Payroll penalties are the most avoidable money a small business loses. The deposits are on a schedule that depends on your prior-year liability, the New York filings are on a different schedule again, and the penalty for being a day late on a federal deposit starts at two percent and climbs to fifteen. None of that is complicated. It is just relentless, and it does not forgive a busy month.
We run payroll for restaurants, contractors, medical practices and offices from two employees up to about sixty. Tipped wages, prevailing wage, multi-state employees and owner-employee compensation for S corporations are all routine here.
What is included
Processing on your cycle
Weekly, biweekly, semimonthly or monthly, with direct deposit or printed checks.
All tax deposits
Federal, New York State and New York City, made on your required schedule.
Quarterly filings
Form 941 federal, NYS-45 combined withholding and unemployment.
Annual filings
W-2 and W-3, 1099-NEC and 1096, federal and state, filed and delivered to recipients.
New hire reporting
New York requires it within twenty days and it is routinely missed.
Garnishments and deductions
Child support, levies, health insurance, retirement plan deferrals, transit benefits.
Paid Family Leave and disability
New York PFL and DBL calculated and withheld correctly.
Notices handled
If a penalty notice arrives for a period we processed, we answer it. That is included.
Things that catch employers out
These are the four we see most often in Queens, and all four are cheaper to get right than to fix.
Treating employees as 1099 contractors
New York is aggressive on this and the reclassification bill includes back taxes, interest and penalties. If the worker is under your direction and using your tools, the label on the check does not decide the question.
Tipped wage credit taken incorrectly
The tip credit, the spread-of-hours pay and the uniform allowance all have specific New York rules that federal guidance does not cover.
Owners not on payroll
An S corporation shareholder working in the business needs a W-2. Distributions alone is one of the most audited positions there is.
Missed deposit schedule change
Your deposit frequency can change from one year to the next based on prior-year liability, automatically, without anyone telling you.
General information, current for the 2026 filing season and not a substitute for advice on your own facts. Tax law changes, and the answer for your situation may differ. Speak to us before acting on anything you read here.
Questions
Payroll — the questions we are asked most
Can you take over payroll mid-year?
Yes, and mid-quarter. We load the year-to-date figures from your prior provider so the W-2s at year end are correct and cover the whole year.
What if a penalty notice arrives?
Send it to us. For any period we processed, we respond to the notice and pursue abatement where there are grounds, and that is included in the fee.
Do you handle prevailing wage or certified payroll?
Yes. Contractors on public work in New York City need certified payroll reports and we produce them.
How much notice do you need before a pay run?
Two business days before the pay date is comfortable. We can do next-day when something has gone wrong.
Related
Often needed alongside this
Business
Business Tax Returns
Federal and New York returns for S corporations, C corporations, partnerships and LLCs — prepared, reviewed and e-filed by a CPA.
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Small Business Accounting
A finance department for a business too small to hire one: monthly closes, management reporting, and a CPA on the phone when a decision needs one.
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Business
Bookkeeping
Clean, reconciled, current books — kept monthly by people who know what the year-end return will need from them.
Read moreThe first conversation is free
Talk to a CPA before you decide anything
Twenty minutes on the phone or across a desk on Roosevelt Avenue. Bring last year's return if you have one — most of what we need in order to quote you is already in it.