SurePayroll
SurePayroll by Paychex is a cloud-based online payroll and HR platform purpose-built for U.S. small businesses with fewer than 10 employees, offering subscription-based payroll processing, automated tax filing, and add-on benefits such as 401(k), workers' comp, and household payroll.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1999
- HeadquartersGlenview, United States
- Headcount251–500
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What SurePayroll does
SurePayroll, Inc. is a U.S.-domiciled online payroll and HR services provider purpose-built for small businesses with fewer than 10 employees, founded in 1999 and headquartered in Glenview, Illinois (with operational headquarters ties to Paychex in Rochester, New York). It has been a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ: PAYX) since prior to 2023, operating under the brand "SurePayroll by Paychex" with money transmission services delivered through Paychex's NMLS-licensed entities. The company's core product is a cloud-based payroll platform offered in two subscription tiers — Full Service at $29/month plus $7 per employee (with automated federal, state, and local tax filing and deposit) and No Tax Filing at $20/month plus $4 per employee — supplemented by mobile applications for employers and employees that enable on-demand paystub, W-2, and 1099 access.
Built on the payroll engine is a suite of HR and benefits add-ons including 401(k) retirement plans (with an AI-powered "Max" recommendation tool), workers' compensation, health insurance brokerage, employment law guidance, payment processing, and HR tools. The platform supports payroll across all 50 U.S. states, processes W-2 employees and 1099 contractors, and includes Schedule H support for household employers — a segment expanded via the August 2023 integration of the NannyChex household payroll brand.
SurePayroll's go-to-market combines direct phone sales (877-954-7873), self-serve online sign-up, and a white-label reseller and accountant partner program with dedicated partner sales and care lines. Marketing relies on a content/blog resource center, email/SMS outreach, and a structured referral program offering $600 (business) and $100 (household) gift cards per qualified referral. Revenue is generated on a recurring monthly subscription basis with no long-term contract commitment, with ancillary commission or fee income likely from benefits cross-sell. The customer base is a long-tail of micro-SMBs across industries (financial services, automotive, retail, dental, law firms, skateboarding, household employers), with 16,000+ customers having referred peers and over three million payrolls processed across 25+ years of operation.
SurePayroll firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- SurePayroll
- Legal name
- SurePayroll, Inc.
- Website
- https://surepayroll.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1999
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 251–500 employees
- Short description
- SurePayroll by Paychex is a cloud-based online payroll and HR platform purpose-built for U.S. small businesses with fewer than 10 employees, offering subscription-based payroll processing, automated tax filing, and add-on benefits such as 401(k), workers' comp, and household payroll.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
SurePayroll industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Online Payroll Services
- NAICS
- Payroll Services (541214), Accounting, Tax Preparation, Bookkeeping, and Payroll Services (54121)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Processing & Data Preparation (7374), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Full-Service Payroll Processing (BPACAIAA)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Managed Payroll Services (Full-Service Payroll Outsourcing) (BPAAAHAA), Payroll Tax Filing, Compliance & Regulatory Reporting (BPAAAHAB), Benefits Deductions & Payroll Integration Administration (BPAAAHAF), Employer Payroll Processing (SMB & Enterprise) (FSAMAKAA)
Keywords
Where SurePayroll is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Glenview
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
SurePayroll business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Full Service Payroll Subscription: Monthly subscription consisting of a base fee plus per-employee charges. Includes unlimited payroll runs, tax filing and depositing, award-winning customer service, W-2 and 1099 support, and 2-day direct deposit.
- No Tax Filing Plan: Lower-tier monthly subscription for customers who handle their own tax filings. Includes all features of Full Service except tax filing responsibilities fall on the customer.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | Full Service - Most popular plan with complete payroll and tax filing |
| Subscription | Monthly | No Tax Filing - Self-service tax handling option |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels4 records
SurePayroll product offering
Product offeringCore offering
SurePayroll provides online payroll processing and tax filing services purpose-built for small businesses with fewer than 10 employees. Its cloud-based platform calculates, files, and deposits federal, state, and local payroll taxes automatically, supports W-2 employees and 1099 contractors, and offers free 2-day direct deposit. The company complements its core payroll product with add-on HR and benefits offerings, including 401(k) retirement plans, workers' compensation, health insurance, employment law compliance, payment processing, and AI-powered retirement plan matching.
Product overview
SurePayroll is a purpose-built online payroll and HR platform for small businesses (typically fewer than 10 employees), operated by Paychex. The core product is the Payroll platform, offered in two tiers: Full Service (automated tax filing and deposits) and No Tax Filing (customer handles taxes). Built on top of the core payroll engine, SurePayroll offers a suite of HR and benefits add-ons including 401(k) Retirement Plans, Workers' Compensation, Health Insurance, Employment Law compliance support, Payment Processing, and general HR Tools. The company also offers a white-label reseller program for accountants and CPAs. In 2023, NannyChex (a household/nanny payroll specialist) was integrated as a sub-brand under SurePayroll, bringing dedicated household employer payroll capabilities to the platform. An AI-powered feature called Max provides retirement plan recommendations based on user responses.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Full Service Payroll Cloud-based payroll processing platform for small businesses with fewer than 10 employees. Enables employers to run payroll, automatically calculate, file, and deposit federal, state, and local payroll taxes, pay W-2 employees and 1099 contractors, and process payments via free 2-day direct deposit. Includes unlimited payroll runs, employee self-service portal, mobile app, automatic payroll scheduling, and 24/7 access to payroll history.
- 401(k) Retirement Plans Employer-sponsored retirement savings plan administration and enrollment support, connecting small businesses with retirement plan options sized for their team.
