Paychex Reviews

This may be one of the worst vendor experiences I have ever had. Multiple issues:

I switched my payroll service to Paychex last October. Before signing the contract, I made it very clear that many of my employees use ITINs rather than Social Security numbers. I was specifically assured that this would not be a problem and that Paychex could process employees with ITINs. That turned out not to be true. Paychex repeatedly charged me monthly fees for “missing Social Security numbers,” along with additional fees that were never clearly explained. By the time everything was added together, my actual cost was nearly double the amount I had agreed to pay.

I ran my own payroll as the only employee of my LLC. I spent 30 min/week on it and thought Paychex would be a good value trade. After working with their persistent salesperson we struck a deal for 6 months of free service in October. That's when the trouble started. They didn't understand how to transfer my previous payments/taxes forward and in November they paid my taxes twice. After spending a few hours to resolve the issue, they fixed it in December. In December I received a bill for $60, which they automatically withdrew from my account. Later I found out that they charge monthly fees if you don't run a payroll, this was not disclosed when I signed up.

My company use Paychex and from day one and over the next two years, was terrible. We finally fired them and hired ADP. Much better as we grew by 150% during the past four years. My problem with Paychex is that they hold ERTC filers hostage to their exhorbitant fees. They lied about them up front, which I acted on and agreed to with their representative.

Worst company I have ever dealt with. They bully you into services you don't need, never talked to my account rep once. I called in to speak with whoever is in charge of my account and spent 6 hrs being transferred through departments. Avoid them at all costs

My name is Terry ** owner of Kettering Oakwood Automotive. We hired this company to do our payroll. Worst company ever. They took out extra money out of employees' checks. Would not pay employees. Would not pay 941 taxes. Try to talk to Alex the sales rep from Dayton. The worst ever. Only thing this company wants to do is blame you for all their mess ups and take your money. Please stay away from this company.

Worst company ever to deal with paychecks. Not only does customer service suck, but they have one job. That's to deposit payroll into bank accounts, and they manage to even screw that up. I have people that are calling me on vacation. Waiting for their deposits and now I have to tell them that it may not be deposited till Saturday. So I hope you get to enjoy your vacation. I'm starting to think they hold payroll in their own bank accounts. I think BlackRock did that. It's making money our interest. In what a wonderful company to keep charging you money. Every time they screw up and you want them to fix it.

For over 6 weeks I had requested a process of moving 3 employees into a renamed nonprofit organization. I provided all of the legal documents noting the name and EIN number. Within the first week, was notified that all of the materials I had submitted were enough to take care of this. Now 6 weeks later, 14 emails, 9 staff brought in to move my three staff, and it is still not done. No one has the courtesy to even call me when requested. Clearly we are too small to get their attention.

I hope to never work for another employer who is using Paychex. I switched jobs and went to do a termination distribution and they wanted me to verify my routing and account number several times throughout a 24 hr time frame. I asked why I had to verify it so many times and got no real answers. I asked to speak to a supervisor several times and the rep refused to put one on the line. This is very poor customer service and I will use an outside 401k company before I ever use Paychex again.

I wish I never did business with this company. I ran my business payroll through Paychex for over 10 years, and the service got worse and worse while the fees went up and up. Constant employee turnover, meaning that you might have a different person assigned to your account every few months. New costs popping up all the time, including "adjustments" months after the fact, with no explanation. After selling my business, they continued to deduct fees from my bank account until I had my bank manually stop any further payments. Shady stuff! Stay far away from these jokers.

My experience with Paychex has been an absolute nightmare. Customer support is practically nonexistent, and what should have been a simple issue turned into months and months of pointless emails. Every response comes from a different person or department, and the answers constantly contradict each other. No one seems to take ownership or know what is actually happening.

I would give this company a zero if I possibly could. Not only are they extremely unhelpful. They also overpaid me one week. THEIR mistake. Only to have myself and my boss come up with an agreement to pay it back. Only for them to turn around and continue to take whatever amount out they felt like each week. I am contacting whoever I need to whether it’s the BBB or a lawyer. This company is beyond unprofessional not to mention it’s impossible to get into the app to gain access to your OWN paystubs and w2s. I would genuinely avoid this company at all costs.

Worst payroll company on the planet... I have been working with them since Jan 2020. The amount of errors is insane. Overpaying people extra fees. Taxes with the state, they have screwed this up at least 5x. Now they have moved their "Customer Service" overseas partially, they are screwing things up almost every payroll. I asked about never getting overseas people, they promised it wouldn't happen, well, every ** time it's happening. Today was the kicker, where they charged over 3x what payroll was and put my account in a huge deficit. Steer clear of these morons. They will ruin your day.... and bankrupts your company.

