Best Payroll Software for Hospitality: Top Picks and Key Features [2026]
Running payroll in the hospitality industry tends to be more complicated than in other traditional businesses. Hospitality groups like restaurants and hotels often deal with hourly employees, tipped wages, variable schedules, and labor compliance spread across multiple locations.
Beyond ensuring accurate pay, hospitality payroll is also about ensuring time tracking, schedules, and payroll actually line up. Otherwise, managers can easily find themselves spending hours fixing timesheets or correcting payroll errors every pay period.
For hospitality teams, the best payroll software should go beyond calculating pay and issuing pay stubs. They should help organizations reduce payroll errors, stay compliant with wage and hour laws, and avoid unexpected labor costs tied to timekeeping and compliance issues.
In this guide, we compare the top payroll software for hospitality businesses based on how well they support hourly work, handle compliance, and integrate with time tracking and scheduling. We break down the top payroll platforms for hospitality, including their strengths, tradeoffs, and which types of businesses they're best suited for.
What should payroll software do for hospitality teams?
Functionality
Why it matters
Payroll based on approved timecards
Ensures that pay calculations are based on accurate timecards, avoiding issues after payroll is run
Support for multiple roles and pay rates
Accounts for different roles and pay rates without manual adjustments or calculations
Guardrails for wage and hour rules
Catches compliance issues before payroll is finalized, such as missed breaks or overtime violations
Tip management and reporting
Ensures your tip policies are enforced, and employees get exactly what they're owed
Overtime calculation and controls
Ensures accurate overtime calculation and flags issues before payroll is run
Payroll support for multiple locations
Handles payroll for hospitality chains or businesses operating in multiple locations without duplicating the work
Fast onboarding and offboarding
Manages turnover by making it easy to add new hires and remove employees without slowing down pay cycles
Employee self-service
Provides employees access to pay stubs, tax forms, and schedules through a self-service portal or mobile app
Payroll reporting and audit trails
Keeps clear and accurate records that make it easier to answer employee questions, resolve disputes, and stay prepared for audits
Scheduling connected to payroll
Helps managers catch coverage gaps as schedules are built and shifts are worked, instead of fixing issues after payroll is already impacted
Top Hospitality Payroll Software Compared
Our Top Five Picks: Quick Summary
Platform
Best for
Why it stands out
Workforce.com
Hospitality teams managing hourly teams across one or more locations
Designed around the realities of hospitality work, with scheduling, time tracking, and payroll working together
ADP (RUN / Workforce Now)
Hospitality teams looking for a traditional payroll provider with multiple product tiers
Payroll infrastructure and support across different business sizes
Gusto
Small hospitality teams that want simple, modern payroll
Payroll with built-in tax filing and a clean interface, suited for smaller teams with straightforward payroll needs
Paychex Flex
Hospitality operators seeking a conventional payroll provider with optional HR tools
A known payroll platform with HR features you can add on as business needs evolve
Toast Payroll
Restaurants already using Toast POS
Restaurant-specific payroll integrated with the Toast ecosystem
#1 Workforce.com
Workforce.com is the best cloud-based payroll software for hospitality teams because it's designed specifically for hourly, shift-based work, which is the reality for most restaurants, hotels, and leisure businesses.
Rather than treating payroll as a standalone process, Workforce.com connects it directly to how work actually happens day to day. It's an all-in-one platform that connects scheduling, time tracking, and payroll, ensuring pay runs are always based on clean, accurate data.
Here are some of the features that make Workforce.com the best choice for hospitality teams:
Payroll connected to time tracking and scheduling: Many hospitality teams struggle with inaccurate data caused by disconnected systems. Workforce.com solves this by linking scheduling, time tracking, and payroll into a single workflow, reducing manual rechecks and minimizing payroll errors before they occur.
Time tracking and timesheet approval: Employee clock-ins, breaks, and clock-outs are captured in real time, with the time clock automatically generating timesheets. Issues such as missed punches or break discrepancies are flagged early, helping teams resolve them before payroll is processed.
