8.7
Spot Score

Heartland Payroll Review: Is It The Right Payroll Software For Your Team?
Best for SMB teams · Mid-market
Heartland Payroll offers custom pricing plan
Overview
Pricing
Features
Buyer feedback
Alternatives
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Security & Compliance
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SpotSaaS Analysis for Heartland Payroll
Heartland Payroll is a payroll software solution used by payroll managers, HR directors, and finance officers in medium to small businesses, particularly within retail, hospitality, and healthcare sectors. A rating of 3.8/5 from 258 user reviews suggests it is broadly validated but may have some areas needing improvement.
The software's intuitive self-service portal simplifies payroll entry and custom reporting, while its payroll automation efficiently handles taxes and deductions. Users also commend the knowledgeable and responsive payroll specialists who enhance customer service. However, the onboarding process can be disorganized, leading to potential errors and requiring additional oversight.
Quick facts about Heartland Payroll
What is Heartland Payroll?
Heartland Payroll is a payroll management software for small and medium sized companies. It handles all your payroll processing requirements such as bi-weekly, monthly or yearly paychecks, cost accounting and tracking of leave balances. The system has complete comprehensive accounting module which enables you to run financial reports using the advanced reporting tools. The software provides a simple and intuitive environment for easy and fast customizing of reports.
Pricing
Heartland Payroll offers custom pricing plan
Best For
Built for growing teams, from small businesses to mid-market
Security & Compliance
Data residency:🇺🇸
Heartland Payroll Software Demo
Heartland Payroll was reviewed internally using user feedback, in-house testing, and market research to assess its performance, reliability, and user experience. Learn how we review products and our evaluation process.
Who should consider Heartland Payroll
- Use cases
- Retail businesses, Hospitality industry, Healthcare providers
- Team types
- Payroll managers, HR directors
- Company size
- 20-50 employees, 51-500 employees
- Workflow style
- Simple and streamlined
- Setup complexity
- Medium
Why teams choose Heartland Payroll
Intuitive self-service portal with easy payroll entry and custom reporting
Responsive and knowledgeable dedicated payroll specialists
Automated tax filings and payroll calculations reducing manual work
Is Heartland Payroll right for you?
Best for small to mid-sized businesses needing streamlined payroll with strong support.
Choose Heartland Payroll if
- You run a retail, hospitality, or healthcare business with 20-500 employees.
- You want automated tax filings and integrated payment processing to reduce manual work.
- You value responsive, knowledgeable payroll specialists for personalized customer support.
Consider alternatives if
- Your company is a large enterprise with complex payroll needs requiring high customization.
- You need a highly customizable payroll entry and reporting system beyond standard options.
What buyers should know before shortlisting Heartland Payroll
Heartland Payroll garners praise for its user-friendly platform and standout customer service, making it a strong contender among payroll providers. Many users appreciate the dedicated payroll specialists who offer personalized support, whether resolving issues or navigating payroll intricacies.
The ease of online payroll processing and robust reporting tools simplifies a traditionally complex task. For businesses, this has translated to streamlined payroll, accurate tax filings, and reduced administrative overhead.
Many customers also highlight the transparency around costs and the absence of frequent rate hikes, a refreshing change in the payroll space. However, there are some shared challenges.
Certain users have reported frustrations during onboarding and occasional errors in payroll processing. Delays in responses from specific departments, like tax support, and a need for better employee app functionality have been noted.
Additionally, there are comments about turnover among account managers, which can affect continuity of service. Overall, Heartland Payroll's intuitive interface and helpful support team provide a valuable payroll solution for businesses, though attention to initial setup and detailed oversight may enhance the experience further.
Heartland Payroll pros and cons
- Heartland Payroll pros
Intuitive self-service portal with easy payroll entry and custom reporting
Responsive and knowledgeable dedicated payroll specialists
Automated tax filings and payroll calculations reducing manual work
- Heartland Payroll cons
Disorganized and manual onboarding process causing errors
High turnover of payroll representatives affecting service continuity
Ready to try it?
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Connect with the team for a personalised demo.
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Compare Heartland Payroll side-by-side with top Payroll Software alternatives.
What is the pricing of Heartland Payroll?
Heartland Payroll uses custom pricing — plans are tailored to your team size and needs. Contact them for a quote.
Heartland Payroll reviews and ratings
Buyer sentiment
Users appreciate the user-friendly platform and strong customer service but note onboarding challenges and portal access issues.
What buyers like
- Ease of use
- Customer support quality
- Automation of tax filings
Common complaints
- Onboarding process
- Portal accessibility problems
What users are saying
HV
Heather V
11/25/20
Easy to Use Self Service Portal!
