AccountantsWorld Avis 

It is absurd some of the functions one must go thru just to set up and process a payroll using Accounts World payroll program. The entire time we were setting up the program we felt that we were working with a want to be company.
Input the payroll on their payroll input page is almost a joke, the page has all of the appropriate columns for employees, hours, OT, Vacation, etc., most of which will not be used. Can you go down the list of employees to post the hours, no, one must tab thru all eight columns to get to the next employee hour column.
One would think that when you send out the payroll reports with payroll there would be a time sheet enclosed for the next payroll, especially for small companies. Not with Accounts World, you must generate a separate sheet and separate email to the client, 9 extra steps to accomplish this task.
Client support is dismal at best and if you are on the west coast have your needs in the morning, they are closed for the most part in our afternoon and evenings. While they do have some support until 4:00 PST. After that, nada. Additionally, we found some of the staff to be not well informed as to how the program functions. The one highlight was a Nicole Savastano, very easy to work and relatively knowledgable.
These are just a couple of the issues that make this program no workable for us.

I have been using the software for over a year now and the support is mediocre, at best. The training and communication is non existant. If I had better training we would not have to call and find out how to handle various situations. Some reports do not support fiscal years.
When I first started I informed them they were reporting the local wages incorrectly on the w-2 and had to show them in writing they were incorrect. They eventually made the fix but did not report it and made a change on the local tax setup for employees and did not communicate it either. They are unreasonable If your client has insufficient funds, in fact they will cut them off from all future electronic services plus charge you $100. This makes no sense as they do not release the funds to the tax authorities or employees until they have the funds from the client, so they are not at any risk. There client onboarding process takes way too long
My advice is to steer clear, we are looking to switch.

By and large I find their software useful. That said, there is one major flaw with the AccountantsWorld payroll software (both PayrollRelief and After-the-Fact) that has nearly made me switch to a more fully functional software on more than one occasion.
It has no way of dealing with employee withholding for the employees who work in multiple states.
For a New England based software company you would think that the need for this would be apparent. To be clear, what I mean is that their software will allow you to withhold for up to two states...but it will withhold on all of the wages earned for both of the states regardless of how much time you put in either state. They have neither an A) entry method for breaking out wages and withholding, nor B) an override method for editing the tax forms themselves to break out the withholding and wages credited to each state. It's not that it's difficult or inefficient to accomplish, it's that the capability is completely non-existent. It can’t be done.
This is a GROSS oversight and makes it completely untenable as a service for any firm that needs to deal with multi state withholding issues...like almost all New England firms do. With the states so close to each other in New England, multi-state withholding is common, and it's a horrible handicap to prepare some of your tax forms in the software and some of them outside of the software due to a lack of foresight in the coding. To have to prepare forms separate from the software for any payroll client who has multi state withholding on Roaming Employees is cumbersome and rage inducing, not to mention the added time and lack of efficiency. For a software company that touts "Automation" as its main selling point, the payroll products they put out are a letdown on this level. By and large I like the products fine, however failures and annoyance of this level cause firms to switch software companies regardless of how well their other features work. 3 stars at best...no more.

I have been using payroll relief for the past 10 years and I was very upset when they increased my annual fee from $195 to $350 this year. I emailed them and called and left them a message to talk about WHY the fee increased so much in this year and I have yet to get a reply!!! However, they sent me an email telling me that they took the $350 out of my account!! I am very unhappy and will be looking for a new package.

I've been with Payroll Relief for about 2 years. For the most part the services have been fine. They bog down with Nevada State Taxes. Beginning in 2016 they had the State Unemployment Form available fro e-file. Too late to use in the 1st Quarter but attempted to use in the 2nd Quarter; Report Failed. Attempted to use in the 3rd quarter; Report Failed. In both quarters I was forced to mail the Report and just barely met the deadline. 4th quarter they again said it was working. Guess what, it failed again. This time I did not get any notice that it had failed. State is assessing me penalties. Payroll Relief WILL NOT REIMBURSE PENALTIES because they said they ATTEMPTED TO FILE REPORT; therefore they did their job. Wait a second, isn't their job to ensure that the form is filed? Beware.

When I signed up for Payroll Relief, their website and their sales rep, Patrick Chilcoate, promised "full service" payroll. But three months later at the end of the quarter, I discovered that they were not e-filing or e-paying the Arizona Unemployment tax returns and payments. That means you have to process these manually or obtain a specific POA from your client to prepare an online return on the Arizona Unemployment website. It requires far more time to process and this was frankly embarassing for me because my clients were accustomed to full service e-filing. I have repeatedly requested that they make this a priority but can obtain no commitment. Nor are they willing to discount the price. The customer service has been inconsistent, but lately has declined. It took 7 contacts over a period of 9 days recently to get a response.
Updated Response to Accountants World Delayed Reply:
The ownership of this problem belongs to Payroll Relief and unfortunately reflects unfavorably upon their customer service and internal communications. I set up a handful of clients on their system at the beginning of 2016. When I called to ask why I couldn’t electronically file AZ unemployment returns, I was directed to the software which showed there was no option to electronically file these returns. During four subsequent conversations over the next 10 months, including two with technical support staff and one with Patrick Chilcoate in Sales, I requested that this be made a priority. At no time did any one of these individuals tell me that Payroll Relief had already begun electronic filing AZ unemployment returns. When they posted a reply to my review on Friday, nearly 5 months after my review was posted, claiming I had been misinformed, I was flabbergasted. I immediately called to ask when efiling of AZ unemployment returns had been implemented and was initially told they couldn’t tell me, but ‘had been working on it’. When I asked why they hadn’t sent me an email, I was told they don’t send emails notifying customers of programming changes. Later on Friday, I received a call telling me they had been offering this service for 10 months and that notification had been posted on the website, but of course, it is not posted there now. Nevertheless, they sent me yet another marketing email this morning inviting me to a webinar where they have experts who will tell ME how to run MY business. REALLY???