Accurate pay calculations: Workforce.com automates calculations and ensures accuracy, even when many factors are at play, such as overtime rates, taxes, paid time off and other applicable pay rules.
Support for multiple roles and pay rates: Hospitality employees often work different roles with different pay rates. Workforce.com handles this automatically, ensuring staff are paid correctly for each role they perform within a single pay period.
Compliance tools and guardrails: Built-in alerts help teams stay ahead of wage and hour risks, remain compliant with labor laws, and support payroll tax compliance. Workforce.com flags issues like missed breaks, approaching overtime thresholds, or potential compliance violations before payroll is finalized.
Integrations with POS systems: Workforce.com integrates with POS systems to support accurate tip allocation and use sales data as an additional signal for understanding labor demand.
Tip management: Workforce.com supports gratuity policies (e.g., tip pooling) and ensures tips are accurately reflected in payroll. Centralized tip data also simplifies reporting and audits.
Centralized records: Centralized payroll and employee records support payroll and core human resources workflows, making it easier to handle disputes, audits, and internal reporting without digging through spreadsheets or emails.
Pros
- Purpose-built for hourly and shift-based hospitality teams
- Strong fit for multi-location operators and teams with multiple roles and pay rates
- Streamlines payroll processing by ensuring payroll is based on accurate, approved data and supported by built-in compliance guardrails
- Robust tip management system
Cons
- Combines scheduling, time tracking, and payroll into one system, which may require some change management for teams used to separate tools
Best for: Restaurants, hotels, and hospitality groups that run on an hourly workforce, especially those that are managing fluctuating demand, multiple pay rates, and want to cut down on payroll mistakes and processing time
Pricing: Workforce.com provides quote-based pricing tailored to each business. Speak with our team to learn more.
#2 ADP
ADP is a widely used payroll and HR system in the U.S. It's known for its range of products, including RUN Powered by ADP (geared toward smaller teams) and ADP Workforce Now (designed for mid-sized businesses). Both products can handle core payroll tasks such as wage calculations and tax filings, and can integrate with other tools as needed.
Pros
- Has a long track record of being a payroll provider
- Payroll tax and compliance support
- Employee self-service
Cons
- Interface can feel complex or dated
- Setup and configuration can be time-consuming
- May require additional configuration or add-ons to support hospitality-specific workflows
Best for: Hospitality teams that value brand familiarity and scalability, and are comfortable configuring separate scheduling or workforce management tools to work with payroll
Pricing (as of 2026): Pricing is quote-based and depends on features, modules, and workforce size.
Note: Pricing details are based on information available as of 2026. For the most current pricing and features, please refer to ADP's official website.
#3 Gusto
In hospitality, Gusto is often chosen by small businesses and single-location operators who want payroll to be easy to run, with no steep learning curve. Reviews highlight Gusto's simplicity, but some users also noted that the platform can have limitations once payroll becomes more complex.
Pros
- User-friendly and quick to set up
- Clean and modern interface
- Tax filing, employee self-service and benefits administration
Cons
- Can feel outgrown quickly as hospitality teams scale
- Time and scheduling tools may be less robust than other dedicated WFM software
Best for: Small hospitality teams with straightforward payroll needs and who want an easy-to-use system
Pricing (as of 2026):
Simple: $49/month + $6/month per person
Plus: $80/month + $12/month per person
Premium: $180/month + $22/month per person
Contractor Only: $35/month + $6/month per person
Note: Pricing details are based on information available as of 2026. For the most current pricing and features, please refer to Gusto's official website.
#4 Paychex Flex
Paychex Flex is a long-standing payroll and HR platform used by businesses across many industries. Hospitality users who want a more conventional payroll system tend to opt for Paychex, especially since they can layer in HR and administrative tools as their needs grow.
Pros
- Payroll capabilities, tax filing, and reporting
- HR admin tools
- Scalable for growing teams
Cons
- Some features come as add-ons, which can drive up costs
- Interface can feel less intuitive
Best for: Hospitality businesses that want a traditional payroll solution and are comfortable configuring the system to fit their operations
Pricing (as of 2026): Pricing is quote-based and depends on features, modules, and workforce size.
