You want to keep your patients healthy, manage a tight schedule, and drive your dental practice toward success. Does payroll feel like an unavoidable bump in the road?

It doesn’t need to be. Outsourced payroll makes perfect sense for your dental office. If you don’t need to worry about payroll and compliance, you can focus on your patients and the aspects of your business that bring you joy.

You can’t outsource dental office payroll to just anyone. A dental payroll service should know the ins and outs of your business and provide a personalized, affordable, and reliable experience.

This article highlights why you need to outsource your payroll needs and the five best providers who can help streamline your processes.

What is Dental Office Payroll?

Like any small business, your employees are the lifeblood of your business. You want your staff to feel content and happy at work so, in turn, they treat patients well and have a smile on their faces. So, you must ensure you’re paying them accurately and on time.

With a hundred other things to do, payroll might not always be top of mind. If you could simplify the process, including withholding the correct amount in taxes and staying compliant with the IRS, would you jump at the chance?

Enter payroll services. Often, you’ll have the choice of running payroll on a weekly, biweekly, or monthly basis. You’ll get access to technology that automates payroll, calculates benefits and taxes owed, and has supportive payroll experts on hand to answer questions you may have.

If you don’t outsource payroll, you run the risk of not paying your employees correctly or on time. You might miss deadlines and incur penalties. You might even make your way onto the IRS watchlist. The benefits of dental payroll services outweigh the risks.

But which payroll provider should you go with?

How to Evaluate Dental Payroll Services

There are several things to consider when hiring dental payroll services:

1. Does the payroll provider specialize in small business? Instead of fighting for attention against large enterprises, you want your payroll provider to enjoy working with small businesses.
2. Are they reachable? You don’t want to be waiting on hold for hours just to ask a payroll question. A “no voicemail” policy during business hours is an attractive perk.
3. Are they local? You need a payroll provider that knows the local laws and regulations and tax laws associated with your business location and structure.
4. Do they offer a time clock integration? Managing your staff is easier with a time-tracking solution.
5. Do they help with back-office compliance? Don’t drag your employees into payroll issues and tax compliance!
6. Do they offer HR solutions? Dental payroll services should provide human resources solutions that make your life easier without selling a bloated HR offering.
7. Do they partner with connected providers? It’s helpful if your payroll provider can connect you with CPA firms, local insurance brokers, and tax experts.

Asking these questions is a critical part of your research. Payroll providers should be transparent and tell you exactly how they can help your practice thrive. We’ll also look at features, pricing, and customer reviews.

1. Gusto

Features: Gusto is a full-service payroll software that many small businesses use. You get unlimited payroll runs; it handles your payroll tax filings and year-end reporting. It’s easy to set up and use, and you can sync time-tracking tools with payroll for the right price.

They specialize in HR, helping you manage health and financial benefits, onboarding, and retaining employees. They also offer a contractor-only payroll option which might come in handy. Unfortunately, time-tracking and hiring tools aren’t available on every plan, and you’ll struggle to reach customer services at certain times if you’re not on the higher payment plan.

Pricing: Simple pricing starts at $40 per month, plus $6 per person. The Plus plan is $80 per month, plus $12 per person. You’ll need to talk to a sales representative for the Premium plan.

What customers say:

“Gusto makes it very easy to onboard new employees and contractors - and to manage payroll. There is not a steep learning curve with the product and it is very easy to share access with your bookkeeper and accountant.” - Gusto user

2. ADP

Features: Small, midsized, or large, ADP has a solution for your unique needs. With payroll and HR tech, ready to use in one platform, ADP serves over 920,000 businesses worldwide. Like most modern payroll providers, they cover running payroll, taxes, and compliance, and depending on which plan, you can add services such as HR tools and SUI management.

ADP’s packages can be somewhat confusing. For small businesses, they have Essential Payroll, Enhanced Payroll, Complete Payroll & HR+, and HR Pro Payroll & HR. Pricing for each isn’t the most transparent. You need to fill out a form to get a quote.