What do you like best? Heartland offers an easy to use self service portal for entering time and pulling reports. The friendly Payroll Specialist ...
Read more
JM
Justin M
07/02/20
Incredible how much they care and how responsive they are
What do you like best? Such fast response times 7 days a week and you could always tell my situation mattered to them What do you dislike? ...
Read more
LF
Lori F
02/14/20
More bells and whistles than I need but a great service
MM
M M
02/10/20
Depends what you are needing
What do you like best? The price but you get what you pay for. There are a lot of hidden fees in the "big dollar" payroll services but at Heartland ...
Read more
AI
Administrator in Wholesale
02/05/20
Customer Service
What do you like best? All the representatives are very friendly and helpful. What do you dislike? The W-2 processing fee was higher than ...
Read more
KT
Krista T
02/04/20
They sold us the Golden Gate Bridge and We Bought It
What do you like best? The online platform has more HR functionality and features than we had before. What do you dislike? Our Heartland ...
Read more

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What are the features of Heartland Payroll?
Heartland Payroll 401(k) Tracking facilitates the management of employee retirement plans by automating contributions and employer matches d…
Heartland Payroll Attendance Tracking provides businesses with a reliable system to monitor employee hours, tardiness, and absences. Integra…
Heartland Payroll Benefits Management offers comprehensive administration of employee benefits including health insurance, retirement plans,…
Heartland Payroll Check Printing allows employers to generate and print secure, detailed paychecks directly from the payroll system. This fe…
Heartland Payroll Compensation Management enables organizations to efficiently administer salaries, bonuses, raises, and commissions. By int…
Heartland Payroll Deductions Management automates the application and tracking of mandatory and voluntary deductions, including taxes, benef…
Heartland Payroll Direct Deposit offers a secure, efficient way to transfer employee wages directly into their bank accounts. Supporting mul…
Heartland Payroll Leave Tracking (Vacation) allows employers to manage employee time-off requests including vacation, sick leave, and person…
Heartland Payroll Self Service Portal empowers employees by providing secure online access to pay stubs, tax documents, benefit information,…
Heartland Payroll Tax Management automates the calculation, withholding, filing, and payment of federal, state, and local payroll taxes. The…
Heartland Payroll W-2 Preparation streamlines the year-end process by automatically generating and distributing W-2 tax forms to employees.…
Heartland Payroll Wage Garnishment automates the deduction of court-ordered wage garnishments such as child support, tax levies, or creditor…
Heartland Payroll security and data handling
Key compliance certifications and security features for IT and security teams evaluating Heartland Payroll.
Certifications
Developer & data
Alternatives to Heartland Payroll
Why buyers keep looking beyond Heartland Payroll
Businesses seeking deeper integration between payment processing and payroll may explore other all-in-one providers.
Companies requiring advanced HR management, benefits administration, or time tracking may consider broader HCM platforms.
Firms with multi-state or complex compliance needs might look for payroll solutions specializing in regulatory support.
Organizations prioritizing customizable reporting and analytics may seek platforms offering more granular insights.
Employers needing scalable solutions for larger workforces could evaluate enterprise-grade payroll providers.
Businesses wanting robust mobile access and employee self-service tools might explore modern cloud-based alternatives.
Heartland Payroll Support Options
Frequently Asked Questions About Heartland Payroll
Common questions buyers ask before choosing Heartland Payroll.
Heartland Payroll is a Payroll Software. Heartland Payroll offers Wage Garnishment, W-2 Preparation, Leave Tracking (Vacation), Self Service Portal, Direct Deposit and many more functionalities.
Heartland Payroll is a strong fit if: You run a retail, hospitality, or healthcare business with 20-500 employees.; You want automated tax filings and integrated payment processing to reduce manual work.. Consider alternatives if: Your company is a large enterprise with complex payroll needs requiring high customization.; You need a highly customizable payroll entry and reporting system beyond standard options..
Buyers commonly note the following limitations of Heartland Payroll: Disorganized and manual onboarding process causing errors; High turnover of payroll representatives affecting service continuity; Employee portal access issues including account lockouts and poor mobile experience.
Some top alternatives to Heartland Payroll includes Patriot Payroll, Paychex Flex, Paycor, Freshbooks and Quikchex.
Heartland Payroll offers Quotation Based pricing model
The starting price is not disclosed by Heartland Payroll. You can visit Heartland Payroll pricing page to get the latest pricing.
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Disclaimer: This research has been collated from a variety of authoritative sources. We welcome your feedback at [email protected].




















