Historically, payroll processing has been ominous. Scary. Debilitating. Payroll used to scare even the most seasoned business owners; however, things are changing – quickly.
QuickBooks Online Payroll (QBO Payroll) has come far in the past few years. This is our payroll processing option of choice. We even process our firm’s payroll on QBO Payroll!
How does it work? Within your existing QBO company file, you click the payroll button, choose your subscription level, add your employee information, pay rates, frequency, authorize electronic payments for payroll tax deposits, etc., and then you are good to go! QBO Payroll will calculate your payroll for you, remit tax payments on your behalf to Federal and Texas Workforce Commission, pay your employees via direct deposit, file your quarterly Forms 941, Annual 940, W-3, W-2, account for payroll accurately in your QBO company file, etc. You can even do advanced items such as track vacation accruals, pre-tax benefit deductions, expense reimbursement, etc. If you’ve got some common business sense, you can process payroll with this.
Price It is surprisingly reasonable, similar to QBO subscriptions you’ll go through an accountant and have access to wholesale pricing at 50% off the standard rates for the life of the subscription. Refer to QBO offerings for each of the three packages.
TIP We suggest the middle “Premium” option, as this includes TWC new employee reporting requirements automatically. So for $37.50 per month plus 8 per employee, you have a solution for full payroll compliance. You can’t beat that! *Please note that these prices are per month, not per payroll run.
How can Maynard CPA help? We can be involved at any part of the process, whether you just need help getting payroll set up, be able to answer phone calls for questions or even handle the entire process. For many of our clients we provide other services, we are happy to pass these fees along dollar for dollar without any markup. For those who want us to be more involved on a regular basis, reach out for pricing options. Generally, for payrolls under 10 employees its an additional $35/payroll run when we are involved with processing. For many accounting firms the transparency of pricing is hidden but we operate with a “clear is kind” mentality. Our goal is to help and be transparent so you can be setup for success!
Automation. One of our favorite parts! As opposed to some previous versions of QBO Payroll, you’d have to login, click buttons to file quarterly reports and remit payroll tax payments. With these new payroll options, none of that is required! The process After setup, it’s all automated! We often see multiple clients that have just one or two employees on a payroll, once it’s setup we automate payroll run for a set amount, certain frequency, and run it automatically until it needs to be changed.
The best time to switch payroll providers is generally around year-end, or right around a payroll quarter-end. This streamlines the compliance side of payroll and leaves the middle of the year headaches out of the way. If you have additional questions or find yourself considering a better option for your payroll, reach out to us! We’d love to help you get ready for this next year.
Are you interested in talking about Maynard CPA running your company's payroll?
Contact us.