Pricing: You’ll need a quote because ADP has several different pricing levels based on your business size and needs.

What customers say:

“The platform is intuitive and user-friendly AND makes it easy to preview payroll before submitting. The notifications are helpful as well (reminders that payroll is due, etc.)” - ADP user

3. ConnectPay

Features: ConnectPay offers full-service payroll with every feature your small business needs to run payroll quickly and efficiently. Our pricing is transparent, and we stand out through our connected model; a combination of user-friendly technology and reports, first-name-basis human support, and access to local, reputable partners in HR, insurance, and retirement planning.

You get all the benefits and expertise of national payroll brands with the added touch of local, personalized service. We’re responsive and dedicated to making small businesses more successful

Related: Why Dental and Doctors Offices Benefit From Payroll With ConnectPay

We also offer multiple logins, so your bookkeeper or CPA can access your account directly. Plus, if you call us during regular business hours, our Customer Service Representatives will be there to answer your call every time - no voicemail, guaranteed.

Pricing: ConnectPay offers competitive market pricing, contact us today for a quote that suits your small business's needs.

What customers say:

“From the very beginning, I’ve never had one payroll complaint from our accountant. My Connected Service Rep always knows what I’m talking about when I ask questions, which I do, a lot. Actually, everyone I’ve ever spoken to is knowledgeable and cheerful. ConnectPay must leave their bad moods at home.” - Anne Rosenthal, Brookline Periodontal Associates.

4. Paychex

Features: With Paychex, part of the SurePayroll family, you get flexible and automated payroll processing online from desktop and mobile. You can pay different types of workers, and there’s an online employee self-service option.

Payroll is quick and easy to run. Critical reports are available in real time, and you can access a resource center for current information, chat features, articles, and how-to guides. Pricing plans are reasonable, but if onboarding and accounting software integration is essential to you, you’ll need to sign up for their premium plan. 

Pricing: Starting at $39 per month + $5 per person. Higher plans require you to call for a quote.

What customers say:

“Gets the job done. Easy to add employees and make changes to them. I also like the HR online library. Most custom reports are what I need. Payroll always delivered on time the next day. Love having a dedicated person to talk to.” - Paychex user

5. Intuit (QuickBooks)

Features: QuickBooks has been around for a long time. They’re a trusted name in accounting and offer full-service payroll. Online Payroll works for small to midsize businesses—from accountants and financial experts to nonprofits, construction companies, and restaurants. Its Core program covers payroll basics, including payroll taxes.

Its Premium service is more robust, and the Elite program gives you access to on-demand experts. It’s handy to be able to customize, run, print, or export payroll reports to share with your accountant, and onboarding is available on the Elite program.

Pricing: Payroll Core + QuickBooks Simple Start is $37.50 per month, plus $5 per employee. Payroll Core + QuickBooks Essentials is $50 per month, plus $5 per employee. Payroll Premium + QuickBooks Plus is $70 per month, plus $8 per employee.

What customers say:

“I was just looking for a way to organize and track paying employees. I had no idea it crushed all of the numbers for you too! I literally click a button and keep up with payroll taxes. Simple interface. I really can’t imagine anything else to want out of a payroll service.” - QuickBooks user.

Dental Office Payroll: Make Your Decision Confidently

You have all the information you need to make the best decision for your dental practice. It’s important to note that many payroll providers offer the same services at slightly different price points. The best dental payroll services stand out in transparency in pricing, providing tailored solutions, and, most importantly, support.

We feel passionately that small, local businesses should have a responsive payroll provider that gives our clients the right resource at the right time. We’re more than a provider; we’re small business specialists.

If you want to run your business, we can help by running payroll, managing tax compliance, and always being on hand to answer your questions or connect you with local experts who can.

Schedule a call with your connected rep if you’re ready to crush payroll. If you’re not quite ready to schedule a call, check out our free resource, The Connected Guide to Small Business Payroll.