What Exact Payroll does

Exact Payroll (legal entity: Exact Payroll Inc.) is a privately held payroll and human capital management services firm headquartered in Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania, founded in the early 1990s. The company delivers a unified HCM platform covering core payroll processing, tax compliance and filing, HR policy and document management, time and attendance, hiring and onboarding, employee scheduling, talent management, benefits administration, workers' compensation, background checks, tax credit services, and specialized certified payroll for government contractors. The platform is built on UKG's cloud-based payroll technology, through a partnership that provides the underlying employee record system, payroll engine, and integration backbone; additional integrations include QuickBooks for accounting synchronization. Exact Payroll's primary customer base is small to mid-sized businesses, with a particular concentration in Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia metropolitan area, supplemented by a Southeast presence through a West Palm Beach office. It also serves franchised and multi-unit enterprise clients across hospitality and restaurants (Burger King, Denny's, Hilton, Marriott, Best Western), education (Goddard School), food and beverage (Reading Terminal), real estate (Spring Mill), nonprofits (Women's Humane Society), and municipal/government entities (Philly Housing DC).

The company's revenue model is predominantly subscription-based, with monthly billing tied to payroll processing, HR services, and benefits administration, supplemented by managed-services fees (workers' comp, benefits) and project-based professional services for implementation, compliance audits, and handbook consulting. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed. Go-to-market is sales-led with dedicated local specialists supported by an inside-sales function (toll-free and direct lines) and a multi-pronged partner channel that includes banks (white-label/private-label payroll), accountants and CPAs (referral and back-office), insurance professionals (payroll-integrated workers' comp), franchisors (network-level offerings), and industry associations (group discount programs). Distribution and marketing rely heavily on educational content — a blog covering payroll tax, FMLA, PTO, fringe benefits, and PA-specific labor law — alongside newsletter capture and resource hubs such as payroll calendars and PA labor law guides. The company supports 8 languages and reports managing 5.8M+ employee records and serving 46K+ companies, with select multi-unit enterprise logos publicly referenced. Note: firmographic headcount is listed as 1–10, which is inconsistent with the operational scale implied by the customer and record counts; attributes such as '700+ engineers' and '$40M+ R&D' most likely refer to the underlying UKG platform rather than Exact Payroll's own resources.

Name

Exact Payroll

Legal name

Exact Payroll Inc.

Website

https://exactpayroll.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Exact Payroll is a private Pennsylvania-based payroll and HR services firm serving small to mid-sized businesses across the U.S., with concentration in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania. It delivers a UKG-powered HCM platform covering payroll, tax, HR, time, benefits, and certified payroll, distributed via direct sales and partner channels.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Huntingdon Valley

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Payroll Processing Services: Core payroll processing with tax services, compliance support, and direct deposit capabilities. Revenue generated through subscription-based pricing per employee or flat fees depending on business size.
2. HR Services: Human resources support including policy templates, compliance research, hiring and onboarding assistance, and talent management tools.
3. Benefits Administration: Workers' compensation, health insurance integration, and employee benefits management services.
4. Professional Services: Consulting services for employee handbooks, compliance audits, and payroll system implementation.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Exact Payroll provides bundled payroll processing, certified payroll, human resources administration, time and attendance, workers' compensation coverage, employee benefits administration, tax credit program recovery, hiring and onboarding, employee scheduling, talent management, background checks, and merchant card services to more than 46,000 companies representing over 5.8 million employee records. The company delivers these services on top of the UKG technology platform under a registered UKG partner arrangement.

