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Payroll Bookkeeping Services

Pay your team correctly, every cycle. W-2 and 1099 aware. Deposit-deadline aware.

  • AIPB Certified
  • QuickBooks ProAdvisor
  • Xero Partner
  • US-based team
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Payroll is the part of small business bookkeeping that keeps owners awake. The team has to be paid right, on time, with the correct federal and state tax withholding, the correct overtime calculation, and the right classification between employee and contractor. Get any of those wrong and the consequences land on the owner, not the bookkeeper.

We run payroll for businesses with 1 to 20 staff. W-2 and 1099 classification is handled correctly from day one, federal and state payroll tax deposits are tracked against your specific deposit schedule, and overtime is calculated the way the Fair Labor Standards Act and your state's wage and hour rules expect.

What that means in practice: paychecks go out on the right day, payroll tax deposits land before the deadline, year-end W-2s and 1099-NECs go out by January 31, and if the Department of Labor or a state agency ever asks, the records are there.

Where payroll bookkeeping actually helps

The real before-and-afters. Each pain on the left is something we hear most weeks. The fix on the right is what changes once we are running.
  • I am running payroll in a spreadsheet and praying I have the withholding right
    Payroll moves into Gusto or QuickBooks Payroll with tax tables loaded. Withholding calculations stop being guesswork.
  • I keep missing payroll tax deposit deadlines and I am worried about IRS penalties
    Deposits tracked against your specific schedule, semi-weekly or monthly, with reminders well ahead of the deadline.
  • I do not understand the difference between a W-2 employee and a 1099 contractor for my team
    We assess each worker against the IRS classification factors and give you a clear answer, in writing, for each one.
  • My tipped staff make the overtime math confusing and I am not sure I am calculating it right
    Tip credit, tip pooling, and overtime on the regular rate are calculated correctly, every cycle, under the FLSA.
  • I have workers in two states now and I do not know what that means for payroll tax
    We register you for state payroll tax where required and track filings for each state your employees actually work in.

Classification, deposits, overtime. The three things that go wrong in payroll

Most payroll problems we see at onboarding fall into three categories. Workers classified as 1099 contractors when the IRS factors point to employee status (a costly mistake if caught later). Payroll tax deposits paid late, which triggers IRS penalties that scale with how late and how much. And overtime calculated on the base rate only, missing the requirement to fold in tips, bonuses, and shift differentials under the FLSA regular-rate rules.

Onboarding addresses each of those at week one. We walk through every worker and classify them properly against the IRS 20-factor test. We confirm your deposit schedule (semi-weekly or monthly, based on your lookback period) and set up tracking so deposits happen with days of buffer, not on the deadline. We rebuild the overtime calculation so it reflects the actual regular rate, not just the hourly wage.

Each January we handle year-end: W-2s and 1099-NECs prepared and ready to issue by the January 31 deadline, Form 941 reconciled for the year, Form 940 (FUTA) prepared. The work happens behind the scenes; you see one short note explaining what's due and when.

How payroll bookkeeping with Bookflexy runs

Three steps from first call to the boring monthly rhythm. Boring is the goal here, the books should be the least dramatic part of your week.
  1. Step 1

    Discovery call (15 min)

    Tell us how many staff, W-2 or 1099, what software you're on, and how you currently run pay. We size the work on the call.

  2. Step 2

    Payroll onboarding

    We set up or migrate your payroll, confirm worker classification, validate your deposit schedule, and run a test pay before going live.

  3. Step 3

    Each pay cycle

    Pay run prepared, reviewed, and processed on the agreed schedule. Tax deposits tracked. Pay stubs out same day.

"Wages, tip reporting, casual staff, daily POS reconciliations. I'd been doing it myself between services. They took it off me three months ago and I got my Sundays back. The kitchen noticed I was less on edge. I noticed too."
Ahmed, restaurant owner, New Orleans LA

Why US small businesses choose Bookflexy for payroll bookkeeping

W-2 and 1099 expertise

Worker classification is one of the most commonly mishandled parts of small business payroll. We assess each worker against the actual IRS factors, not a rule of thumb.

Deposit deadlines tracked

Federal and state payroll tax deposits tracked against your specific schedule. The deadline is treated as non-negotiable, because IRS penalties for late deposits scale fast.

Workers' comp aware

Workers' compensation reporting requirements vary by state. We track what your state requires and keep the reporting current alongside payroll.

Multi-state payroll aware

Employees working from different states trigger separate state payroll tax registrations. We handle the registration and ongoing filing for each state you actually have workers in.

Confidential payroll handling

Pay rates and individual records are restricted to the payroll lead on your account. Your other team members do not see each other through us.

