PAYCHEX INC

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the Board of Directors and Stockholders of Paychex, Inc.

Opinions on the Financial Statements and Internal Control over Financial Reporting

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Paychex, Inc. and its subsidiaries (the "Company") as of May 31, 2026 and 2025, and the related consolidated statements of income and comprehensive income, of stockholders’ equity and of cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended May 31, 2026, including the related notes and financial statement schedule listed in the accompanying index (collectively referred to as the "consolidated financial statements"). We also have audited the Company's internal control over financial reporting as of May 31, 2026, based on criteria established in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO).

In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of May 31, 2026 and 2025, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended May 31, 2026 in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Also in our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of May 31, 2026, based on criteria established in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the COSO.

Basis for Opinions

The Company's management is responsible for these consolidated financial statements, for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting, and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in the accompanying Report on Management's Assessment of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express opinions on the Company’s consolidated financial statements and on the Company's internal control over financial reporting based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud, and whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects.

Our audits of the consolidated financial statements included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements. Our audit of internal control over financial reporting included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, and testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk. Our audits also included performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinions.

Definition and Limitations of Internal Control over Financial Reporting

A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (i) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (ii) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (iii) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

Critical Audit Matters

The critical audit matter communicated below is a matter arising from the current period audit of the consolidated financial statements that was communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that (i) relates to accounts or disclosures that are material to the consolidated financial statements and (ii) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the consolidated financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matter below, providing a separate opinion on the critical audit matter or on the accounts or disclosures to which it relates.

Professional Employer Organization (PEO) Workers’ Compensation Insurance Reserves

As described in Note A to the consolidated financial statements, the Company offers workers’ compensation insurance to customers for the benefit of customer employees. Workers’ compensation insurance is primarily provided under fully insured high deductible workers’ compensation insurance policies. Workers’ compensation insurance reserves are established to provide for the estimated costs of paying claims up to per occurrence liability limits. As of May 31, 2026, the total liability for workers’ compensation insurance reserves is $237.7 million. In establishing the PEO workers' compensation insurance reserves, management uses an independent actuarial estimate of undiscounted future cash payments that would be made to settle the claims. The determination of estimated ultimate losses by the Company’s independent actuary are based on accepted actuarial methods and assumptions. The estimated ultimate losses are primarily based upon loss development factors, and other factors such as the nature of employees’ job responsibilities, the historical frequency and severity of workers’ compensation claims, and an estimate of future cost trends.

The principal considerations for our determination that performing procedures relating to PEO workers’ compensation insurance reserves is a critical audit matter are (i) the significant judgment by management when developing the PEO workers’ compensation insurance reserves; (ii) a high degree of auditor judgment, subjectivity and effort in performing procedures and evaluating audit evidence related to management’s significant assumptions and actuarial estimates related to the loss development factors; and (iii) the audit effort involved the use of professionals with specialized skill and knowledge.

Addressing the matter involved performing procedures and evaluating audit evidence in connection with forming our overall opinion on the consolidated financial statements. These procedures included testing the effectiveness of controls relating to the Company’s PEO workers’ compensation insurance reserves, including controls over the development of management’s assumptions and actuarial estimates related to the loss development factors. These procedures also included, among others (i) testing the completeness and accuracy of the underlying data used in management’s estimate of the PEO workers’ compensation insurance reserves and (ii) the involvement of professionals with specialized skill and knowledge to assist in (a) developing an independent estimate of the PEO workers’ compensation insurance reserves and comparing the independent estimate to management’s estimate and (b) evaluating the appropriateness of management’s model and the reasonableness of management’s assumptions and actuarial estimates related to the loss development factors.

/s/PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

Victor, New York

July 17, 2026

We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2013.