Note: Pricing details are based on information available as of 2026. For the most current pricing and features, please refer to Paychex's official website.
#5 Toast Payroll
Toast Payroll is designed for restaurants on Toast POS, with payroll functionality embedded directly into the Toast ecosystem. This tight integration makes it easy for Toast users to run payroll, but it can feel limiting for teams that operate outside the Toast platform or need broader flexibility.
Pros
- Native integration with Toast POS
- Tip management
- Single vendor experience for POS, payroll, and basic team management
Cons
- More optimized for restaurant workflows than broader hospitality operations
Best for: Hospitality teams already using Toast POS that want to run payroll without adding another vendor. Suitable for smaller or mid-sized restaurant groups with relatively standard payroll needs
Pricing (as of 2026):
Starter Kit: Starts at $0/month (hardware kit with no upfront costs), add-ons available
Point of Sale: Starts at $69/month
Build Your Own: Custom pricing
Note: Pricing details are based on information available as of 2026. For the most current pricing and features, please refer to Toast's official website.
Other Notable Options
These payroll tools didn't make the top shortlist, but they're still worth considering depending on your business needs.
QuickBooks Payroll
Best for: Small hospitality businesses already using QuickBooks' accounting software
Why consider it: Keeps payroll and accounting tightly connected, reducing reconciliation work
Pros: QuickBooks integration, tax filings, familiar interface
Cons: May be less suited for hospitality-specific payroll and labor needs
Square Payroll
Best for: Small restaurants, cafés, or food trucks using Square POS
Why consider it: Simple payroll solution for teams already operating with the Square ecosystem
Pros: Easy setup for small teams
Cons: Limited scalability and flexibility beyond basic payroll needs
What are the payroll challenges for hospitality businesses?
Payroll is especially challenging in hospitality. Frequent schedule changes from shift swaps and call-outs make accurate time tracking harder and critical.
Here are some of the most common payroll challenges hospitality teams run into:
Constantly changing schedules: Hospitality schedules change more frequently than in most industries due to fluctuating demand and staffing needs. Shift swaps and call-outs add another layer of complexity, increasing the risk of timekeeping errors when systems aren't built to handle constant change.
Multiple roles, pay rates, and tips: It's common for hospitality employees to work multiple roles, each with a different pay rate. Adding tips significantly increases payroll complexity, especially for teams that rely on spreadsheets or manual calculations.
Overtime and compliance risks: In fast-paced hospitality environments, overtime, meal breaks, and state labor rules are easy to overlook. When issues aren't caught early, they can lead to pay disputes, penalties, or retroactive corrections.
High turnover and frequent changes: Frequent hiring, onboarding, and role changes make it harder to keep employee information accurate. Without easy-to-update systems, outdated data can quickly lead to payroll mistakes.
Fixing payroll after the fact: Payroll errors often require off-cycle payroll runs, manual adjustments, and follow-ups with employees. These fixes take time and can erode employee trust when pay isn't right the first time.
Final Thoughts: Choosing the right payroll software solution for your hospitality business
For many hospitality businesses, payroll issues don't start on payday. They begin way earlier, when schedules change at the last minute, time isn't reviewed properly, or labor rules are missed. That's why payroll software works best when it's closely connected to daily operations, and not treated as a standalone back-office task.
When evaluating payroll options, hospitality teams should look for software that optimizes payroll processing. Look for payroll solutions that:
• Bases payroll on approved, accurate time
• Handles multiple roles, pay rates, and tipped wages without manual work
• Helps catch overtime and compliance risks before payroll runs
• Scales across locations and teams
While many payroll platforms can process wages, Workforce.com stands out by closing the operational gaps that often lead to payroll issues in hospitality. By reducing manual work and corrections, it helps teams run payroll more smoothly while significantly lowering compliance risk.
If you want a solution designed to how your teams actually operate, Workforce.com is a great place to start. Book a call to see it in action.