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Netchex is a standout in the payroll category thanks to their stellar customer support, described often as prompt, courteous, and knowledgeable. It’s the rightful complement to their comprehensive, single-source solution which integrates HR, time and attendance, benefits management, and payroll processing.
Ratings
Ease of Use
Best For
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PROS
- Grows with your team: With Netchex, it’s very easy to opt for a new plan and keep all your data in the same place even if you outgrow your current pricing plan. Other vendors require a switch to a new service in that kind of event.
- Dedicated support team: Netchex are note-worthy for their award-winning and often lauded customer service. It’s all US-based and provided in real-time through email, live chat, and phone calls.
- Pre-payroll reports: Allows for critical error checks before submission.
- Flexible payroll grid: Easy to make changes or correct errors on the fly.
- Versatile payment options: Includes paper checks, direct deposit, and pay cards.
CONS
- Requirement of payroll: Users must use the payroll module to access other functionalities, so it wouldn’t work as stand-alone HR software.
- No free trial: Potential users can't test the software without committing to a purchase. The demo with a sales rep is the closest thing.
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Netchex is a comprehensive HR and payroll management platform tailored for small and mid-sized businesses (50-500 employees). The platform stands out with its single-source solution that combines payroll, time and attendance, benefits, HR information, and more into a single tool, thereby reducing the need for multiple spreadsheets and manual data entries. One of our favorite things about Netchex is their flexibility. For example, payroll administrators can effortlessly make adjustments and correct errors directly from the payroll grid.
We also love and hear great things about their detailed pre-payroll reports. As stated above, these can be reviewed before payroll is processed, allowing managers to spot any abnormalities, such as terminated employees receiving paychecks or overpayments. The system comes with full garnishment integration, multiple pay rate solutions, and complete federal, state, and local tax filings, making it a robust and versatile tool for any business.
Additionally, Netchex recently introduced several innovative features, such as AskHR for immediate answers to employee questions, Netchex AI for data analysis, and Community for fostering employee engagement. In our view, these enhancements demonstrate Netchex's commitment to evolving its platform based on user feedback and emerging industry needs.
While its primary function is payroll, we use it daily. What are we doing? Like most other systems, Netchex has the ability to serve as an HRIS. That means daily I am looking at T&A, I am pulling reports for leadership (and they do have a nice custom reporting feature, it just looks like an early 2000's style).
We do a lot of hiring, so the onboarding feature is cool. You key in source data like new hire's name, DOB, social, pay, department, etc., and it sends a link for a new hire to key in their direct deposit and audit their information. So, they cannot be onboarded until they have completed those forms, that is a daily beat we check.
Netchex does not have a feature for workflow, though you can save custom reports and pull manually.
If you just need an affordable, basic platform, this is a strong recommendation in that instance.
It's a simple system with familiar and basic abilities if you just want something with the basics.
I like the price of $25/EE/month being that they file taxes on your behalf plus w2 creation.
I like their reporting feature, though it is basic. They have a lot of fields for you to select and you can mix the fields however you want and export to excel for further manipulation. It does not configure, it just has the ability to draw from most fields in the system (ie hire date, name, pay, taxes, etc.). Some platforms do not have reporting with such robust fields.
We decided to go with Netchex because at the time, they had a special, $20 per EE. The usual fee is $25 per EE. We were happy to join this especially since we got to meet our implementation person during sales, which was rare. They addressed my concerns, also they are Louisiana based, which is a deep south state and we support southern states.
What is important to note is we knew there would be no fancy platform like at ADP. It was the new kid on the block and it was affordable, and we did not need any features beyond payroll, time & attendance, and reporting. Also a plus, they filed our taxes for us, which I appreciate, as at QuickBooks Desktop, I had to manually file every payroll.
Though it is a simple system, it's detailed, so it's not a system I can say you can easily figure out. It does require at least a sit down, vs other platforms I think you can figure out (ie ADP and Rippling).
Cases are kind of slow. I had a tax amendment that took us a long time to receive a close. It's ugly, not like an under-the-hood platform like ChatGPT, but it's ugly in a 1997 way.
Netchex is rooted in Southern Charm and Hospitality. While they are slow in response to cases, on the phone, they are charismatic and very nice.
This stacks up as a great confidence builder, they remember your name, your nuances and after a while you don't have to give them your company code.
You do get locked in after a while, by using their documents portal to house employee files, because you would have to manually extract them 1 by 1 if you ever decide to leave. So it started as easy and then it was too difficult to leave while keeping our information.
If you are a small business that just needs basic payroll function with a robust reporting tool, then this is a great tool for you. If you want to pay a flat $25/month per employee and no other fees, then this is a great platform for you. Especially if you have under 50.
Some features have gotten bigger and more noticeable, for example a lot of 3 dots are used where over time an actual button would appear. Almost as if Netchex is on a journey to be more modern. But, they are a smaller business.
Netchex thrives at being a low maintenance, friendly call center place. I can especially see an owner who has 5 staff or fewer hiring staff and processing a salary payroll very easily.
Netchex is best for small businesses who do not have complex needs. There are no automated workflows, or AI. However, 3 years ago, they did get a chatbot to handle basic functions. But it was a flowchart kind of chatbot, meaning it was not like Claude.AI or Gemini, it only works off of prompts. Which is a simple fix in embedded formula with a platform like VoiceFlow, for example. I see it's by choice.
Perhaps their limitations on technology speak to their core audience, who are mostly deep south, dirty south, and southwest mostly as their customer base.
I think once you get past 200 employees, it's time to consider switching. While you can enjoy their simplicity with 5 staff members, 200+ would end up requiring a lot of work if you need nuance changes or mass changes. While yes on some items you can do a mass upload, most items you cannot.
If you need automation, this is not for you. If you need a system that can handle complex inquiries at scale on your behalf, then this is not for you.
Paylocity
Paylocity
Deel
Deel
ADP
ADP
Workforce
Workforce
HiBob
HiBob
Netchex is used by companies like Xpressdocs, BK Corrosion, Regal Hospitality, and The Colony ER Hospital.
Netchex follows a per-Employee-per-Month pricing model. Pricing varies according to the company's size and the specific products used. Detailed pricing information can be found on their website.
Netchex is best suited for small and mid-sized businesses in various industries, such as restaurants, hospitality, manufacturing, healthcare, professional services, and auto. As of 2024, their sweet spot is organizations with less than 500 employees, but they are perfectly capable of working with larger teams.
How has it changed since our last review?
- New feature AskHR for automated employee assistance.
- Introduced NetChex AI for intelligent data analysis.
- Launched Community for employee engagement and recognition.
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