Empower vs Paychex

Empower's advisory services require different minimums based on service level. Personal Strategy advisory requires a minimum of $100,000 in investable assets. Private Client services require $1,000,000 or more.

Paychex quotes per client rather than publishing rates, and the structure typically includes a base fee plus a per employee per payroll charge with extras for year end and off cycle runs. Get the full fee schedule in writing, including what a mid year change of plan costs.

Advisory fees are calculated based on the amount of assets being managed under advice. Specific fee rates are not disclosed on the homepage.

Contractually the provider generally accepts responsibility for errors it makes, but the employer remains the party the tax authorities pursue. Read the specific indemnity language rather than relying on the sales description.

Yes. Empower's high-yield cash account has no account fees and no minimum balance required.

Technically yes, but you must carry year to date figures across for every employee and jurisdiction, and errors there surface at year end on employee tax forms. Most businesses switch effective 1 January for that reason.

Empower offers commission-free trading for stocks and ETFs with low fees.

Under the professional employer organisation arrangement Paychex becomes a co-employer for tax and benefits purposes, which changes your benefits access and some of your employment administration. It costs more and it is harder to unwind, so treat it as a different decision from buying payroll.

It exports a general ledger file and connects to the mainstream accounting products. Confirm the mapping to your chart of accounts during onboarding, because a generic export means your bookkeeper recodes every run.

It will serve you, but very small employers often find the per run charges and the service tiering expensive relative to self service payroll products. The case improves once multi state complexity or benefits administration enters the picture.