Product overview

Exact Payroll is a unified HCM (Human Capital Management) platform offering integrated payroll and human resource services. The core product is the Payroll Service, supported by a comprehensive suite of modules including Human Resources, Time and Attendance, Talent Management, Hiring & Onboarding, Employee Scheduling, Workers' Compensation, Employee Benefits, Background Checks, Tax Credit Programs, and Certified Payroll Services. Additional financial wellness offerings include Earned Wage Access (Zay Zoon) and PayRo Financing. The platform is built on UKG technology and provides seamless synchronization with accounting software like QuickBooks, serving businesses across various industries including restaurants, municipalities, and small businesses.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Certified Payroll Services Certified payroll processing and reporting service designed for contractors and government/municipal employers who must comply with prevailing wage laws and Davis-Bacon requirements. Delivered on the UKG platform and bundled with Exact Payroll's reporting and analytics capabilities.
• Human Resources Outsourced human resources administration service for SMB and mid-market employers covering HR policies, employee records, and compliance support.
• Time and Attendance Time and attendance tracking service that captures employee hours and integrates with payroll processing to reduce manual entry and improve labor cost accuracy.
• Workers' Compensation Workers' compensation insurance placement and administration service that bundles premium calculation, claims handling coordination, and audit support with payroll to ensure accurate wage reporting to carriers.
• Employee Benefits Employee benefits administration service covering health, retirement, and ancillary benefits, integrated with payroll deductions and supported through partnerships with insurance and benefits providers.
• Tax Credit Programs Tax credit identification and recovery service that helps employers claim federal and state hiring-related tax credits such as the Work Opportunity Tax Credit using payroll data.
• Hiring and Onboarding Hiring and onboarding service that streamlines new-hire paperwork, I-9 and W-4 collection, and onboarding workflow integration with payroll and HR records.
• Restaurant Payroll Industry-specific payroll and HR bundle for restaurant operators that addresses tipped-employee payroll, tip reporting, multi-location scheduling, and high-volume hourly workforce management.
• Franchise Payroll Industry-specific payroll solution for franchisors and franchisees that standardizes payroll processes, reporting, and HR support across franchise networks.
• Reporting and Analytics Reporting and analytics service that turns payroll, HR, time, and labor data into dashboards and standard reports for operational and financial decision-making.
• PayRo Financing and Merchant Card Services Ancillary financial services including merchant card processing and PayRo working-capital financing products for business clients of Exact Payroll.
• Earned Wage Access (ZayZoon) Earned wage access benefit that allows employees to access earned wages before payday, offered to employers as an employee financial wellness perk through a ZayZoon integration.

Quantifiable outcome

• 5.8M+ employee records managed on cloud platform with guaranteed accuracy
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

AI capability2 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• UKGcoreTechnology or IntegrationExact Payroll is a UKG partner that leverages UKG payroll technologies for their HCM platform. The partnership provides cloud-based employee record management, payroll processing, and integration capabilities for clients.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Paylocity: Cloud HCM provider for SMB and mid-market with payroll, HR, time, talent, and benefits modules. Comparable integrated HCM positioning and customer profile.
• Paychex: Large national payroll and HCM provider focused on SMB and mid-market clients. Direct competitor to Exact Payroll in the SMB payroll/HR space, though with much broader geographic and product scale.
• Paycor: HCM platform for SMB and mid-market employers offering payroll, HR, time, talent, and benefits. Closely comparable to Exact Payroll in target customer and integrated HCM product strategy.
• isolved: HCM provider targeting SMB and mid-market employers with payroll, HR, benefits, and workforce management. Similar go-to-market through partner channels and direct sales to smaller employers.
• Heartland Payroll (Global Payments): Payroll and HR services for SMBs, often delivered through partner channels including accountants and banks. Highly comparable sales-led, channel-driven SMB payroll model.
• SurePayroll: Payroll service focused on small businesses, owned by Paychex. Competes directly with Exact Payroll on subscription payroll for very small employers.
• OnPay: Cloud payroll, HR, and benefits service targeting small businesses with transparent subscription pricing. Direct SMB payroll competitor with a modern, integrated product.

Broad incumbents

• ADP (Automatic Data Processing): Largest US payroll and HCM incumbent serving businesses of all sizes including SMB, mid-market, and enterprise. Competes head-to-head with Exact Payroll on core payroll while offering a much wider portfolio.
• Intuit QuickBooks Payroll: SMB payroll offering tightly integrated with QuickBooks accounting software. Competes for the same small-business customers Exact Payroll serves, leveraging Intuit's installed accounting base.

Emerging players

• Gusto: Modern cloud payroll, HR, and benefits platform purpose-built for small businesses. Competes with Exact Payroll in the SMB payroll segment with a product-led, self-serve model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/exact-payroll

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Exact Payroll