OnPay
Simple payroll and HR platform for small businesses and their accountants.
About OnPay
OnPay runs payroll, files federal and state taxes, and administers benefits for small businesses under one login. Accountants get a separate dashboard that surfaces all client payrolls in one place, flags exceptions, and lets practitioners approve runs or hand off to clients without toggling between accounts. Tax filings — 941s, state unemployment, W-2s, 1099s — are automated and guaranteed accurate, meaning OnPay covers penalties if it makes a filing error. The platform fits solo practitioners and small firms managing five to fifty business clients, particularly in industries with variable pay, tipped workers, or contractor-heavy workforces. Benefits administration includes health, dental, and vision through licensed carriers, and workers' comp policies can be bound and managed inside the same interface using a pay-as-you-go model that eliminates year-end audits. OnPay does not offer a free tier, so there is no low-stakes way to evaluate it against your current stack. Reporting is functional but thin compared to Gusto or Paychex Flex — you get what you need for compliance and basic HR, not workforce analytics. Firms already running ADP or Paychex for larger clients will find OnPay handles the sub-50-employee range well but does not scale into mid-market payroll complexity.
Best for
Small businesses and accountants wanting straightforward, affordable payroll with good integrations
Key Features
- Automated payroll tax calculations and filings
- Workers' compensation insurance management
- Benefits administration with health insurance integration
- Accountant-specific dashboard for client management
- Direct deposit and pay card distribution
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Accountant dashboard consolidates all client payrolls in one view with exception alerts, reducing time spent logging in and out of individual accounts
- Tax filing guarantee covers IRS and state penalties caused by OnPay calculation or filing errors, a direct liability protection for practitioners
- Pay-as-you-go workers' comp eliminates large upfront premiums and year-end audits for clients in construction, landscaping, and similar trades
- Direct deposit, pay cards, and manual check options are all included in the base price — no per-method add-on fees
- Benefits administration integrates health, dental, vision, and 401(k) without leaving the platform, and syncs deductions to payroll automatically
- Sync to QuickBooks and Xero posts journal entries after each pay run with account mapping the accountant controls, not the client
Cons
- No free trial or sandbox environment — accountants must pay to test workflows before committing client data
- Reporting suite is basic; headcount trends, labor cost allocation by department, and custom HR reports require exporting to Excel and building manually
- Per-employee pricing at $6 per person per month adds up faster than it appears for clients with seasonal workforce spikes in summer or Q4
- HR features stop short of a full HRIS — performance management, org charts, and time tracking require third-party tools or manual processes
- User community and third-party support resources are thin compared to Gusto or ADP Run, so troubleshooting edge cases means waiting on OnPay support directly
Ledger Brief Take
Built specifically for the accountant-client relationship with dual dashboards that let practitioners oversee multiple businesses without constant client handoffs. The tax filing automation and benefits integration create a genuinely comprehensive payroll solution rather than just another processor with accounting features bolted on.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions accountants ask about OnPay.
What does OnPay actually cost for a small accounting firm managing multiple clients?
OnPay charges $40 per month base plus $6 per active employee per month, billed per client account. A client with 10 employees costs $100 per month. There is no volume discount published for accountants managing many clients, and there is no free tier. Accountants typically pass the cost through to clients or bundle it into a flat monthly fee.
How does the QuickBooks integration work in practice?
After each payroll run, OnPay pushes a journal entry to QuickBooks Online or Desktop. The accountant maps OnPay payroll items to the client's chart of accounts once during setup. The sync is one-directional — payroll data flows to QuickBooks, not the reverse. It handles wages, taxes, and deductions as separate line items, not a lump sum.
How does OnPay compare to Gusto for accountant-managed payroll?
Gusto has a larger partner program with revenue sharing for accountants, more polished HR features, and stronger reporting. OnPay is cheaper per employee and its tax filing guarantee is more explicit. Gusto fits firms wanting a partner-tier business model; OnPay fits firms that prioritize lower client cost and straightforward compliance without upsell pressure.
Which business types are a bad fit for OnPay?
OnPay does not handle multi-state payroll complexity well for businesses with employees in more than four or five states simultaneously. It also lacks the certified payroll reporting required for Davis-Bacon prevailing wage jobs. Businesses with more than 100 employees will outgrow it before needing to leave, but the reporting limitations become a daily friction point around 75 employees.
How does OnPay handle data security and access controls for accountants?
OnPay stores data on AWS with 256-bit encryption at rest and TLS in transit. Accountants get role-based permissions and can restrict client users from editing certain fields. Multi-factor authentication is available but not enforced by default — the accountant must enable it for client accounts manually during setup.