Accounting, tax & financial pros
Books and taxes for payroll service bureaus.
Per-employee fees from dozens of clients, year-end W-2 batches, ACH clearing costs, and client payroll funds that pass through but are never yours. Gus sorts all of it, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
January made $17,000. The W-2 prep batch fees are counted separately from your regular per-employee fees this month, since that spike will not repeat until next January.
- Per-employee fees, 38 clientsProcessing fees
- W-2 prep batch feesYear-end filing fees
- ACH clearing bank chargesPayroll processing fees
- Fidelity bond premiumClient funds insurance
- Support staff payrollStaff wages
Why your books are different
A payroll bureau's own books go wrong in one big place, and a few smaller ones.
Millions of dollars move through your accounts every month, and almost none of it is yours. The books have to know the difference between what clients' employees are owed and what your bureau actually earned for moving it.
-
1
Client payroll funds get counted as your own revenue
Gross wages and tax deposits that pass through your clearing account on the way to client employees and government agencies are not your income, only your per-employee processing fee is, but a bank feed alone cannot always tell the difference.
What we doKeeps client payroll funds passing through separate from the processing fees you actually earn, so your revenue reflects what the bureau kept, not what moved through it. -
2
Per-employee fees and setup fees blend together
A new client's one-time setup fee and the ongoing per-employee-per-month fee both land in the same revenue line, making it hard to tell whether growth is coming from new clients or existing ones adding staff.
What we doKeeps setup fees and recurring per-employee fees in separate lines, so new business and account growth are easy to tell apart. -
3
ACH clearing costs get miscategorized as a client cost
The fees your sponsor bank charges to process ACH transfers for client payroll runs are a real operating cost of the bureau, but they sometimes get filed as though they belong to a specific client instead of the business overall.
What we doKeeps ACH and clearing bank fees in their own operating expense line, tied to the bureau's own cost of doing business. -
4
Year-end W-2 and 1099 fees spike one month and vanish
Batch filing fees for W-2s and 1099s at year end can be a third of a normal month's revenue, landing in January and nowhere else, which makes January look unusually strong if it is not flagged.
What we doFlags year-end filing fees as their own seasonal line, so January's bump reads as the yearly cycle it is, not sudden growth. -
5
The fidelity bond premium gets missed as its own cost
Insurance that protects against theft of client funds is a real, sizable cost of being trusted with other people's payroll money, but it often gets bundled into general insurance where its size is easy to overlook.
What we doKeeps the fidelity bond and client funds insurance in its own line, so the true cost of holding that trust is visible.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a payroll bureau.
Set up once for how your bureau bills and spends. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Processing feesPer-employee-per-month fees from your client roster.
- Setup feesOne-time onboarding charges for new client companies.
- Year-end filing feesW-2 and 1099 batch preparation, billed once a year.
- Garnishment processing feesWhat you charge to administer wage garnishments for clients.
Money out
- Staff wagesPayroll specialists and client support on your own payroll.
- Payroll processing feesACH and clearing bank charges to move client payroll.
- Client funds insuranceThe fidelity bond protecting client funds you handle.
- Payroll engine softwareThe processing system or reseller license you run on.
- Compliance and tax table updatesSubscriptions keeping withholding tables and filings current.
- Background checksScreening for staff who touch client funds.
What we watch for you
- Fee per client
Processing revenue against your client count, so growth from new accounts is easy to see.
- Clearing cost ratio
ACH and bank fees against processing revenue, so a growing client base does not quietly cost more to move money for.
- Seasonal filing spike
How much of January's income is a one-time W-2 batch, so it is not mistaken for ongoing growth.
- Client funds insurance cost
What it costs every year to be trusted with other people's payroll money.
Ask Gus
Things payroll bureau owners ask Gus.
Text him like you would text anybody. He answers in plain English, and when a question is above his pay grade, an accountant looks and gets back to you.
No, and that is the important part. Most of that is client payroll passing through to their employees. Your actual revenue is the processing fee, which I keep separate.
Partly. I keep the W-2 batch fees in their own line, so once you set those aside, you can see how much of the growth is really new client volume.
That one is above my pay grade to settle from a bank feed. I keep your clearing costs against your processing fees clearly, and the accountant can help you run that pricing math.
The tax side
The tax side of running a payroll bureau.