- Workers' Compensation Workers' compensation insurance coverage with flexible payment options, administered through SurePayroll for small businesses to meet state-required coverage.
- Health Insurance Affordable health care plan solutions for small business owners and their employees, facilitated through the SurePayroll platform.
- Employment Law Legal and HR compliance guidance for small businesses, helping employers navigate employment regulations and requirements.
- Payment Processing Bank and online payment acceptance capabilities enabling businesses to process customer and employee payments through the SurePayroll platform.
- HR Tools Human resources management tools for small businesses, providing employee tracking, compliance, and HR administrative functions.
- Max (AI Retirement Plan Matching) Standalone AI-powered tool that recommends appropriate 401(k) retirement plans based on three business-related questions, hosted at max.surepayroll.com.
- NannyChex Household Payroll SurePayroll's household and nanny payroll offering, formerly operated as NannyChex. Provides payroll processing, Schedule H tax filing, direct deposit, and mobile access specifically for household employers paying nannies, caregivers, and other in-home workers, with U.S.-based customer support including Saturdays.
Quantifiable outcome
- Up to 120 hours per year saved by switching from manual to online payroll
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use SurePayroll
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
SurePayroll technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability1 record
Feature4 records
SurePayroll partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- PaychexcoreSurePayroll is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paychex, a major payroll and HR services company. The relationship provides SurePayroll with the resources and infrastructure of a large enterprise while maintaining its small business focus. SurePayroll services are considered money transmission and are provided by Paychex, Inc. (NMLS ID 1029977) or Paychex Holdings, LLC (NMLS ID 1764512) across multiple state licensing jurisdictions.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
SurePayroll competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Gusto: Gusto is a leading cloud-based payroll, benefits, and HR platform purpose-built for small businesses in the US, directly competing with SurePayroll in the sub-10-employee segment on full-service payroll, tax filing, 401(k), and health insurance.
- OnPay: OnPay offers payroll, tax filing, HR, and benefits services for small businesses, directly competing with SurePayroll on subscription-based full-service payroll priced per employee with accountant partner channels.
- Patriot Software: Patriot Software provides affordable online payroll and accounting software for small US businesses, competing head-to-head with SurePayroll on basic and full-service payroll plans in the sub-10-employee segment.
- Wave Accounting: Wave offers free accounting plus paid payroll services targeted at very small US businesses, freelancers, and sole proprietors, overlapping with SurePayroll's sub-10-employee and independent contractor segments.
Broad incumbents
- ADP Run: ADP Run is the small business division of ADP, offering payroll, tax filing, HR, and benefits for companies with up to 50 employees. It overlaps directly with SurePayroll's target segment while leveraging ADP's much larger scale and brand.
- QuickBooks Payroll (Intuit): Intuit's QuickBooks Payroll bundles payroll and tax filing into the QuickBooks accounting ecosystem, directly competing with SurePayroll for small business customers who want accounting and payroll in one workflow.
- Square Payroll (Block): Block's Square Payroll is an SMB payroll and benefits offering tightly integrated with Square's payments ecosystem, directly competing with SurePayroll for small business payroll customers in retail and service verticals.
- Paychex: Paychex is SurePayroll's publicly-traded parent company (NASDAQ: PAYX) and a major SMB/mid-market payroll and HR competitor in its own right. SurePayroll effectively serves as Paychex's brand for the smallest end of the SMB market.
- Justworks: Justworks is a PEO providing payroll, benefits, HR, and compliance services to small and mid-sized US businesses. While it bundles payroll with co-employment/PBO services rather than pure SaaS, it competes for the same small business wallet share as SurePayroll.
Emerging players
- Rippling: Rippling is a fast-growing unified HR, payroll, benefits, and IT platform for SMB and mid-market. It increasingly overlaps with SurePayroll's payroll + benefits suite for growing small businesses and is a credible longer-term threat to incumbent SMB payroll providers.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks7 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
SurePayroll social profiles
Digital presenceSurePayroll financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
SurePayroll leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
SurePayroll subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
SurePayroll funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors2 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
SurePayroll M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about SurePayroll
What does SurePayroll do?
SurePayroll provides online payroll processing and tax filing services purpose-built for small businesses with fewer than 10 employees. Its cloud-based platform calculates, files, and deposits federal, state, and local payroll taxes automatically, supports W-2 employees and 1099 contractors, and offers free 2-day direct deposit. The company complements its core payroll product with add-on HR and benefits offerings, including 401(k) retirement plans, workers' compensation, health insurance, employment law compliance, payment processing, and AI-powered retirement plan matching.
Is SurePayroll a public or private company?
SurePayroll is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was SurePayroll founded?
SurePayroll was founded in 1999. It employs 251 to 500 people.
Where is SurePayroll based?
SurePayroll is headquartered in Glenview, United States, in the North America region.
How does SurePayroll make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Full Service Payroll Subscription is the primary driver. The others are no Tax Filing Plan.
Who are SurePayroll's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Gusto, OnPay, Patriot Software and Wave Accounting. Broad incumbents are ADP Run, QuickBooks Payroll (Intuit), Square Payroll (Block), Paychex and Justworks. Rippling is listed as an emerging player.
Does SurePayroll have an API?
No public API is recorded for SurePayroll.
What industry is SurePayroll in?
SurePayroll's product category is Online Payroll Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPACAIAA, Full-Service Payroll Processing, with a secondary code of BPAAAHAA, Managed Payroll Services (Full-Service Payroll Outsourcing). Its NAICS code is 541214 and its SIC code is 7374.