Best Payroll Software for Restaurants 2025: Top Picks and Key Features
Whether you’re switching to a new payroll software or starting fresh, this guide will help you get it right.
Most restaurants already have some form of payroll process in place. It could be a general payroll tool or a point-of-sale (POS) add-on. However, in a fast-paced industry like restaurants, it’s easy for operations to scale, while payroll systems often struggle to keep up. When you start feeling the cracks, it’s time to figure out a better solution to ensure your payroll systems align with your operations.
This guide is designed to help restaurant owners searching for their first payroll software or existing users who feel limited by their current system.
What should the right restaurant payroll software do?
While restaurant businesses vary in size and setup, effective payroll software must address the industry-specific demands of managing hourly wages, tip credits, and labor law compliance. Here’s a quick look at the key capabilities restaurant businesses need in a payroll system:
Functionality
Why it matters
Wage and tip tip management
Keeps you compliant with FLSA and protects against violations or lawsuits
Automated overtime, breaks, and pay rules
Handles complex wage laws without manual tracking
Connected schedules, timesheets, and payroll
Eliminates manual syncing and pays staff based on actual hours worked
Simple staff onboarding
Collects the right new hire information, such as pay rates, roles, direct deposit information and tax forms.
Multi-state payroll and tax calculations
Runs accurate payroll across multiple locations or states
Live labor cost tracking
Tracks your wage costs during the week and not just after pay runs
Top Restaurant Payroll Platforms Compared
Our Top Five Picks: Quick Summary
Platform
Best for
Why it stands out
Workforce.com
Restaurants with hourly, multi-location teams
Connects scheduling, time tracking, and payroll to reduce errors and simplify compliance
Gusto
Small restaurant teams with simple payroll needs
Easy to set up and manage payroll, taxes, and onboarding for straightforward operations
7shifts
Teams already using 7shifts scheduling
Built for restaurants, with a newer payroll tool integrated with its popular scheduler
Square Payroll
Restaurants already using Square POS
Tightly integrated with Square’s POS and tip tracking system
RUN by ADP
Restaurants that prioritize tax compliance and HR tools
Strong payroll and compliance
#1 Workforce.com
Workforce.com is built around the realities of hourly work, where schedules and pay rates can be varied across roles, teams, and locations. Due to the numerous nuances and substantial amount of data to reconcile, the compliance risks are high.
By integrating scheduling, time tracking, and payroll into a single system, Workforce.com ensures that staff are paid correctly and on time. It’s designed to eliminate manual syncing, reduce errors, and provide operators with complete visibility into labor costs before payroll runs.
Here are some key features of Workforce.com that help keep payroll calculations accurate and airtight for restaurants:
Wage and hour automation: Set multiple wage and overtime rates and apply them based on location or role. Hiring minor workers? You can also set maximum hours for them, ensuring compliance with laws regarding the employment of younger employees.
Tip management: Stay on top of tips earned within teams or locations. Automate calculations and distribute tips correctly to staff.
Time and attendance tracking: Accurately capture clock-ins and clock-outs, track breaks, and generate timesheets in real time. Send reminders to staff about missing time logs, prevent overtime, and manage last-minute absences.
Onboarding: Collect W-4s, I-9s, and direct deposit information from new employees through employee self-service onboarding. Onboarding information syncs with time tracking and payroll before the first day.
Demand-based scheduling: Avoid over or understaffing and keep labor costs in check. Anticipate demand and labor needs by analyzing reservations, foot traffic, sales data, and even weather factors to minimize SPLH without compromising customer service.
Employee self-service: Allow staff an easy way to check pay stubs, timesheets, upcoming schedules, and PTOs through their mobile device.
“Integrating all of those together (onboarding, time and attendance, scheduling, and payroll) has saved me so much time. It takes me about 95% less time with Workforce.com"
– Shelly Archer, Human Resources Manager, Shipley Do-Nuts
Looking for a platform built around restaurant schedules, tips, and compliance?
Explore Workforce.com and discover how it supports fast-paced restaurant teams.
Pros
Cons
Best for: Workforce.com is ideal for restaurant businesses with hourly staff, multiple locations, and complex wage requirements seeking an automated payroll solution that integrates with time tracking, scheduling, and labor compliance.
Pricing: Workforce.com provides quote-based pricing tailored to each business. Speak with our team to learn more.
#2 Gusto
Gusto is an HR and payroll platform popular among small business owners. It features a suite of tools for payroll and benefits administration and has been expanded to include time tracking and employee scheduling.
Gusto’s capabilities are helpful for general use, especially among small businesses. However, restaurant businesses with more complex scheduling and payroll needs might find it beneficial to explore more specialized solutions.
Pros
Cons
Best for: Gusto is a great starting point for small teams looking for an easy-to-use payroll platform that handles basic taxes, onboarding, and direct deposit.
