Cheque-Mate International — Insta-Pay for Windows

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From the Sept. 2008 Review of Professional Payroll Systems

Cheque-Mate’s Insta-Pay system is primarily designed for use by payroll service providers servicing multiple clients, and is available in configurations to support more than 250 client payer businesses with unlimited employees. The program supports all states and includes benefit tracking for paid time off, pension, insurance, cafeteria plans and retirement accounts, and offers any number of customizable deduction and pay types. Direct deposit and electronic filing and payment functions are included, and the program offers impound management options. Pricing for Insta-Pay is dependent upon the number of client payer businesses supported, starting at $450 for a single company; $500 for up to six clients; $705 for up to 50; with higher volume options also available. All systems can be networked and used by any number of staff in a single location.

DATA ENTRY & KEY FEATURES - 4.5 Stars
Cheque-Mate was originally a payroll service bureau and initially developed the payroll system in the 1980s for the company’s own in-house use. Since that time, the company has shifted more toward the technology provider role and has continued to advance Insta-Pay, with recent additions including adding e-mail functionality for reports and check stubs, unlimited bank accounts for employer and employees, and enhanced import and export options.

The Insta-Pay program supports payroll taxes for all states and federal hiring requirements, along with EEOC data tracking, with the ability to manage any number of clients and employees depending upon the package version purchased. After logging in and verifying firm/payroll service information, the system opens into a master window that offers buttons and pull-down menus for primary areas, including managing personnel, payroll functions, reporting, tax forms, billing, and system utilities and updates.

The system offers wizards for initial setup of companies and employees, with entries performed on tabbed screens that provide quick access to key data and allow tabbed jumping between selection fields. Company default settings for pay rates, deductions, workers’ comp and other items can be set to automatically process across all of a business’ employees. Company and employee selection screens offer multiple filtering and sort options.

Insta-Pay allows departmentalization, as well as multiple pay rates and unlimited pre- and post-tax deductions per employee. It also offers automated overtime and double overtime, plus support for shift differentials, tipped, commission and bonus employees. Accruals management is also offered, along with the ability to manage workers’ comp, retirement, pensions, insurance and flexible spending accounts. An impound management feature gives payroll service providers the option of managing this aspect of processing. When processing payroll runs, the system provides a spreadsheet view of each employee’s data on an individual basis, with the ability to perform net-to-gross calculations.

Direct Deposit with the ability to use multiple employee bank accounts is included in the pricing, as is electronic filing and payment of federal and state liabilities. Cheque-Mate also offers a remote data-entry module.

REPORTING CAPABILITIES - 4 Stars
Insta-Pay’s reporting functions offer dozens of standard and customizable reports, including 13 earnings reports, such as check registers, period reports, deductions, departmental, overtime and others. The program also prints 940, 941, 943, 944, 1099, 1096, W-2, W-4, W-5, W-9, I-9, and state versions of most forms. Custom report groups can be saved if desired, and the program offers output of reports to PDF format. Checks can be printed to either pre-printed or blank stock and can include client-specific logos.