Classification checked, not assumed
The single most expensive payroll error in California is a misclassified contractor. We test for it on day one.
Payroll
California payroll is a compliance problem wearing a payroll costume
Running the numbers is the easy part. Staying on the right side of the EDD, wage orders, sick-leave accrual and worker classification is where employers actually get hurt.
Payroll software calculates withholding correctly. What it does not do is tell you that the person you are paying on a 1099 is legally your employee, that your sick-leave accrual method does not satisfy California law, or that your pay stubs are missing an itemisation the Labor Code requires.
Those are the findings that turn into EDD assessments, back taxes, penalties and — increasingly in California — private wage-and-hour claims.
Scope
What’s included
Payroll processing
Weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly or monthly. Direct deposit, pay stubs and an employee self-service portal.
Deposits and quarterly filings
Federal 941 and 940, California DE 9 and DE 9C, deposits made on schedule.
Worker classification review
Every contractor tested against the California ABC test before an auditor does it for you.
Reasonable compensation analysis
For S-corporation owners, a documented, defensible salary figure.
Sick leave and PTO tracking
Accrual set up to satisfy California paid sick leave rules and shown correctly on the stub.
Year-end W-2 and 1099
Issued to employees and contractors and filed with the agencies by 31 January.
Outcome
Why it matters
Books and filings always agree
Payroll, accounting and tax in the same office means the general ledger matches what was filed.
Audit support included
If the EDD comes calling, the people who ran the payroll are the ones who defend it.
Process
How it works
-
Compliance review
Current set-up, classifications and pay stubs examined, and anything exposed flagged.
-
Set up and migrate
Employees, rates, accruals and agency accounts moved across with year-to-date figures reconciled.
-
Run payroll
You approve hours, we do the rest — deposits, filings and stubs all handled.
-
Quarterly and annual
Returns filed on time, W-2s and 1099s issued, classification re-checked each year.
Suited to
Who this is for
- Employers with 1 to 100 employees in California
- S-corporation owners who must run themselves on payroll
- Contractors and trades with fluctuating crews
- Restaurants and retail with tipped or hourly staff
- Any business currently paying workers on 1099s
FAQ
Questions
Enough to be reasonable for the work you actually perform, based on your role, hours, industry and the company’s revenue. There is no magic percentage, despite what you may have read — the "60/40 rule" is not in the code, the regulations or any ruling. We produce a documented figure you can defend.
Yes. We migrate year-to-date wages, withholding and accruals so W-2s at the end of the year are complete and correct across both providers.
Often needed alongside this
Other services
-
Payroll Tax & Trust Fund Penalty
Unpaid payroll tax is treated differently from every other balance — it can be assessed against you personally, not just the company.
-
Business Accounting
Reconciliation, statements, ledger and close — delivered on a published date each month, for less than a part-time bookkeeper costs.
-
Business Formation & Entity Selection
The structure you choose in week one decides what you pay in tax for years. We pick it with the numbers in front of us, then file everything that has to be filed.
Let’s find out what you should actually be paying.
Thirty minutes with an Enrolled Agent, at no charge. Bring last year’s return and we will tell you plainly what we would do differently — and what it would cost.