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A niche for all reasons
If it weren’t for payroll, Jody Padar, chief executive and
principal of Arlington Heights, Ill.-based New Vision CPA
Group, wouldn’t be where she is today.
“Payroll is what skyrocketed me and actually grew
my ;rm from the beginning,” Padar said. It began about
;ve years ago, when she was searching for an internal
payroll solution and discovered PayCycle, an online
payroll service for small businesses that was acquired by
Intuit in 2009 and is now known as Intuit Online Payroll.
Padar was impressed with its ease of use and realized that,
with the technology, she could successfully offer payroll
processing to those outside of the ;rm.
“Because of the technology, you can actually be
very pro;table at [payroll], and once you realize you are
pro;table, then there’s the opportunity to use it as a lead
generator to get more small businesses or, on the ;ip side,
to offer it as an additional service and deliver it in a better
manner and have it be more pro;table,” she explained.
Today, New Vision CPA Group offers its small-business clients a bundled services package, which includes
payroll processing, for a monthly fee. “It really became
where we were like a partner with our client, as opposed
to just someone doing work for them,” said Padar, who
noted that the ;rm has about 70 payroll clients.
As a value-add or an entrée to other services,
payroll is no longer the red-headed stepchild
for accounting firms of all sizes
By Antoinette Alexander
DIFFERENT TAKES ON PAYROLL
Payroll is not only complex, thanks to the slew of tax
changes and shifting regulatory landscape, but it is also a
service offering that no two accounting ;rms seem to view,
approach or value in the same manner. For some, payroll
processing is hailed as one of the most valuable services
they can offer, while other ;rms would rather leave payroll
processing to the service bureaus. Then there are those
;rms that fall somewhere in between.
So what sets in motion a ;rm’s path to payroll?
“The accountant is probably the most important,
trusted advisor for a small business, and they rely on that
accountant explicitly, so it would not be unreasonable
for a small business to say, ‘Well, can you just handle my
payroll too?’” said Kathey Palmer, senior vice president of
business development for payroll company CompuPay.
“There are others — typically, slightly larger ;rms —
where they are looking at what are the breadth of services
we can offer that add value to our client base? These may
also be ;rms that have ... really branched out to provide
a variety of services, and obviously, payroll is one of the
most critical services for any business.”
“[Payroll services] add value to our whole package
... Usually, we just take over everything. If they are using
payroll somewhere else, then more than likely they are
using other services somewhere else too. Because of the
features and things that I can help them with, it is a selling
point,” said Kristi Dolan, payroll agent and of;ce manager
for David A. Dolan CPA, of the payroll services offered
through the Lynchburg, Va.-based ;rm.
Accountants
World
1. What opportunites does
providing payroll services offer to
accounting firms?
The most important opportunity for
accountants is to make more money by better
leveraging existing client relationships. Most business clients
need payroll services,
accountants can offer
payroll with superior service
and strategic advice, and
most successful firms that
offer payroll services realize
this. During the initial phase
of introducing payroll
services, the smartest
firms aggressively focus
on growing these services
and making them more
profitable. Other benefits
like client retention and
stronger client relationships,
etc., automatically come
as a bonus. Our candid
advice: Offer payroll
services only if you want
to expand your practice to
make more money.
2. How are you
helping accounting firms realize those opportunities?
We help accountants create a highly profitable payroll service
by offering them the award-winning, cloud-based Payroll Relief
system, which lets them process payrolls faster and easier
than any other system. Payroll Relief eliminates compliance
headaches for accountants by automatically processing direct
deposits, making tax payments, and e-filing all federal and state
tax forms. Our competitive advantages are evident from the
results of a recent survey. Over 60 percent of our users have
migrated from other systems, 84 percent of them are satisfied to
extremely satisfied with Payroll Relief, and one third of those who
migrated saw a 50-percent-plus measurable improvement in their
payroll practice.
Dr. Chandra Bhansali
President
AccountantsWorld
Not just a payroll solution provider, Accountants World’s sole
mission is to help accountants become more successful. We
offer a complete suite of eight cloud-based accounting solutions,
including the Innovation Award-winning Payroll Relief, plus
solutions for accounting, write-up and trial balance, document
management, client portals, Web site creation, online marketing,
after-the-fact payroll, practice management, and personal
financial planning. If you want full, uncompromising support to
maximize the success of your firm, Accountants World is your
ideal partner.
We make our solutions highly affordable for firms of any size.
With Payroll Relief, you can process unlimited payrolls for one
full year for just $997. Thereafter our prices remain as low as
$0.50 per paycheck.