Horrible robotic personnel, Takes way too long to process things. At their mercy for call backs. Would never recommend.

There are definitely some scammers working at Paychex. They come at you in all types of unethical ways, mess up your payroll and constantly come at you for monies that you don't owe them, and no one seems to know what the other is doing. They have caused unnecessary stress for small businesses. Messing up payroll can cause lasting consequences for some small businesses. They need to be held responsible for not monitoring some of their employees and hackers who get into their system, causing harm to their former and present clients' lives.

While I was initially satisfied with Paychex for my small business, my experience turned into a nightmare following personal tragedy. After pausing operations, I called to cancel my service, explaining that I was no longer running payroll. Despite a representative assuring me I wouldn't be charged, Paychex continued to take monthly payments for services not rendered. I was later told I needed to prove my business was shut down to stop the unauthorized charges, forcing me to involve my bank to stop payments. Paychex's unethical billing practices have completely destroyed my trust in them.

I've had Paychex for 25 years and I don't know what happen to this company, but they SUCK now. I just started up payroll, and it's been a nightmare from hell. I'm so stressed out over what they put me through from Mistakes after mistakes. I told them to FEDEX next day my payroll so my employees will have their check on time Fri and what do they do, they put it in USPS mail???? Now I have 3 new employees that I just hired that are very angry employees at my door looking for their paychecks that they worked very hard for.

This company should be shut down all together. For people out there start filing complaints with the Texas State Attorney General and take the confirmations you will receive via email and cut paste those on all the social media outlets starting with Facebook! FOREVER!!!

In the very beginning (whilst trying to attain my business) they were ever-so-helpful and responsive. While I held the service, I performed my own payroll weekly. However, if I ever had a question, it was difficult to converse with a human to resolve the issue. I was referred continually back to the AI help feature. When I sold my business, I advised them. I was given a form to close the account, however, they kept taking money from my business account... They did NOT cancel my accounts. They didn't tell me I would have to reach out to every single department separately to do so. They are not helpful once they no longer find you useful to them... However, they will continue to take your money...

As an employee, Paychex was incredibly intuitive and the customer service was always fantastic. Special shout out to Priyam who recently helped me access my account again. I can't speak for business owners, but as an employee, I definitely appreciated this service.

When we were sold Paychex we were guaranteed that our job costing reports could be uploaded directly into Quickbooks. After struggling for over 3 months, attending Webex after Webex meeting (where Paychex employees talked about me amongst themselves while I was on the meeting and were extremely condescending) and providing endless reports, we noticed in a training video that Paychex failed to "turn on" several icons on the mobile app to allow us to take meal breaks and transfer to jobs. But even after fixing that, the reports provided never came close to what we were sold. When we decided to cancel Time and Attendance, my emails we forwarded to person after person, all denying responsibility while they invoiced us for another month. Then when we were finally provided a link to cancel on line, we were told it would take another 30 days to be effective. So Paychex managed to charge us an additional $160.00.

My hope is that others take the time to research before choosing this company. Unfortunately, I relied on a recommendation and have been dealing with the consequences ever since. I was also told Paychex would be more affordable, but it’s clear that you get what you pay for. We recently transitioned away from Paychex after a very frustrating experience. During onboarding, critical items were mishandled, including issues with our workers’ compensation policy that created unnecessary complications and additional work on our end. Support was inconsistent, difficult to reach, and often unable to provide clear answers. Even simple tasks like running a bonus payroll required multiple calls and long hold times.

I don't know how this company stays in business. I, too, wish I had done more research before using them. The customer support is nonexistent. It took me 120 days to get my 401k released from them when I tried to roll it over. Worst experience ever.

Identical experience as other 1 star reviews—impossible to reach anyone who human who can actually help; paid hundreds of dollars to generate a single W2 which still hasn’t been produced. They clearly have major leadership/operational challenges to be delivering such poor service.

Paychex created W2's for us with non-compliant (illegal) numbers for two years. Customer support seemed good until my CPA discovered their error... When asked to fix, the nightmare began:

TERRIBLE!!! The Matt Pruitt Agency has sent patches numerous requests to resolve an IRS issue they created back in 2021. All we get is "We are working on it." They NEVER RESOLVED and have not even begun to work on this. This puts me in a terrible position. I would urge anyone NOT to do business with PAYCHEX UNLESS you want the IRS breathing down your neck.

