Payroll choices abound for CPAs
technews
BY Seth FineBerg
Depending on their point of view, payroll is either the best thing
to happen to a CPA firm or the bane of their existence. But no
matter what side of the fence CPAs are on, they have plenty of
options to use or refer a payroll service.
More are discovering new revenue from working with vendors
Whether it’s a fully outsourced payroll
service like ADP or Paychex, or an online
service to be used by accountants or small
business such as Intuit Online Payroll, CompuPay or SurePayroll, chances are that CPAs
have used or considered working with one
at some point.
Those firms that have embraced work-
ing with a payroll vendor have found an
additional revenue stream or, at the least,
a low-cost service offering allowing firms to
further their trusted advisor role. And for the
firms that may not have considered a payroll
service, Michael Cerami, vice president of
corporate alliances at CPA2Biz — the mar-
keting and services portal of the American
Institute of CPAs — opined that it’s “a good
time to take a temperature check on the pay-
roll market.”
CPA2Biz has been a marketing force be-
hind Rochester, N. Y.-based payroll and HR
service provider Paychex, which has been
a member of its Trusted Business Solutions
Advisor program since 2003.
“Everything I hear suggests that more
firms are exploring payroll, have added pay-
roll services or are getting in the business of
offering payroll. If clients can work through
their trusted advisor, it will take some pain
away,” said Cerami. “Newer companies com-
ing into the space have capabilities that allow
firms to deliver payroll service easier than
five to 10 years ago. In the same light, firms
want a relationship with the payroll vendors
because they don’t see it as a profitable ser-
vice to add, so they will recommend.”
focus on servicing their clients and managing
the relationship.
XBRL US LABS RELEASES
BRIX IPHONE APP
WASHINGTON, D.C. — XBRL US Labs, the
research and development arm of XBRL
US, has released an XBRL iPhone app,
Brix, on the i Tunes App Store. It enables
iPhone viewing, searching and sorting of
XBRL reports and tags. It also uses the
Notification feature to alert a user when
a specific company files an XBRL report,
or when a specific tag is used, and offers one-click e-mail forwarding of XBRL
documents as Excel attachments.
XBRL US members and experts from a
wide range of industries and disciplines
are being invited to participate in a series
of large-scale virtual events scheduled to
begin in mid-September. Brix users can
request an invitation to participate via the
app’s “Learn More” section.
BLACKLINE SYSTEMS DEBUTS
NEW SERVICE OFFERING
CALABASAS, CALIF. — BlackLine Systems has
added a new customer service offering to
help maximize use of its Financial Close
Software Suite. In its new White Glove
Service program, BlackLine has enlisted
what it calls White Glove Experts to
reach out to current BlackLine clients and
provide a deeper level of accounting and
application expertise at no charge to help
them optimize their use of BlackLine.
Typical scenarios may include configuring
new templates for complex reconciliations, demonstration and usage of other
modules, and configuration of the system
to better meet a client’s needs. The
service experts are BlackLine employees,
and the company says they are all CPAs,
with specific technology expertise.
HYBRID MODEL
Cerami noted that there is also a “hybrid
model” emerging where the larger outsource
vendors, like an ADP or Paychex, can offer
their platform to firms and firms can in turn
offer the service. In effect, it looks like the firm
is managing the payroll but it is the vendors
that handle the processing. Firms can then
REFERRING AND RECOMMENDING
Others have opted to not work with payroll
vendors as a direct source of revenue, but
accept the minimal revenue offered in exchange for the long-term results of simply
being able to recommend a reliable payroll
service to their clients.
Robin Brissenden is a CPA and owner of
the six-person, Fountain Valley, Calif., firm
of Santo & Dees. He claims that, during his
tenure, he has utilized “nearly every payroll
service out there” before going with CompuPay. He recalled that when he started the firm
eight years ago, most small firms would get
clients and do their payroll because it was a
direct revenue stream, but anytime there was
an adjustment to be made — such as overtime pay — it became difficult.
“CPAs can’t do [payroll] as cheaply or efficiently as a payroll company, and you cheat
your client by charging them too much. I’d
rather refer clients over to a payroll company,” said Brissenden. “You cannot charge
enough to make payroll viable [as a revenue
stream], so I refer clients to CompuPay. Payroll is part a network of services that I provide
and [CompuPay] recommends me. [If] they
have a client who needs a good CPA in the
area, I am top of mind. That’s more valuable
to me than any thing I can charge for.” AT
SMART PHONE MILEAGE TRACKER
AMERICAN FORK, UTAH — Mobile application developer Izatt International has
introduced a version of its Apple iPhone
mileage tracker mobile phone app,
MileBug, for Google Android and Nokia
Symbian smart phones, allowing users of
those phones to keep track of the tax-deductible miles they have driven for business, medical and charity purposes. The
app is available at the Google Android
Market and Nokia Ovi Store for $1.99.
For more, visit www.milebug.com.
