- Payroll Features
- Accounting Features
- Add-On Features
1. Payroll features
1.1 Payroll Processing
By default, the software has around ten pay/hour types of payroll processing ranging from regular and overtime to Jury duty and bereavement. The most attractive feature of Patriot is that you can customize this list to suit your business needs. You can delete the default options and add an unlimited number of hour types along with different rate multipliers for each of them.
Similarly, you can set up an unlimited number of salary types such as bonuses, severance pay, or commissions. Another nice feature is that you can set up time-off accrual rules using which the software automatically calculates how much paid time-off each employee has earned.
Once you have set up all the pertinent employee information, running payroll on Patriot is a straightforward process. All you need to do is enter the date range for your payment period. If you want to add additional payments such as overtime or vacation payments, the software helpfully has an ‘Add money’ button against each employee that allows you to do so easily.
The app then takes care of all the calculations to give you a summary of each employee’s paycheck, complete with company, time-off, and tax deductions. Once you have approved a paycheck, you can print out checks or pay stubs directly from the software. Alternatively, Patriot also allows you to make direct salary deposits into your employee’s bank accounts.
1.2 Tax Management
Patriot Payroll has robust tax management features, especially if you subscribe to its Full-Service plan. In this plan, not only does the software calculate your company and employee taxes, but come tax season, it also takes care of tasks such as filling out and submitting tax forms to the correct tax agencies. This includes payroll and wage tax filings such as 940, 941, W2, W3, and 1096s, along with local, state, and federal taxes. What’s more, these services come at no additional cost, and Patriot automatically debits payroll taxes from your account every time you run payroll. However, if you must pay more than one state tax, each additional state filing will cost you $12.
1.3 Employee Portal
My Patriot, as the software’s employee portal is called, is a well-developed platform that gives employees secure access to all their data. Here, they can update their personal information, view their payment history, tax or company deductions, and see how much time off they have accrued. Additionally, they can check their electronic W2 forms and print out paystubs from within the portal itself. Further, the software’s time and attendance features allows team members to view and update their time cards as well.
1.4 Reports
The software has about a dozen reports in various categories. These range from paycheck history, tax filing, and direct deposit reports to time-off and employee contribution reports. The software allows you to create custom reports by changing metrics such as date ranges, employees, and pay types. Helpfully, you can download the reports in PDF or CSV file formats if you want to share it with others.
2. Accounting Features
2.1 Expense Tracking
This accounting app supports three types of expense tracking: cash basis, accrual basis, and modified cash basis. You can choose the method that suits your business when you set up for the first time, and the software will take it from there. You can also set up a chart of accounts to keep your money organized. By default, the software has five different types of accounts. These are asset, liability, equity, income, and expense accounts. According to the accounting type and chart of accounts you have chosen, the app automatically records all transactions. It also updates your account to give you an overview of money coming in and going out.
2.2 Invoicing, Estimates, and Credit Memos
The software has several tools that streamline the creation of invoices, estimates, and credit memos. First, it offers you three predesigned templates that you can use to create a professional-looking document. These templates are customizable, in that you can add your company logo and change the accent color. Once your customer approves an estimate, the software allows you to change it into an invoice with the click of a button, so you don’t have to waste time redrafting it.
Second, the app allows you to set up a recurring invoice schedule for repeat customers. The software then automatically creates and emails invoices to your customers at whatever frequency you set.
Third, you can create workflows that send automatic email payment reminders to your customers if they are past the due date on their invoices. These reminders increase the likelihood of you being paid your dues. You can also include a ‘Pay by credit card’ button in your invoice so your customers can pay you in one easy step, further increasing your chances of timely remuneration.
2.3 Bank Reconciliation
Patriot offers only monthly bank reconciliation. It also does not automatically import your bank statements into the software. You will need to input that manually. That said, the software accurately reconciles your bank statements with the transactions in the software. It gives you a ‘Patriot Balance’, which is a sum of your incoming and outgoing transactions, with which you can compare your statements. This way, you can easily see if you have missed tracking any financial proceedings. This crucial accounting feature is, however, only available on the Premium plan.
2.4 Reports
Like its payroll platform, Patriot accounting also has a variety of accounting reports that give you an overview of the health of your business. These include profit and loss statements, account balance reports, expense tracking reports, vendor payment histories, and even unpaid invoice reports. Subscribers of the premium plan get additional bank reconciliation, and customer estimate reports.
3. Add-On Features
3.1 Time And Attendance Tracking
With this add-on feature, you can set up online timecards for each of your employees. Once this is done, they can punch in and out using the software’s employee portal no matter where they are. They can also retroactively enter their working hours along with any sick or vacation days they have used up using the portal. The app allows managers to edit and approve these timecards on its ‘Manage Timecards’ page. They can also send the approved timecards directly to payroll with the click of a button. Crucially, the software automatically fills in the employee hours when you run payroll.
3.2 HR Management
Patriot’s HR add-on feature gives you some basic employee management functionalities. It stores all your employee’s information in one central database, so you have easy access to it. You can record important data such as emergency contact information, hiring date, job title, as well as payment details. A nice feature here is that you can add notes to an employee’s records, a tool that lets you store tidbits of unique information. The HR software also doubles as a document manager, which you can use to store contracts, offer letters, or resumes. Additionally, you can also use the software to create employee-based reports such as census, service anniversary, and hiring reports.