Pricing (as of 2025):
Note: Pricing details are based on information available as of 2025. For the most current pricing and features, please refer to Gusto's official website.
#3 7shifts
7shifts is a popular choice among restaurant owners and managers, primarily due to its scheduling features, which are specifically designed for restaurant businesses. With the recent addition of a payroll module, it marks a significant step toward achieving all-in-one functionality. However, the payroll product is relatively new, and some teams may find limitations compared to more mature, payroll-first platforms.
Pros
Cons
Best for: 7shifts Payroll is ideal for restaurants that already use 7shifts schedules and want a simple payroll solution without switching systems.
Pricing (as of 2025):
Add-Ons:
Note: Pricing details are based on information available as of 2025. For the most current pricing and features, please refer to 7shifts' official website.
#4 Square Payroll
Square payroll is a go-to choice for restaurants that are already using their POS. It offers a low-cost payroll solution that handles basic time tracking, scheduling, onboarding, tip management, and tax filing.
However, its strength can also be its limitation. Scaling up can be an issue, especially for those seeking multi-location functionalities.
Pros
Cons
Best for: Square Payroll is a suitable option for restaurants or quick-service teams that already use Square POS. It’s a practical starting point for straightforward payroll needs, especially those operating in a single location.
Pricing (as of 2025):
Note: Pricing details are based on information available as of 2025. For the most current pricing and features, please refer to Square's official website.
#5 ADP Run
RUN by ADP is designed for small businesses and is a popular choice for restaurants, offering automated tax filing, direct deposit, and access to HR tools.
However, it is a more generic tool and isn’t natively designed for shift-based operations. Wage and hour automation (break rules and overtime thresholds) are not baked in, and syncing across scheduling and time tracking tools often depends on third-party integrations.
Pros
Cons
Best for: RUN by ADP is best for small to mid-sized restaurants that want a reliable, general-purpose payroll provider for tax compliance and access to HR tools, but are okay with managing scheduling and time tracking separately.
Pricing: RUN by ADP offers quote-based plans. Pricing depends on team size, pay frequency, and add-ons.
Note: Pricing details are based on information available as of 2025. For the most current pricing and features, please refer to ADP’s official website.
Other Notable Options
These platforms didn’t make the top shortlist, but they’re still worth considering depending on your business needs.
Toast Payroll
Best for: Restaurants already using Toast POS
Why consider it: Syncs directly with Toast’s POS system for tips, timecards, and tax filings, making it suitable for straightforward needs.
Pros: POS integration, tip handling, direct deposit
Cons: Separate support for POS and payroll, sync issues with tip management and payroll, compliance gaps
Paychex Flex
Best for: Restaurants that need strong tax support and HR add-ons
Why consider it: Offers multi-state payroll, tip reporting, and additional HR tools, but may not be tailored for shift-based work.
Pros: Covers all 50 states and tax filing, tip reporting, HR tools
Cons: Not specifically built for shift-based workflows, dated interface, add-ons can drive up pricing
QuickBooks Payroll
Best for: Small restaurants already using QuickBooks Online
Why consider it: Bookkeeping integration with QuickBooks, along with basic time tracking and scheduling features available in higher-tier plans
Pros: Sync with Quickbooks accounting software, tax filing, basic scheduling
Cons: Manual workarounds for tip pooling, added cost for scheduling
Homebase Payroll
Best for: Small restaurants or cafes looking for an all-in-one starter tool
Why consider it: Combines scheduling, time tracking, and payroll in a lightweight platform
Pros: All-in-one platform, team messaging, tip pooling
Cons: Payroll is an add-on, may be difficult to scale with complex operations
What are the common payroll pain points in the restaurant industry?
Most US restaurants often face challenges in managing employment labor laws, including minimum wage, break time rules, overtime, and tip credit compliance. It gets even more complicated with multi-location operations, where various pay rates and regulations may come into play.
Another area where restaurant operators struggle is reconciling payroll data and ensuring everything’s accurate. This can be especially challenging with multiple sources of information, such as separate platforms for timekeeping and payroll calculations.
Final Thoughts: Choosing the right payroll system for your restaurant
Running payroll in a restaurant involves more than simply cutting checks. It’s about ensuring that every hour, every wage source, and every deduction is accounted for accurately. The risks of errors or noncompliance are high if your tools don’t work together, especially in complex labor environments with high staff turnover and variable schedules.
More than wage calculations and tax filings, the best payroll software should simplify your workflows by syncing time tracking, scheduling, and pay — all in one place. Choosing payroll software that aligns with how your team actually works can save you time and improve your bottom line.
Ready to simplify payroll for your restaurant? See how Workforce.com connects everything from time tracking to paychecks.