Managing your clients’ payroll may initially seem like a great way to add value to your services as a CPA. However, this can quickly snowball into a massive operational burden, draining resources and diluting the firm's focus.
This is one reason why accounting firms across the Midwest have increasingly offloaded that burden onto payroll providers like us. Lift HCM maintains healthy relationships with accounting firms that trust us to maximize the impact of their clients’ human capital “from hire to retire.” This allows both parties to focus on their area of specialty and allows for a more effective and streamlined collaborative dynamic when needed.
Let’s take a closer look at some of the benefits a strong payroll provider can have for a CPA to help you determine whether it’s worth pursuing at your firm.
Benefit 1. Payroll Partners Relieve the Pressure of Keeping Up With Compliance Changes
Accountants know a thing or two about how difficult it can be to keep informed of an ever-changing landscape of compliance standards. Managing clients’ payroll means keeping them compliant with regulations and reporting requirements which fall outside your area of focus.
No diligent CPA wants to believe they’d be responsible for forcing a client to face such an ordeal, but it’s not for things to slip through the cracks when you’re already juggling so much. All the while, your clients will still be on the hook in the event of an audit or inspection.
On the other hand, payroll management firms are legally authorized to serve as intermediaries between their client and regulatory agencies. Payroll companies are ultimately the ones who are held responsible should something ever come up (and if you find the right partner, it rarely will). A good payroll partner takes all that hard work and pressure off your plate.manage their clients payroll and optimize their
Benefit 2. Payroll Providers Help Manage Clients’ Expectations
Clients don’t know what they don’t know. Not every restaurateur knows that their employees aren’t allowed to work too many shifts back to back. Serving as their single point of contact for “all things money” can come back to bite you if a client learns your scope of service via penalties and fines.
It may not be your fault, but if you’re the one clients come crying to, it’s your problem all the same. Even if you’re diligent about managing their expectations, you can’t guarantee they’ll successfully navigate the world of mandatory training, regulatory compliance, and reporting requirements on their own.
HCM service providers go beyond the routine payroll runs, working closely with clients to optimize their workforce. We take care of the things they might not know or think to ask you for. This can involve anything from building an employee handbook for a local dental practice to integrating the POS for a local restaurant so it sends data to QuickBooks.
Having a payroll partner available allows you to position yourself as “a lifesaver” to clients seeking guidance as they grow their workforce while taking the pressure off you to be their Sacajawea.
Benefit 3: Payroll Partners’ Expertise Unlocks Mutual Value
CPAs step outside their primary area of expertise when they agree to take on their clients payroll. While accountants may be able to get by managing payroll runs in the early days, so many instrumental pieces to a business’s success falls under the umbrella of payroll and well outside the comfort zone of a CPA.
Asking an accountant to cut paychecks is like asking your gastroenterologist to fix your cough. It’s not the best use of your time. It may seem like low-hanging fruit vis-à-vis keeping clients happy, but what happens when it’s more than just a cough? That’s why it’s important to ensure someone you trust is there to pick up where your own skills and expertise leave off.
An effective payroll partner is proactive about working with your clients to direct, acquire, optimize their workforce to maximize their revenue. Applying their expertise earlier along in their growth can accelerate them towards the success they’ll share with you as a financial service provider.
Benefit 4: Offloading Payroll Processing Frees CPAs Up to Focus on Growing Their Firm
Overextending your time and talent sees CPAs sink time and resources into tasks and topics most payroll managers have distilled into an art form. A good payroll partner makes it their business to address many things a growing business needs which fall outside your scope of work but are still under the umbrella of human capital management. This includes employee engagement; learning and development; talent acquisition; time and attendance; employee evaluation, and more.
They’ll hit the ground running on building a relationship with your clients. Your partner should come prepared to troubleshoot their questions and follow through on the tasks that slow you down and distract from your growth. In doing so, payroll partners take your place as points of contact for tasks that fall outside your ideal scope of work.
In the meantime, you can direct more time and resources towards pursuing the tasks which have the greatest impact on your goals as a firm.
Find a Payroll Partner Who’s Invested in Your Growth as a CPA
More often than not, managing clients’ payroll in-house often proves to be more trouble than it’s worth for CPAs. They make it their business to address the concerns you have no business concerning yourself with and help clients cover their bases early in the game.
Managing clients’ payroll in-house can close the door on the potential you may otherwise achieve by finding your focus as a firm and freeing up the resources to pursue it. The right partner will come well-prepared to field questions, handle curveballs, and help you knock it out of the park with lasting, mutual success for all involved.
Offloading payroll processing onto a partner provider places current and future clients in the trusted hands of a specialized team who’s better equipped to carry that weight. Like accountants, payroll providers apply specialized knowledge to help a client grow.
Lift HCM takes pride in the shared victories we achieve, both with our accounting partners and the clients we share. If you’re ready to take payroll off your plate, contact us online or at info@lifthcm.com.
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