Cheque-Mate — Insta-Pay for Windows

From the September 2009 Review of Professional
Payroll Programs

The
Insta-Pay for Windows system, from Cheque-Mate International, was initially
designed by a payroll service bureau for its own in-practice use, and has since
evolved into a program used by firms across the country. The live, multi-employer
payroll management system offers support for unlimited business entities with any number
of employees, and can be used for all state payroll taxing entities and quarterly
and annual reporting. It also offers electronic filing and payment options.
Insta-Pay includes direct deposit with unlimited employee bank accounts, along
with management functions for impounding business payroll and withholding liabilities.
Insta-Pay pricing is based on the number of business payrolls managed through
the system, with a package supporting up to 50 clients costing $705.

DATA ENTRY & KEY FEATURES:
Insta-Pay opens to an intuitive user interface that provides system icons and
menus across the top of the screen for key functions such as client management,
employees, payroll processing, reports, tax forms, billing and system utilities.
The master work area below provides tabbed data-entry forms and reporting tools
when working in specific areas. Client and employee selection screens are well
designed, providing multiple filter, sort and search options along with summary
data.

Wizards guide users through company and employee setup
tasks on tabbed forms, while payroll data-entry functions are entered on individual
employee screens that use a spreadsheet view for entering data, including the
ability to track labor costs by job and department. Unlimited pay types can
be used for employees, including salary, hourly, overtime, double OT, triple
OT, piecework, tipped employees, shift differentials, bonuses, commission and
contract workers.

Any number of voluntary and involuntary deductions can
be applied pre- or post-tax, including garnishments, union dues, insurance,
401Ks, flexible spending accounts, HSAs, Workers’ Comp, or custom-defined
deductions. Non-monetary benefits (vacation, sick leave, etc.) can also be managed
and set to accrue by custom methods. Other HR-related functions enable notation
of hire/termination/re-hire dates, last raise and custom notes for tracking
training, reviews and other information.

Insta-Pay allows multiple pay rates for employees, which
can be set as company defaults or specifically to employees, with information
for salaried employees automatically populated when running a payroll. Payroll
data for other employees is calculated in real-time as data is entered, including
all payroll taxes and deductions, with the ability to override data if needed.
Payrolls can be set to any frequency, and direct deposit to unlimited employee
accounts is included. The system does not offer remote data entry or employee
access options, but does offer support for clients with multiple locations and
branches. It also offers a built-in billing system.

REPORTING CAPABILITIES:
Insta-Pay provides all state and federal compliance forms and reports, along
with electronic filing and payment options. The system has a good collection
of customizable report options, including earnings, deductions, departmental
and job costing, overtime, period summaries, and check registers. Reports can
be grouped and run in batch mode, and can be output to PDF format or emailed
after processing. Check stubs can also be saved electronically or emailed.

INTEGRATION/IMPORT & EXPORT:
Insta-Pay can import employee data from most time clock systems and can export
data into QuickBooks or into spreadsheet format, which enables import of the
program into other programs. Users can email all reports and even pay stubs
from within the program, or output many items into PDF format.

RELATIVE VALUE:
Cheque-Mate’s Insta-Pay is an attractively priced system that provides
all of the necessary components for firms offering payroll services to its business
clients. The program includes direct deposit, electronic filing and payment,
unlimited deductions, employer fund impounding and a few other useful tools
that make it a good fit for small and mid-sized practices.

2009 Overall Rating:

Payroll