Case Study

A healthcare sole-practitioner with a small office staff had spent years with a bookkeeper who they found wasn’t paying and filing the payroll taxes correctly. This left an accumulated tax liability with the IRS and the state. The business owner became increasingly aware of the liabilities; however, he didn’t know how to resolve and bring the situation to balance.

He drove by our office every day on his commute and after seeing our signs daily, he decided to call and make an appointment. During the meeting, while embarrassed and scared, he shared his story in detail. Our experts were able to assess his situation and present a solution that would meet his immediate and long-term needs, which included giving him a checklist of documents required to do an audit of the tax filings and tax liabilities.

The first and most crucial step was to resolve the initial tax problem by catching up his filings and paying of his outstanding payroll taxes. With his move to Payroll Vault, it allowed our team to take on his services and ensure all processes were correctly executed going forward. We started by processing payroll for him and impounding all the taxes every payday, then paying and filing the current taxes. Upon completion of the audit and determination of the past liabilities that were outstanding, we helped catch up the filings and established payment plans aimed at clearing the debts.

An owner of a small new construction company started paying payroll using a big-box payroll service provider. He was told that he was required to establish his tax withholding accounts with the state himself. Not fully understanding how to accomplish this or familiar with what was involved, he avoided this step in the process.

A couple months later when the service was unable to pay his taxes to the state, they began to levy a fine on him for not having the tax accounts set up. The frustrated business owner looked online for help and found our Payroll Vault website and called to ask a few questions. During the conversation, we established that the onboarding services for Payroll Vault clients includes the application for the state tax accounts, if needed.

Feeling relief and “safe” again, he became a payroll client the next week. Our experts we were able to successfully set up the new tax accounts and begin filing and paying his tax payments. The business owner pleased, and relieved, with the assistance from professionals and thankful for not needing to navigate the processes on his own.

A business owner had hired a bookkeeper who managed his payroll and bookkeeping using QuickBooks for several years. The bookkeeper served many clients in the area, and unfortunately, became ill and passed away without warning. Pay day was the following week and there was no backup plan in place.

One of his employees was familiar with Payroll Vault and recommended he put in a call. Our payroll expert was able to visit the business that evening and obtained access to the reports and details needed from the QuickBooks system so that payroll could be met the next day, and from that point forward.

A church needed to pay the pastor, and the church treasurer who managed their account payables did not fully understand clergy/minister payroll rules. The pastor knew someone at the Payroll Vault office and called to inquire about services. Payroll Vault was able to set up payroll in accordance with following clergy rules successfully and easily.

As a result, the pastor has a weekly direct deposit of his paycheck, complete with withholding toward his tax balance so that he no longer needs to budget for quarterly vouchers or face a large balance due on his tax return. As a bonus, the treasurer is relieved to have the resources of Payroll Vault.

A business owner with approximately 15 employees was facing challenges with capturing hours worked by the team, who were writing down their time on a timesheet. There were concerns about the accuracy of the start and end times recorded on some of the timesheets which prompted a discussion with his dedicated payroll specialist. The business owner’s dedicated Payroll Vault specialist explained timekeeping and attendance options and they came to a decision of what would work best for his business model.

As a result, a timekeeping system was set up where employees could punch in and out. Peace of mind was achieved with the knowing of where employees are when their punch is recorded and when the punch occurs.

By calling the dedicated payroll specialist, the business owner was able to eliminate waste which helps the bottom line and increase the accountability and overall morale of the team.

A restaurant owner with several employees, including kitchen staff, servers, and bartenders, most of whom are tipped employees. A common occurrence, the tipped employees were confused about the reporting of tips and how their W2s reflected their wages and tips earned, along with their withholding coming up short at tax time when they owed taxes.

Payroll Vault offered a meeting with the team to help them complete an accurate W4 form and set up a clear and accurate reporting process for tips.

As a result, the business owner and the servers are all happy to understand the rules and feel confident that they are compliant.

There is a group that provides business services solely for small business owners who speak English as a second language, providing accounting, consulting, and other business services, but they don’t do payroll. They have non-English speaking clients who need payroll services, so they established a referral partner relationship with Payroll Vault, working as the liaison between Payroll Vault and the clients. Payroll Vault works with the consultant for the translation and conversations on behalf of their clients.

It’s a win/win/win relationship for all involved. Payroll Vault helps many of the clients remain compliant with their payroll and tax obligations, while the consulting group retains the business relationship with their client.

A husband/wife couple owns three businesses and works closely with a CPA firm (that is also a Payroll Vault owner) for tax preparation services. The business owners were hearing a lot about the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC) but didn’t understand the eligibility rules or much else about it.

They were contacted by several groups wanting to help them obtain the ERTC refunds, even estimating an amount of the possible ERTC refunds that could be received. Because the business owners didn’t know these solicitors at all, they reached out to their trusted CPA (and Payroll Vault office) for ERTC support.

We proceeded to have an in-depth discussion about ERTC details and our teamed went on to complete the related research. Payroll Vault’s and CPA firm owner provided comprehensive calculations for the ERTC refunds for all three businesses which revealed significant ERTC refunds for a lower fee/cost than other solicitors.

As a result, the business owners were relieved to have the professional services of their trusted CPA and Payroll Vault owner supporting their ERTC claim. As a bonus, they decided to move their weekly payroll processing to Payroll Vault immediately.