Year-end done on time

W-2s and 1099-NECs prepared and ready to issue by January 31. Form 941 reconciled for the year. No scrambling in the first weeks of January.

Get payroll off your weekend

Classification, deposits, overtime, year-end. Tell us your headcount and pay frequency and we will quote it inside a day.

See pricing

Four payroll shapes

Structures we run regularly. Each has its own quirks.

Cafe, restaurant, or bar with tipped staff

Tip credit and tip pooling under the FLSA. Overtime calculated on the regular rate including tips. Split shifts and shift differentials. One of the most commonly miscalculated payroll setups in small business.

What changes

  • Tip credit applied correctly against minimum wage
  • Tip pooling tracked per FLSA rules
  • Overtime on the true regular rate, not just base pay
  • State-specific tipped minimum wage rules applied

How small businesses run payroll

The four common patterns. Each works at certain sizes and stops working at certain points.
Owner runs spreadsheet
1-3 staff, risky
Owner uses payroll software
3-10 staff, requires time
In-house payroll admin
10+ staff, $55k+/year
Outsourced (us)
Any size, predictable cost
Federal/state deposit tracking
NoYesYesYes
Worker classification review
Manual, error-proneManual, error-proneSkill-dependentYes
Deposits made on time, every cycle
PartialPartialYesYes
Coverage when sick or on leave
NoNoNoYes
Predictable cost
Hidden timeSoftware fees + your timeSalary + on-costsFixed retainer
FLSA-compliant recordkeeping
PartialPartialYesYes
Scales without rehiring
NoPartialNoYes

How pricing works for payroll bookkeeping

No flat tiers. Every quote sized to your business. The form takes about 60 seconds and the answer arrives the same day.

Payroll pricing scales with headcount, frequency (weekly versus biweekly versus monthly), and complexity. A weekly hospitality payroll with tipped staff and a mixed W-2/1099 crew carries more work than a monthly payroll with two salaried employees. The quote reflects that.

The form lets you tell us roughly how many staff, the pay frequency, and the mix of W-2 and 1099 workers. The number we send back covers payroll processing, deposit tracking, pay stubs, and year-end prep. Multi-state registration is priced separately when applicable.

Pricing factor

Headcount

Number of workers on payroll. We size from current headcount and adjust at six-month re-scopes if you grow.

Pricing factor

Pay frequency

Weekly is most expensive per pay run because it runs four times a month. Biweekly is the most common. Monthly is the lightest.

Pricing factor

W-2/1099 mix

A heavier 1099 mix shifts work toward classification review and year-end 1099 volume rather than ongoing payroll processing.

Pricing factor

Tipped or hourly mix

Tip credit calculations and hourly overtime reviews add more per-cycle work than salaried payroll.

Pricing factor

Reimbursements and benefits

Tool allowances, mileage reimbursement, 401(k) contribution tracking. Each adds set-up and ongoing review.

Pricing factor

Multi-state payroll

Employees working in more than one state add registration and filing work for each additional state, priced separately.

Your first 90 days

What the first three months feels like once we are running. Most clients tell us month two is the moment things stop feeling held together with tape.
  1. Week 1

    Payroll onboarding

    Worker classification confirmed, employees set up, deposit schedule validated, PTO balances reconciled, test pay run completed.

  2. Pay run 1

    First live pay run

    Live pay processed under the agreed schedule. Pay stubs out. PTO accrued.

  3. Quarter 1

    First payroll tax deposits

    Federal and state deposits made on schedule, with days of buffer before each deadline.

  4. Year-end

    W-2s and 1099s ready

    Year-end forms prepared and ready to issue by January 31. Form 941 reconciled for the year.

Industries we work with

We carry the AU compliance angle for each of these verticals into the bookkeeping. Pick yours for the specialised page.

What clients say

"Wages, tip reporting, casual staff, daily POS reconciliations. I'd been doing it myself between services. They took it off me three months ago and I got my Sundays back. The kitchen noticed I was less on edge. I noticed too."
Ahmed, restaurant owner, New Orleans LA
"I started doing residential, picked up two commercial contracts, and suddenly I had an employee and a 1099 helper. The payroll side scared me. They set it up, ran the first three pay cycles for me, and now I just do the work."
Nadia, cleaning business owner, Sacramento CA

Payroll Bookkeeping FAQ

Two things to remember

Every account is reconciled and kept tax-ready by an AIPB-certified bookkeeper. Every account is run inside the US, by a US-based bookkeeper. Those two facts shape almost every other decision on this page.

Get payroll off your plate.

W-2, 1099, deposits, overtime, year-end forms. Tell us your headcount and pay frequency, we will quote it.

See pricing