and eliminating the need to research obligations for each state manually.

• Error prevention: The platform has built-in validation checks to limit errors in payroll processing. For example, it can detect and warn users of inconsistencies or errors in Social Security or Medicare numbers, ensuring accurate reporting and reducing the risk of penalties or fines. CenterPoint Payroll’s rigorous validation checks also help businesses avoid errors in wage calculations. Ensuring accurate wage reporting also minimizes the need for employees to file amended tax returns.

The software’s multi-state payroll and validation checks address tax regulation complexities, eliminate errors, enhance employee convenience, and minimize the need for tax return amendments. These aspects contribute to a seamless and compliant payroll process, making CenterPoint Payroll a noteworthy choice for multi-location businesses.

What Features Are Missing?

• Customizations: Custom development for specific integrations may come at an additional cost. For example, Red Wing Software will charge a company to create a custom report for 401k providers. However, this is a one-time expense; if the report should need to be modified, Red Wing Software will make changes at no further charge.
• Local tax tracking: CenterPoint Payroll does not automatically track local taxes, so these fields will require user input. Employers can retrieve municipal tax tables for items like school district tax, then manually enter them into the platform. It’s important to note that most small to medium-sized payroll software does not include automated local tax tracking, so this is not a limitation unique to CenterPoint Payroll.

CenterPoint Payroll Pricing

CenterPoint Payroll offers personalized pricing tailored to each client, ensuring they are billed only for their specific, required features. The software’s pricing structure features tiered options, grouping clusters of users instead of charging per user per month. Additionally, CenterPoint Payroll does not impose any charges for direct deposit functionality, although banks may have their own fees associated with fund transfers.

Alternatives

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QuickBooks Payroll Enhanced

Price Range

   $     $     $     $     $   

   $     $     $     $     $   

Starting Price

$36/month

Client OS

Windows

Deployment

On-Premises

Demo Pricing

Gusto

Price Range

   $     $     $     $     $   

   $     $     $     $     $   

Starting Price

$40/month

Client OS

Deployment

Cloud Hosted

What We Like

Employee self-service

Includes benefits administration

Transparent pricing model

What We Don’t Like

Hard to add sporadic allowances

Limited time-off options

Per-person pricing model can get expensive

Demo Pricing

Patriot Software

Price Range

   $     $     $     $     $   

   $     $     $     $     $   

Starting Price

$20/month

Client OS

Windows

Deployment

Cloud Hosted

What We Like

Create & print unlimited 1099 and 1096s

Does not require use of their accounting package

Low starting price

What We Don’t Like

Difficult to upload 3rd party time sheets

No mobile app

Limited inventory management

Demo Pricing

Summary

We like CenterPoint Payroll for its customizability and multi-location support. It’s an ideal solution for businesses with 10 to 500 employees. The software excels in handling multi-state payroll, complex payroll codes, and customizable reports. Its ability to manage multiple pay rates and benefit accruals benefits businesses with diverse employee contracts. Additionally, the flexibility to choose between cloud-hosted or on-premises deployment can cater to varying IT infrastructures and preferences.

However, we don’t recommend CenterPoint Payroll for larger businesses seeking scalability. If a company operates globally with employees in different countries, it may need a payroll system with more sophisticated international payroll and compliance features. Pricing is unavailable on the website, necessitating direct contact with the company for details.

Overall, we think CenterPoint Payroll is a great pick for small to medium-sized companies needing an adaptable payroll solution.