Who it is for
Payroll service bureaus and payroll providers that run payroll for several small business clients.
What gets in the way
- A new client's first payroll is delayed by a missing state registration or bank account.
- Employee W-4s and state forms arrive in email, and the bureau has to chase each one.
- A mid-year switch needs the prior payroll history before the first run.
- The year-end changes arrive after the payroll provider's cutoff.
Onboard with one request
The payroll onboarding checklist should ask for the EIN, the payroll bank account, the state withholding and unemployment accounts and the employee roster with W-4 and state forms.
Use a secure link for the bank details and the employee forms. Do not ask the client to email a Social Security number or an account number.
Run the recurring payroll
The recurring request should cover the hours, the new hires, the terminations, the pay changes and the benefits deductions. The same list on the same schedule makes the payroll predictable.
The reminder should stop when the client approves the payroll preview, not when the client says the hours are coming.
Close the year
The year-end request should cover the final payroll, the bonuses, the owner health insurance, the W-2 data and the payroll tax returns.
Set the provider cutoff before the request goes out. A change that arrives after the cutoff becomes a corrected W-2.
Where Usual fits
Usual sends the setup or recurring checklist from a link in the bureau's email. The client finishes it on a phone, and the answers save as they go.
The bureau sets the reminder schedule once, and the reminders stop when everything is in. Accepted files are filed into the client's folders by year.
The bureau keeps its payroll engine and tax filing. Usual does the client request, the reminders and the filing.