We converted to Payroll Relief in late 2014. They do have help screen and tutorials, but these could be improved upon. We ran into areas that did not have enough detail explanation to help prevent some problems. Especially when it comes to how and when funds will move. Their support has been very responsive, but some staff are better informed then others (we have our favorite!). The software is nicely integrated for processing, direct deposit, tax depositing and reporting. This has saved us a lot of time and errors compared to our old system. I also like their pricing model much better than the 3 other packages i investigated. They continue to make enhancements to their program.

AccountantsWorld is a great comprehensive program for us bookkeepers and accountants. What is particularly superior, however, is the level of customer service. The support staff are extremely knowledgeable and helpful. They have always taken the time to educate me on the functionality of the various modules. More importantly, the AccountantsWorld staff truly takes our advice seriously. There have been multiple occasions where I have reported functionality errors or made enhancement suggestions that have actually been corrected/implemented. With the right enhancements, I think AccountantsWorld has the potential to be the front runner in comprehensive accounting software for professionals such as myself.

This product is not for everyone as I am having one issue after another.

Purchased 2 weeks ago and am attempting to get a refund as they claim to have a 30-day money back guarantee. No one will respond to email, messages, or phone calls. Have spent these two weeks attempting to set up one client. There are all sorts of glitches with uploading prior payrolls, etc. Told to change browsers. So, I attempted a new onboarding with a very small client. Chrome will not allow other fields to be populated. I am so sick because I have direct deposit payroll due next Friday. And, it won't happen with Payroll Relief. If I ever get the client set up, it will take 8 to 18 days to be approved for any type of e-file services. That means the only thing I can do is write a check. No tax returns, no monthly income tax deposits, no direct deposit for employees, no deposits whatsoever. I must do it all manually.

The setup period is extremely long to start with. You won't get any support unless you take the once weekly "live" recorded orientation webinar. So, one is behind every other company to begin with. The unnamed female sales rep, suggested yesterday I disable my security as that was probably the issue. This has been the absolute worst experience with a payroll provider I have ever had. As a former CFO and working my way up the ladder in various companies with more years of hands on experience than I care to state and having probably worked with at least 20 or 30 different products, I cannot recall any with so many basic issues.

I truly wish someone out there had even hinted this product was not even adequate.

Great company to work with, when you have a question you are walked through step by step. Great Customer Service from all levels of the company. I like to make detailed notes and when you are walked through the process of your question they give you time to make your notes. Each step is given and how it pertains to the rest of the process.
I recently was able to meet one of the corporate officers and he was as down to earth and approachable as his staff. I am always greeted with professional and courteous voice that is so eager to help any way needed. I don't get voice mail I get a live person. I have been given the option to work with one rep and I am so pleased that when I have a question he will be there for me and give me the information I need. I also have the ability to contact any other person at the company and will be given the same great customer service that I receive from my rep. This company knows that customer service plays a great roll to businesses today and they provide to to each customer. My rep took the extra time to get to know me and my company to better service me. That is the best value in today's business market. Thank you to all of the employees of this company you are the best.

Best service anywhere. Know that I'll always get quick response from fully knowledgable and professional staff.

Always we get response on time.
Suggestions: More seminars would be great.
Thank you!!

AccountantsWorld offers one of the most sensible payroll systems available to accountants: Payroll Relief. After researching and comparing all the mainstream payroll systems for small business owners and accountants (and after using several, including the leading product), I found that Payroll Relief did everything I wanted it to do for a reasonable price, offered more competitive scalability than any other option for accountants, and came with excellent service. My connection with AccountantsWorld is one of the most important relationships of my business, and I would love to have an excuse to try out a client with another AW product like AccountingPower.

Accountants World offers software products that create efficiencies and enable client service growth, all while keeping compliance and product enhancements at the forefront of focus. Their technical & customer support teams are always ready and able to provide a high level of client and firm focused support - which is imperative in delivering financial services at a highly competitive 'cut above' other providers. This is what makes Accountants World a true partner.

My firm Cirrus Payroll uses Payroll Relief, AccountantsWorld's payroll processing platform. We've the used the product for almost 5 years now, and have never seriously considered switching, even as we've grown dramatically. The software is web-based and user-friendly. We can process payrolls very quickly and efficiently.

I highly recommend this product to any accountant looking to implement payroll processing in their firm.

Nothing but a exceptional experience

Are you tired of always playing catch up, doing basically the same work for many different clients in many different ways, dictated by the client. Take back control by providing them a system you set up and reconcile. Stop the insanity and begin processing work the same way for many different clients. Take back control and provide your clients with a sound solution to all of their bookkeeping, accounting and payroll needs.

I was with them for 15 years and they treat their customers terribly. Do not use them

I have used it since 2009-2010, and I have seen how it has developed, for my experience to be excellent this are the following items that I would Like to see:
1.Be able to have bank feeds for "Banco Popular de Puerto Rico", it's the biggest bank in PR and it's not available for direct download of data.
2.Greater sharing power between Acct. Power and Practice Relief, being able to have only one aging of accounts receivable, sales tax on the Practice relief side, and automatic transfer of clients between both modules.
3. Contractors capability of withholding on payroll relief and accounting power.
4. Specific reports based on task, so we can use it for internal analysis.