Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.
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PAYROLL SYSTEMS Reviews Building a Thriving Payroll Practice Like many young CPAs, Sean Deaver found himself working in the tax department of one of the Big 4 firms. While that may be an ideal job for some, it wasn't his future calling. Instead, he wanted to start his own firm, where he would have more control not only over the processes, but also where he could manage the client relationships more personally. BEFORE PAYROLL RELIEF Sean eventually left the big consultancy and worked for a private company for a few years, providing freelance tax consulting on the side. After building up a client roster, he created his own firm (www.devercpa.com) in central Massachusetts in 2006. As a former gymnast, Sean quickly built up a niche client base in child sporting and education centers, such as gyms, swimming and dance schools and day care cen- ters. Initially, the firm focused on individual and business taxes, but he was determined to broaden the services he could provide to his clients. This would soon grow to include virtual CFO, audits, planning, QuickBooks con- sulting, financial planning and estate planning. He wasn't sure about offering payroll services, though, since these businesses often have many varying types of employees. EXPLORING PAYROLL SERVICES "I was mostly compliance driven at first," Sean notes. "I just didn't' think a small accounting firm could com- pete with the big national chains, and I thought payroll would be too much work." At the same time, however, he didn't want to just tell his clients to use other payroll providers. So, after hearing how other firms like his had turned payroll into a profitable niche, he decided to take a closer look. After trying a demo of Payroll Relief from Accoun- tantsWorld (www.accountantsworld.com/solutions/ payroll-relief), he was impressed with the completely web-based system and decided to try it out on a few of his clients. In the first year, he limited payroll services to just eight clients who were located in six different states. He said this allowed him to test not only the user- friendliness of the system, but also its functionality with different state reporting requirements. GROWING WITH PAYROLL RELIEF After that year, he knew the system could help him provide a valuable service to his clients, while also gen- erating a reliable revenue stream. Since then, his practice has grown to serve 173 payroll clients, in addition to his tax and business consulting services, and he says he has a retention rate of 97 percent. "Every once in awhile a client tries to use one of the national payroll chains, but with Payroll Relief I have a business model that allows me to be competitive, while providing a much better level of service. Most clients stay with me because they trust the expertise we pro- vide." The firm also continues to grow, adding 10-15 payroll clients per quarter. Now serving clients in 30 states, he says the feature of Payroll Relief he values the most is the ability to securely send payroll runs to his clients where they can print payroll checks at their location. The system also has direct deposit. Year-end reporting is included, and AccountantsWorld offers full-service reporting options. Since using Payroll Relief, Sean says he's only needed to use their support staff a couple of times for initial start-up functions and "It was great. Overall, the system was easy to learn and use," and is adept at handling his growing payroll practice. "I was a payroll moron before I started using Payroll Relief. They don't teach you this stuff in college and I didn't know anything about it," Sean said. "But now I can confidently handle payrolls for hundreds of clients and their employees, including unemployment, state reporting and even ACA compliance." S P O N S O R E D C O N T E N T READ THE 2015 REVIEW OF ACCOUNTANTSWORLD PAYROLL RELIEF FIRST-HAND 7 BEST FIT Made exclusively for accountants, Payroll Relief is suitable for frms of any size that wish to ofer payroll processing services to clients. PRODUCT STRENGTHS • D e s i g n e d s p e c i f i c a l l y f o r accountants • Private labeling allows accoun- tants to brand payroll as needed • Cloud-based for easy access • F r e e s u p p o r t i s i n c l u d e d i n pricing POTENTIAL LIMITATIONS • Product does not conta in a ny HR related functions SUMMARY & PRICING Designed specifcally and solely for accountants, Payroll Relief ofers easy cloud access and a simplifed user entr y screen that expedites payroll processing considerably. AccountantsWorld offers special pricing of $1,495 for the frst year, w i t h t h a t p r i c e i n c l u d i n g a n unlimited number of payrolls, along with system support. Afer the frst year, pricing starts as low as $.50 per check. www.AccountantsWorld.com AccountantsWorld Payroll Relief Read the full review and see expanded ratings for this product online at: www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com/12122977 5 2015 OVERALL RATING BEST FIT RUN Payroll for Partners from ADP was designed specifcally for accounting professionals looking to process payroll for their clients. PRODUCT STRENGTHS • Flex ible oferings from a do-it- yourself approach to full service • Cloud based for easy access from any where • P ro d u c t i nt e g r a t e s w it h H R products • S o l i d s u p p o r t o p t i o n s throughout the product POTENTIAL LIMITATIONS • Learning cur ve may be steeper with product SUMMARY & PRICING RUN Powered by ADP Payroll for Partners is designed specifcally for accounting professionals that wish to ofer online payroll processing and related services to their clients. ADP ofers simple product pricing, which is available upon request from ADP. www.ADP.com/Payroll Run Powered by ADP - Payroll for Partners Read the full review and see expanded ratings for this product online at: www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com/12122974 4.75 2015 OVERALL RATING