Building a Profitable Payroll Business

Accounting Technology,  January, 2005  by Carly Lombardo

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Just a few years ago, when clients asked their accountants about payroll services, most would have responded, "I don't do payroll."

The most common objection was that payroll is not profitable or that the business takes too much time and clients don't want the service. But the tides are turning. Whether accountants love or hate payroll, their clients need, want, and expect them to be involved. In fact, they tend to get involved even when they don't provide the actual processing.

"ADP and Paychex use clerks, but if a question comes up with a customer's payroll-they tell them to call their accountants. It always comes back to us, so it should start and finish with us," says Mark Abramson, director of tax at Merrick, N.Y.-based Roberts, Rick & Moses.

The big service bureaus are also competing with accountants, says Michael Alter, senior vice president ...