CPA Firms Houston Alternative sets up payroll

Setup is not the payday itself

Payroll setup means the provider is chosen, the company is entered, the people are entered, and the tax accounts are pointed at the right agencies. After that, you run payday. We do not sit in the middle of every pay date, and we do not call that a service we sell.

The books still have to know what payday did. Each pay date should land in the month it belongs to, with wages, taxes withheld, and the employer share in the right places. If the provider and the books disagree, the month is not closed.

If you have been paying people by transfer with no provider, the setup includes deciding what those past payments were. We will not pretend a year of transfers was a formal payroll. We will help you see the exposure and the clean way forward.

What we line up before the first run

We look at who is on the team, who is paid as a vendor, and who is an owner. Those are different treatments, and mixing them is a quiet way to create a problem at filing time. Contractors get a form. Employees get a paycheck through the provider. Owners get the treatment the entity actually allows.

Direct deposit, pay schedules, and the accounts that fund them are part of the setup. So is a simple map from the provider's report to the categories in the books. You should be able to run a payday and see it in the month without a second translation.

Shipley's is the doughnut stop Texans know, and the company keeps its base on the north side. We enjoy that stop as much as you do. We still ask whether the people who worked that weekend are in the provider before the next payday.

After the setup

Once payday is yours to run, our monthly work is the tie out. We compare the provider's report to the cash that left and to the liabilities that should remain. A tax deposit that did not leave the bank is still a debt.

New hires, rate changes, and a bonus are your entries in the provider. Tell us when something unusual hits so the month can show it. We would rather hear about a bonus in the week it is paid than discover it at the return.

If payroll has never been set up, say how you pay people today. We will tell you what the setup includes and what stays in your hands on payday.

The first pay dates after setup

The first payday after setup is a test, not a ceremony. You run it. We look at the report the next day and compare wages, withholdings, and the cash that left. If a person is missing or a rate is wrong, we fix the setup before the second payday, while the mistake is still one period wide.

The second payday should look boring. The same people, the same accounts, the same map into the books. Boring is the goal. A bonus, a new hire, or a termination is the kind of change you tell us about in the week it happens, so the month does not grow a mystery liability.

Quarterly filings from the provider should match the months we closed. If the provider says a deposit left and the bank does not, the month stays open. We do not accept the provider as a second set of books. It is a source we reconcile, the same way we reconcile a vendor.

People who are new, and people paid another way

A new hire needs a start date, a rate, and the accounts the wages should hit. We enter those three in the provider during setup and we check the first report against them. When you hire again later, send the same three facts in the week the person starts. A hire we hear about at month end becomes a payroll line the cash has already contradicted.

Paying a person from a vendor bill does not decide whether that person belongs on payroll. We ask how the work is directed and who sets the hours. The answer decides the setup. We will not refile a year of vendor bills as wages unless you have seen what that change does to months already closed.

A person who leaves needs a final pay date and a note if you pay unused time. Leave that out and the next quarter still carries them. We clear the person in the provider and in the books in the same month, so the two lists match when the filing is prepared.

A bonus is a payroll event when the person is already on payroll. It needs a pay date and a withholding, and the cash has to match. Tell us the week you promise it. A bonus mentioned after the quarter closes is a reconstruction, and reconstructions are how quarters get amended.