Anything beyond the canned reports means Crystal Reports and either a consultant or somebody internal who learned it. That is an ongoing cost nobody mentioned during the sales process.
Pros
Full control of payroll data on premise
Cons
Roadmap direction is toward HCM and People
Ease of use
Value for money
Customer service
Functionality
0 found this helpful
Meredith Kaminski
Accountant, Foundry Road Studios
United States·Ecommerce·201 to 500 employees
4.0
Mar 21, 2026
Verified userUsed 2 or more years
Payroll stays in house, which is why we bought it
Multi state withholding is handled correctly, including the reciprocity agreements, which is the thing that quietly breaks in lesser systems.
Pros
US payroll processed entirely in house
Cons
Interface is dated and staff avoid the portal
Ease of use
Value for money
Customer service
Functionality
0 found this helpful
Denise Laroche
Head of Operations, Falcon Ridge Landscaping
United States·Transport and logistics·500+ employees
4.0
Mar 10, 2026
LinkedIn confirmedUsed 2 or more years
It has run our payroll for eleven years
Multi state withholding is handled correctly, including the reciprocity agreements, which is the thing that quietly breaks in lesser systems.
Pros
US payroll processed entirely in house
Cons
Experience depends heavily on your partner
Ease of use
Value for money
Customer service
Functionality
0 found this helpful
Curtis Goldberg
People Operations Lead, Cedar & Vine Interiors
United States·Education·11 to 50 employees
5.0
Mar 7, 2026
Verified userLinkedIn confirmedUsed 6 to 12 months
Compliance depth you do not get elsewhere
The compliance side is the reason. EEO, OSHA logs, FMLA tracking, all standard. Every cloud product we evaluated treated at least one of those as an add on with a separate price.
Pros
US payroll processed entirely in house
Cons
Experience depends heavily on your partner
Ease of use
Value for money
Customer service
Functionality
0 found this helpful
Rebecca Tremblay
Finance Manager, Bluewater Consulting
United States·Transport and logistics·500+ employees
1.0
Feb 18, 2026
Verified userLinkedIn confirmedUsed less than 6 months
Every report needs Crystal
Anything beyond the canned reports means Crystal Reports and either a consultant or somebody internal who learned it. That is an ongoing cost nobody mentioned during the sales process.
Pros
Full control of payroll data on premise
Cons
You maintain the servers and the upgrades
Ease of use
Value for money
Customer service
Functionality
0 found this helpful
Trisha Acheson
Owner, Meridian Dental Group
United States·Education·51 to 200 employees
1.0
Dec 21, 2025
Verified userUsed 1 to 2 years
Self service portal is genuinely bad
The employee self service portal is the part staff actually touch and it is the worst part of the product. It looks like 2009, it is slow, and our people avoid it and email HR instead. That defeats the entire purpose of having it.
Pros
Full control of payroll data on premise
Cons
Experience depends heavily on your partner
Ease of use
Value for money
Customer service
Functionality
0 found this helpful
Adrian Nascimento
Chief of Staff, Clearview Windows
United States·Real estate·11 to 50 employees
4.0
Jun 8, 2025
Verified userUsed 2 or more years
Payroll stays in house, which is why we bought it
ACA reporting used to consume January. The 1094 and 1095 forms come out of the system now and we file without drama. That alone justified staying through the last renewal.
Pros
ACA 1094 and 1095 reporting built in
Cons
Implementation regularly overruns time and budget
Ease of use
Value for money
Customer service
Functionality
0 found this helpful
Gordon Vance
Sales Director, Clearview Windows
United States·Software·11 to 50 employees
3.0
Apr 26, 2025
Verified userUsed 6 to 12 months
Solid engine, museum piece interface
Sage is clearly steering new customers to HCM and People. HRMS still works and still gets tax updates, but I would want a straight answer about the next five years in writing before signing a new term.
Pros
US payroll processed entirely in house
Cons
Interface is dated and staff avoid the portal
Ease of use
Value for money
Customer service
Functionality
0 found this helpful
Quentin Pyne
Studio Director, Maplewood Childcare
United States·Education·1 to 10 employees
4.0
Feb 4, 2025
Verified userLinkedIn confirmedUsed 1 to 2 years
ACA reporting stopped being a January crisis
We have people in nine states and we are not comfortable handing payroll data to a third party. HRMS runs it in house, the tax tables stay current through maintenance, and the 941 reconciles every quarter. That combination is genuinely hard to find.
Pros
Multi state withholding including reciprocity
Cons
Implementation regularly overruns time and budget
Ease of use
Value for money
Customer service
Functionality
0 found this helpful
Jamal Forsythe
People Operations Lead, Bluewater Consulting
Other·Ecommerce·201 to 500 employees
5.0
Dec 10, 2024
Verified userUsed 6 to 12 months
Multi state withholding without a service bureau
Multi state withholding is handled correctly, including the reciprocity agreements, which is the thing that quietly breaks in lesser systems.
Pros
EEO, OSHA and FMLA tracking standard
Cons
Experience depends heavily on your partner
Ease of use
Value for money
Customer service
Functionality
0 found this helpful
Cormac Rasheed
General Manager, Coastline Outfitters
United States·Marketing·11 to 50 employees
1.0
Nov 25, 2024
Verified userLinkedIn confirmedUsed less than 6 months
Self service portal is genuinely bad
Anything beyond the canned reports means Crystal Reports and either a consultant or somebody internal who learned it. That is an ongoing cost nobody mentioned during the sales process.
Pros
US payroll processed entirely in house
Cons
You maintain the servers and the upgrades
Ease of use
Value for money
Customer service
Functionality
0 found this helpful
Kirsten Silva
Chief of Staff, Northern Star Staffing
United States·Ecommerce·201 to 500 employees
3.0
Sep 13, 2024
LinkedIn confirmedUsed 6 to 12 months
Works, but the roadmap worries me
Sage is clearly steering new customers to HCM and People. HRMS still works and still gets tax updates, but I would want a straight answer about the next five years in writing before signing a new term.
Pros
Full control of payroll data on premise
Cons
Experience depends heavily on your partner
Ease of use
Value for money
Customer service
Functionality
Response from the vendorSep 20, 2024
Thank you for sharing this. Implementation timelines depend heavily on data readiness and scope, and we are sorry yours extended. Your Sage partner is best placed to review what happened, and we encourage you to raise it with your account team.
0 found this helpful
Wyatt Gallagher
Operations Manager, Falcon Ridge Landscaping
United States·Nonprofit·11 to 50 employees
2.0
Aug 29, 2024
Used 1 to 2 years
Self service portal is genuinely bad
The employee self service portal is the part staff actually touch and it is the worst part of the product. It looks like 2009, it is slow, and our people avoid it and email HR instead. That defeats the entire purpose of having it.
United States