Payroll Preparation Fees

[ILLMAS]

I've been on this forum for close to 10 years now, and it seems most don't touch payroll preparation with a 10-ft pole and other charge a fee that makes it worth it.  For those that charge a hefty fee, what is the minimum you are willing to charge for a  small employee company?

[Lee B]

I charge a minimum of $60 for 1 employee with 1 monthly  paycheck.

[Edsel]

Illigitimas, that's a great question.  You're from somewhere Illinois and I would think the fee structure would be tremendously different in Carbondale versus Cook County.

Payroll is my least favorite service, and if you have a client who won't do what he's told, there's no fee high enough.  There will be ugly letters and penalties from the IRS and state, and we will be getting the blame for them.

I will attempt to answer the question as what is appropriate for Manchester TN, which would even cheaper the Carbondale because we have no SIT.  $35 per payroll, plus $1.50 for every active employee.  Then $35 for each payroll tax report, meaning one per quarter for SUTA and 941, and ever how many there would be for your state withheld SIT.  End of year $35 for each W-3, plus $2.00 for every W-2.

And this is on the cheap side.

This is a representative answer from my part of the country, as I don't put my actual rates on a public forum or over the phone.

 

[rfassett]

Payroll is one of our profit centers. It is the lowest part but we have about $30,000 per year. And they are all small businesses that we do it for.

[ILLMAS]

3 hours ago, Edsel said:

Illigitimas, that's a great question.  You're from somewhere Illinois and I would think the fee structure would be tremendously different in Carbondale versus Cook County.

Payroll is my least favorite service, and if you have a client who won't do what he's told, there's no fee high enough.  There will be ugly letters and penalties from the IRS and state, and we will be getting the blame for them.

I will attempt to answer the question as what is appropriate for Manchester TN, which would even cheaper the Carbondale because we have no SIT.  $35 per payroll, plus $1.50 for every active employee.  Then $35 for each payroll tax report, meaning one per quarter for SUTA and 941, and ever how many there would be for your state withheld SIT.  End of year $35 for each W-3, plus $2.00 for every W-2.

And this is on the cheap side.

This is a representative answer from my part of the country, as I don't put my actual rates on a public forum or over the phone.

 

Illigitimas, did you mean to say illegitimate

[Edsel]

Just now, ILLMAS said:

Illigitimas, did you mean to say illegitimate

I wanted to stretch the imagination without insulting....

Not all y'all know me very well.  I have fun with the folks I like...

For example, my chosen moniker, Edsel, was named for one of the most colossal marketing failures of the 20th century...

[ILLMAS]

No worries, I am jokester myself.  Did you hear about the man that wanted to stop talking  to his wife?  He loaned her money and never heard back from her.

[mriina]

We charge the little guys $110 quarterly for payroll services.  However, there are the "owner only" entities who don't believe it is worth it, and for those, I suggest they inquire as to whether or not their bank offers that service when they open a business checking account.  More and more banks are offering payroll services at a very low rate, and I would rather have my S-Corp owners do it that way than not at all or have them fight over the bill.

[rfassett]

28 minutes ago, mriina said:

We charge the little guys $110 quarterly for payroll services.  However, there are the "owner only" entities who don't believe it is worth it, and for those, I suggest they inquire as to whether or not their bank offers that service when they open a business checking account.  More and more banks are offering payroll services at a very low rate, and I would rather have my S-Corp owners do it that way than not at all or have them fight over the bill.

And that is one of my best pet peaves.  If the bank wants to be in the payroll service business does that mean I can be in the banking service business.  Just saying - they have no more business doing that than the man in the moon.

[Catherine]

Here's my two cents' worth.  I have only one payroll (besides my own) that I do in-house.  Nanny payroll for a client who is seriously allergic to online *anything* (she is in computer security).  $75/month for a weekly payroll, includes monthly state tax payments and SUTA only.  Schedule H and W-2 are billed at year-end.  Royal PITA because neither she nor the nanny are good about getting me hours for the week when I say I need them, and then of course want instant turn-around on the nanny's paystub (she hand-writes the check for net pay).  Jerry Medlin's software *will* work for nanny payroll if you tweak it right, even though it's not officially offered.  I bill client quarterly; at least she pays quickly.  If I am away, I have to make sure my assistant gets a refresher on running they system before I go so nanny can still get paid.

I have several clients for whom I do payroll online through Paychex's "SurePayroll for Accountants" - client logs in, puts in employee hours, all emp's get paid by direct deposit, ba-dum-cha we're done.  I download quarterly reports, make sure W-2's go out (additional fee), and enter all new and terminated employee info (easy for me, easy for client to screw up if I let her do it).  I get to pick the mark-up over the fee SPfA charges me.  I get paid by direct deposit monthly.  I can go away for weeks and everything runs smoothly unless a new empl starts up while I'm gone (had not happened).  All tax payments are made for the client; it's *their* job to make sure there is money in the checking account.

We have one guy unable to log in regularly; we enter his one employee's standard 40 hours every Monday and he's done.  Again, it's the SPfA system; my assistant logs in every Monday, puts in "40" and hits run.  We download quarterly reports and make sure the W-2 gets mailed.  Direct deposit payment to me.  All tax payments made by SPfA.

Unless you have a good support staff that can run payroll (always, or in a pinch) keep in mind it's a ball and chain on YOUR time.