Netchex vs. Time & Pay: Which HR and Payroll Platform Is Right for Your Business in 2026?

A construction crew based out of Johnson City picks up a job two counties over. A home health aide logs visits across the Tennessee-Virginia line. A restaurant near campus is short two servers on a football Saturday. Time & Pay has built a business around exactly these kinds of owners for more than 30 years. If you’re weighing Netchex vs Time & Pay, it helps to know what each company actually builds versus what it buys from someone else.

Time & Pay runs its payroll on Payentry, a platform built by a different company, MPAY. Netchex builds its own payroll, time, HR and benefits software and staffs its own support team. That difference shapes most of what follows.

Last updated: September 2026. Time & Pay information comes from the company’s own website and public listings. Netchex figures come from G2 and Netchex’s own customer data.

The Short Version

Time & Pay is based on North Boone Street in Johnson City, Tennessee, and it’s a genuine family business. Steve Scheu founded the company in 1992 and ran it for a 26-year career before retiring in 2018. Today it’s led by Andy Scheu (Director of Marketing & Sales), Kristie Ayers (Director of Operations, an owner since 2003), and David Barrowclough (Director of Finance, a former CPA at PwC). Its own site says it has served organizations in East Tennessee, Southwest Virginia and Northwest North Carolina for more than 30 years, and it also works with clients nationally. Its About page puts it plainly: “We go beyond simply pointing you to an online portal.”

Netchex was founded in Louisiana more than 20 years ago for the businesses that keep America running: restaurants, hotels, dealerships, clinics. It’s one company from the code to the phone line. The US-based, FPC-certified support team answers 90% of calls in under a minute, customers rate that service 4.8 out of 5, and Netchex holds an 8.9/10 Quality of Support score on G2.

Company Overview

Netchex vs. Time & Pay on Payroll and Time

Time & Pay’s own site lists payroll with direct deposit, pay cards and physical checks, automated time and attendance with advanced scheduling, and a “Guaranteed Compliance” promise for payroll tax filings. That’s a solid, practical list for a small or mid-sized employer.

The catch is who’s actually behind the screen. Time & Pay’s portal runs on Payentry, the SaaS platform built by MPAY. Time & Pay configures and supports it, but the roadmap, the interface and the release schedule belong to Payentry, not to Time & Pay.

Netchex writes its own payroll engine and its own time and attendance module, with Scheduler built into the same system. When a crew picks up an extra job site or a server covers a double, the hours and overtime flow straight into payroll without moving between two companies’ products. OneScreen Payroll pulls onboarding, overtime, benefits and taxes into one readiness view, and most teams finish a run in under 15 minutes.

HR, Benefits and Compliance

Time & Pay’s site lists HR management and online benefits enrollment alongside payroll. For an owner in construction or logistics who wants one local firm to call about a handbook question or an enrollment deadline, that’s a reasonable bundle.

Netchex keeps benefits, ACA and hiring on one employee record. With its in-house benefits solution, enrollment, ACA tracking, onboarding and hiring through Netchex Recruit all draw from the same data, so a new hire’s information isn’t keyed in three separate times. ACA Central tracks hours and coverage offers across full-time, part-time and seasonal staff, and Netchex files Forms 1094-C and 1095-C. (The IRS reporting rules for applicable large employers explain what’s required.) Netchex also works directly with a client’s existing CPA and benefits broker.

One record, fewer places for a mistake to hide.

Service and Support

Service is where Time & Pay leans hardest, and it has the tenure to back it up. One longtime client puts it simply: “I’ve been doing business with them for 13 years, and I consider that using them for my payroll process is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made for the business.”

I’ve been doing business with them for 13 years, and I consider that using them for my payroll process is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made for the business.

– Jim J., via Time & Pay’s website

That kind of loyalty says something real about how Time & Pay treats its clients. What it doesn’t change is the layer underneath. Time & Pay is a Payentry customer itself, so when a problem lives inside the software rather than in how it’s configured, the request has to travel from Time & Pay to MPAY and back.

Netchex removes that middle step. The company that writes the code also answers the phone, 90% of calls get picked up in under a minute with first-call resolution, and every customer gets a dedicated Account Manager.

Netchex has the best support of any service provider I’ve ever worked with. There aren’t any hoops to jump through with Netchex support.

– Mary Lang, Accounting and Financial Control Director, Atlanta Air Charter

Implementation and Switching

Nobody looks forward to changing payroll providers. What actually matters is how much of the work ends up on your desk, and how long it drags on.

Netchex implementation is free and project-managed, usually wrapping up in about six weeks, with free data imports and a 96% implementation satisfaction score. One team owns it from the first data pull to the first live payroll.

Time & Pay doesn’t publish an implementation timeline. If you’re comparing the two, ask Time & Pay for one in writing, and ask which steps its team handles directly and which depend on Payentry.

Who Each Is Built For

Time & Pay may fit if: you’re a smaller employer in East Tennessee, Southwest Virginia or Northwest North Carolina, you want a family-run local firm that’s been around for decades, and you’re comfortable with Payentry as the software underneath.

Netchex may fit if: you run hourly or multi-location teams, possibly outside that regional footprint, and you’d rather have one company accountable for the platform and the support instead of a bureau plus a platform vendor.

Frequently Asked Questions

Related: 5 Best Time & Pay Alternatives | Netchex vs. Paychex | Netchex vs. ADP

This guide reflects publicly available product information and independent reviewer data (G2, Capterra, Trustpilot, Yelp, Better Business Bureau, Reddit, Software Advice, GetApp) as of 2026. Feature availability may vary by plan. Contact each provider for current details.

Disclaimer: Any product roadmap or future plans provided herein are for informational purposes only. They do not represent a commitment to deliver any material, code, feature, or functionality. Plans may change without notification. The development, release and timing of any features or functionality described remain at the sole discretion of Netchex, its affiliates, and partners. Netchex does not give legal, tax, or accounting advice. You are responsible for ensuring your use of Netchex product meets your individual business and compliance requirements.

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