Updated on 06/05/2026: I wish I could lower my star rating. As follow up to my April complaint regarding Paychex' failure to provide me with a 1099...It is now the first week of June 2026 and still no form. I guess they'll figure I'll just forget about it. IRS investigation and fines need to be applied.

I just wanted my W-2. Gave the chat guy last 4 of my SSN. Said he couldn't find my account and ended the chat. So I called them,. After 3 or 4 bait 'n' switch maneuvers in the phone tree, the automated voice told me to contact my employer, who earlier, had told me to contact Paychex. Spoke to a live person at Paychex, got transferred twice only to have the last person transfer me to...the IRS. This company is useless garbage.

We switched over to Paychex about 2.5 years ago and it has been a complete nightmare since inception. Our dedicated rep, while nice, has no idea what she is doing. Payroll departments, don't talk to Time and attendance, 401k departments and... They all seem to work in silos and trying to unwind messes they create can take up to a year and a half to resolve. PLEASE do not participate in their 401k program, that is worst of all! for a year and a half they were taking company associate fee's our of asset/employee accounts. Every time I reported the issue, they claimed it was fixed only for it to happen again. Our company was only 75 employees and now we are down to 40 and they still can't get it right. We are in the process of moving our 401k out and will be doing payroll next. Please save yourself the hassle.

Updated on 03/30/2026: After a week of more emails, more phone calls, and more waste of time and I still have received no help. I have repeatedly asked for someone knowledgeable to call me, but all I get is the same canned responses.

Updated on 03/27/2026: Paychex responded to my review on March 14th, 2026 asking me to email them. I did that on March 14th (same day) and have yet to even receive an acknowledgment or confirmation of receipt. Their published response is just PR so people disregard your complaints. They have done nothing. Avoid at all cost

If I could give 0 stars I would. I asked if I decided to not have employees would I still be billed for payroll? I was told no. Weeks went by and then I was backbilled for payroll I did not run. I just let it go. I called and made sure to cancel my payroll account. 2 weeks later I'm billed AGAIN.

I wish I read these reviews and done more research before signing up with Paychex. The worst experience of my life in business dealing with them. What is the point of having someone assigned as a "specialist" to your account that you could never ever get ahold of. They charge fees after fees for things that don't even make sense. I would never recommend them to anyone to use ever.

In sum, a nightmare from the start, Paychex comes in last with the worst reviews of all providers, according to A.I. and this makes perfect sense. RUN the other direction unless you like being put through H.E. double toothpicks. Five payrolls in (semi-monthly, so 2-1/2 month’s worth of Paychex), every single payroll had many, many, way too many errors, they don't even know how to calculate time a half. It takes a back and forth of 4 or 5 times before all of the errors are fixed. All afternoon in other words, and if the clock turns to time to get off work, they stop working to fix their errors and stop responding to the email conversation leaving payroll unfinished ⏰️ forcing you to call their after-hours emergency number, and the next payroll will have the same errors and more!!

Poor service and we cancelled our service. Four months later we are trying to can not get refunds where they hit my bank account months after cancellation. Also, we can not access our employee HR documents.

Avoid this company at all costs. They will charge you endless fees for a multitude of “reasons”. Absolutely horrible experience. Hard to get a real representative. Always trying to upsell you. Fees are endless.

Do NOT use this company unless... you want to spend hours trying to get service and right their wrongs, get them to fix their mistakes, or even just do basic things they are supposed to. Nobody knows anything, they misfile taxes so you get penalties, don't do year end as contracted, don't answer emails, every time you call you get a different person who knows absolutely nothing so you have to be on phone for hours at a time trying to get anything done. I would NEVER suggest them as a payroll company and have no idea how they stay in business.

This company has messed up my taxes and my benefits and basically everything else. Would warn all potential users to stay as far away from this company as possible. Had to check a star to write this review!!! SHOULD BE 0.

Been with Paychex for 14 yrs. Was a great company in beginning with same dedicated specialist for 10 yrs. Smooth as silk handling payroll each month. Until they changed. Now a new specialist every several months/specialist have bad attitudes/never answer your calls/never return calls/ make major mistakes/computer programing not consistent with my files. Horrible company.

The customer service at Paychex is practically non-existent. I need three W2's corrected for 2025 and I was told it will take eight weeks to fix. This is totally unacceptable. My client representative is almost never available and then I end up with some random person who has no idea of what's going on. I will never recommend Paychex to anyone. Stay away. Worst payroll service ever.