Most of what trips up a bureau's own return is the same distinction that runs through everything else here: what passed through versus what the bureau actually kept.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Only the fee is incomeClient payroll funds moving through your accounts are not revenue, and mistaking them for revenue distorts the pass-through deduction and every other number tied to what the bureau actually earned.
- 1099s for contract support staffA contract payroll specialist or support rep, paid $2,000 or more in 2026 and not on your payroll, gets a 1099-NEC by January 31.
- Section 179 on processing infrastructureServers, workstations, and office equipment bought for the bureau can usually be written off in the year purchased, up to $2,560,000, with full bonus depreciation on qualifying property bought after January 19, 2025.
- The pass-through deduction on real revenue onlyUp to 20 percent of qualified business income can come off taxable income, but that calculation only works correctly once client funds passing through are separated from the fees the bureau actually earned.
Deductions payroll service bureaus miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Fidelity bond premium
- ACH and clearing bank fees
- Payroll engine licensing
- Compliance and tax table subscriptions
- Background check costs
- State payroll provider registration
- Professional liability insurance
- Client support software
- Office equipment and servers
- Continuing education for compliance staff
- Secure document storage
- Phone and support line costs
General information about 2026 federal rules, not advice for your business. Your accountant looks at your actual numbers before anything gets filed.
All year, not just April
A payroll bureau's year, kept every month.
Every client runs their own pay schedule, but your own year still runs on the same calendar as everyone else's. Gus keeps the bureau's real numbers steady underneath the noise of client funds moving through. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.
- January
The W-2 rush
Year-end filing fees come in, last year's own return gets started, and a set-aside gets planned that accounts for January's seasonal bump.
- April
Filed, past the W-2 rush
The bureau's own return is filed and signed, based on real processing revenue, not the client funds that passed through along the way.
- July
Midyear clearing check
Where the bureau stands, how the client roster has grown, and whether clearing costs are keeping pace with processing fees.
- October
Before next year's W-2 season
A look at staffing and software before the next year-end filing rush, and what the bureau should set aside before December.
What you get
What you pay depends on what your business needs, and it does not move after that, busy season or slow. No hourly bills, no surprise invoices, no setup fee.
Book a call- Monthly bookkeeping
Every transaction sorted into categories set up for payroll service bureaus. You never categorize a thing.
- An accountant checks every transaction
Real review, every month, before your books close. Not a spot check.
- Your business tax return, filed
Prepared, reviewed, and signed by that same accountant every year.
- The monthly number
What you made, what you spent, what to set aside for taxes.
- Your own bookkeeper
A real person assigned to your business, in the app whenever you need them. No hold music.
- On your books all year
Every month, not just in April. Your team speaks up whenever something is worth your attention.
- Cancel any time
No contract. No cancellation call. Your books are yours.
Straight answers
Questions payroll bureau owners ask first.
Does Gus handle the client payroll funds that move through our accounts?
No. Gus only books your bureau's own operating account, the processing fees you earn and the costs of running the business. Client payroll and tax funds are not the bureau's money and are never treated as its revenue.
Can Gus tell one-time setup fees apart from ongoing per-employee fees?
Yes. They stay in separate lines, so you can see whether growth is coming from new clients or from existing ones adding staff.
We already run on a payroll engine system. Does anything change?
No. Keep processing payroll the way you do. Gus works from your bureau's own bank statement and asks once if a deposit is unclear.
How does Gus handle the January W-2 filing spike?
It gets flagged as a seasonal line, so January's bump reads as the yearly cycle it is, not a sign the bureau suddenly grew.
Our own books have been behind since we are always focused on client payroll. Is that fixable?
Yes. Send the bureau's own bank statements, whatever shape they are in. Gus sorts them and the accountant checks behind him, so you are not carrying last quarter into this one.
Is a real accountant checking my books?
Yes. You get your own bookkeeper, Gus does the first pass on every transaction, and an accountant checks every one before your month closes. That same accountant prepares, signs, and files your business return. Goatkeeper is not a CPA firm, and we never pretend a person looked when they did not.
What does it cost, and can I cancel?
It starts at $197 a month, depending on what your business needs. No setup fee, no hourly bills, no contract. Cancel any time from the app, and your books go with you.
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What makes a bookkeeper worth paying for Every business we keep books for
Book a call
Pick a time. That's the whole signup.
Fifteen minutes with a real person on our team. They look at where your books are, tell you straight what it takes to get caught up, and get you set up on the spot if it fits.
- $197 a month to start
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever