Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.
Issue link: https://cpapracticeadvisor.epubxp.com/i/460060
14 February 2015 • www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com FROM THE TRENCHES By Randy Johnston Payroll for Accounting Firms - Some Easy Choices However, the last 10-15 years has seen a notable sh i f t back to CPA f i r m s a nd i n-hou se pay rol l pro - cessing for several reasons including: easier to use sof t ware, electronic interfaces including ACH deposits, recurring revenue stream along with increased value of the practice or r e d u c e d c o s t s t o t h e b u s i n e s s , completeness of costing information a long w ith integration into other systems, and timeliness. So What Are The Choices? First, check your atitude and bias. Twent y years ago almost w ithout exception, accountants summarily d id n't wa nt a ny t h i ng to do w it h payroll. Perhaps easier to use sof- ware was the tipping point towards moving some payroll back in house. It wa s ea s y to ju st i f y t he cost of outsourcing payroll at that time, and for many of you, it still will be. S ho u ld p a y r o l l , a nd t he s u p - por ting ser v ices, become a v iable part of your practice? Do you intend to grow beyond payroll? Is payroll and other related services needed to support your practice and clients? Te key questions to ask include: • Can payroll be a core competency? • How confdential is the information? • Is there an employee beneft/401K program? • Are there many unbanked employees in client frms? If so, is there an easy way to handle this such as refllable debit card? • Is Human Resources processing needed? • Do I have the internal resources? • How difcult is the payroll system to use? If you are in public practice, you may want to ask a few specifc questions: • Do I intend to sell the practice soon? Payroll services increase the value of practices. • Can I have the work done by staf and administrative people that can be supervised by an accounting profes- sional? Using staf reduces cost and leverages partner resources. • Would payroll supplement a collab- o r a t i v e a c c o u n t i n g p r a c t i c e ? Remember that having three or more services helps tie clients to your frm more tightly. • Are there additional services that the frm can ofer such as human resource management, recruitment or 401K programs through your wealth man- agement arm? Geting into payroll only won't be as proftable as having a larger vision for your frm and cli- ents. 1 4 F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 5 • w w w . C P A P r a c t Randy Johnston is executive vice president and partner of K2 Enterprises and Network Management Group, Inc. He is a nationally recognized educator, consultant and writer with over 30 years' experience. He can be contacted at randy.johnston@cpapracticeadvisor.com . A ccountants in public practice have t rad i t i o nal l y re f er re d payroll to major providers such as ADP, Ceridian and Paychex because of the complexities, risk and deadlines involved in processing. With additional requirements for small business with the Afordable Care Act, there are even more concerns about being able to process medium sized payrolls without penalty.