The payroll runs fine. The filings and the books are where it breaks.
Paying people is the easy part. The failure points are the deposit schedule, the quarterly Form 941, the state withholding account nobody opened after the first out-of-state hire, and the W-2s and 1099-NECs due January 31. Miss a deposit and the IRS adds a failure-to-deposit penalty that climbs the longer it sits. These are calendar problems, and a calendar is the easiest thing in a business to hand off.
The second problem is quieter. Payroll lives in one system and the general ledger in another, and the two meet once a month when somebody keys in a summary total. Gross wages, employer taxes, benefit deductions and the net cash that actually left the account get flattened into a single line. Labor is usually the largest cost in the business and ends up being the least legible number on the P&L.
We run both sides, so there is never a payroll report and a ledger to argue with each other. Wages, employer taxes, withholdings and accruals land in their own accounts, split by department or job where you track that, and payroll liabilities are tied back to the general ledger every quarter. One close, one set of numbers, and a labor cost you can read by service line.
Everything in payroll & accounting, handled.
Payroll on your cycle
Weekly, biweekly, semi-monthly or monthly runs for salaried and hourly staff, with hours imported from your time system and gross-to-net calculated for your approval before the run is funded.
Direct deposit and stubs
Net pay delivered by ACH on the pay date, with itemized stubs, year-to-date totals and prior pay history available to every employee through their own portal login.
Deposits and Form 941
Federal, state and local withholding calculated each run, deposited on your semiweekly or monthly lookback schedule, and reported on quarterly Form 941, or Form 944 if the IRS has you filing annually.
W-2 and 1099-NEC filing
W-2s with the W-3 transmittal to the Social Security Administration, 1099-NECs to the IRS, and employee and contractor copies distributed ahead of the January 31 deadline.
Multi-state registration
Withholding and state unemployment accounts registered in every state where you have an employee, plus nonresident withholding, reciprocity agreements, local taxes and each state's quarterly wage report.
New hire reporting
State new hire reports filed inside your state's window, with Form W-4, state withholding certificates, I-9 verification within three business days of the start date, and contractor W-9s kept in one place.
PTO and workers' comp
Accrual rules configured to your policy and carried on the balance sheet, plus wage reports by class code prepared for your workers' comp carrier and its annual premium audit.
Payroll entries posted
Each run split to wage, employer tax, benefit and accrual accounts in QuickBooks Online or Xero and tied to the cash that cleared, so labor hits the correct period.
Canadian payroll and CRA remittances
Source deductions, CPP and EI remittances on your CRA schedule, T4 and T4A preparation and filing, ROEs on separation, and provincial WSIB or WCB reporting.
From first call to steady state.
- 01
Payroll review
A free 30-minute consultation to map your pay cycles, employee and contractor mix, the states you withhold in, and any open notices or missed filings we should clear before anything else.
- 02
Setup, parallel run
We load employees, pay rates, deductions and accrual rules, register any missing state accounts, then run your next cycle in parallel and reconcile it against your current provider before the cutover.
- 03
Every pay period
You approve hours and any changes, we calculate and fund the run, make the tax deposits, and post the journal entries the same day the payroll is processed.
- 04
Quarter and year-end
Your specialist files Form 941 and the state returns each quarter, reconciles payroll liabilities to the general ledger, and prepares W-2s, 1099-NECs and Form 940 ahead of the January deadlines.
Built for businesses that look like this.
- Owners still running payroll out of a spreadsheet and a bank portal who want the deposit and filing calendar off their desk
- Companies that hired a remote employee in a second or third state and have not registered for withholding or unemployment there yet
- Businesses paying W-2 staff and 1099-NEC contractors out of the same budget who need both reported correctly in January
- Service firms and trade contractors where labor is the largest cost line and job or department detail drives how work gets priced
- Anyone whose payroll provider does not post to the books, leaving a summary entry to unpick at every month-end close
Payroll & Accounting — answered.
What happens if a payroll tax deposit is late?
We make the deposit on your assigned schedule as soon as the run is funded, and we track every federal, state and local due date so nothing lands late. Liability for employment taxes always stays with the employer, which is why we confirm funding before each run and send you a record of every deposit. If a notice does arrive, we pull the records and prepare the response.
Can you run payroll for employees in multiple states?
Yes. We register your withholding and state unemployment accounts wherever you have employees, apply the correct resident and nonresident withholding, and account for reciprocity agreements between neighboring states. Each state sets its own deposit frequency, quarterly wage report and unemployment wage base, so your filing calendar is built state by state rather than once for the company.
Do you post payroll into QuickBooks, or do I have to?
We post it, as part of the same pay run. Instead of one summary total, each run is split into gross wages by department or job, employer payroll taxes, employee withholdings, benefit deductions and accruals, then posted to the matching accounts in QuickBooks Online or Xero and tied to the cash that cleared your bank. Your close no longer waits on a payroll export.
Can I switch payroll providers mid-year?
Yes, and mid-year switches are routine. We import year-to-date wages, withholding and employer tax totals per employee, reconcile them against the quarterly returns already filed, and carry the balances forward so each W-2 covers the full calendar year from one source. Your prior provider files its final quarter; everything after the cutover date is ours.
Do you handle 1099 contractors as well as W-2 employees?
Both. We collect a Form W-9 before the first payment, track payments by payee through the year, and file 1099-NECs by January 31 for every contractor who clears the reporting threshold. We also flag arrangements where someone is paid as a contractor but managed like an employee, so you can review the classification with your CPA before a state agency does.
How much does your payroll service cost?
Pricing depends on headcount, pay frequency, how many states you withhold in, and whether you want payroll on its own or the accounting posting with it. We quote after a free 30-minute consultation rather than from a price table. Most owners pair payroll with bookkeeping, since the posting is where the time goes. Service is month-to-month with 30 days notice.
Can you run payroll for a Canadian company?
Yes. We handle source deductions, CPP and EI, and remittances on whatever schedule CRA has assigned your account, plus year-end T4 and T4A slips and summaries. Records of Employment are filed when someone leaves, and provincial workers' compensation reporting is covered for WSIB in Ontario and the equivalent board in other provinces. Businesses running payroll on both sides of the border are kept on one reporting cycle.