Payroll System Setup
We configure your payroll system from scratch. Employee profiles, tax withholdings, pay schedules, and direct deposit all set up correctly so payroll runs smoothly from day one.
What This Is
Setting up a payroll system involves more than creating employee accounts and entering bank information. It requires configuring tax withholdings for federal, state, and local jurisdictions. Establishing pay schedules that align with your cash flow. Making sure deductions calculate correctly. Getting direct deposit routing established and verified before you cut the first check.
This is one-time work that happens before you run your first payroll. The goal is a system configured correctly from the start so you’re not discovering errors six months later when you file quarterly taxes and the numbers don’t match what you’ve been withholding.
System Configuration
System Configuration
Set up your payroll platform with correct business information, tax ID numbers, and state registrations. Configure pay periods, pay dates, and calculation settings. Establish direct deposit connections and verify bank routing works before the first pay run. Test the system end-to-end so there are no surprises on payday.
Employee Profiles
Employee Profiles
Enter employee information including tax withholding elections from their W-4s, benefit deductions, and direct deposit details. Set up pay rates, overtime rules, and any special compensation structures your business uses. Make sure each profile is complete and accurate so every paycheck calculates correctly from day one.
Why This Matters
Payroll configuration errors are quiet problems. Wrong withholding settings don’t announce themselves. The system just calculates every paycheck incorrectly, period after period, until you file a quarterly return and realize the numbers are off. Or worse, until an employee gets an unexpected tax bill because you’ve been underwithholding all year.
Michigan has specific requirements that trip up business owners. New hire reporting must happen within 20 days. State unemployment insurance needs proper registration. Federal law has rules about overtime calculations that apply regardless of what you agreed to with the employee. These aren’t problems you want to discover during an audit or when you receive a notice from the state demanding back payments.
Withholding Accuracy
Withholding Accuracy
Federal income tax, Michigan state income tax, Social Security, Medicare. Each requires specific settings based on employee elections and current rates. Some Metro Detroit employees live in cities with local income tax. Get any of these wrong and you’re either underwithholding or overwithholding, both of which create problems down the road.
Compliance Foundation
Compliance Foundation
Proper setup includes verifying your state unemployment registration, confirming your business is enrolled for electronic tax payments, and ensuring new hire reporting is configured correctly. These administrative details are easy to overlook when you’re focused on just getting employees paid. Missing them creates real problems that compound over time.
What Changes
Once the system is configured correctly, running payroll becomes routine. You enter hours or approve salaries, and the system handles the calculations. Withholdings are accurate. Deductions come out right. Direct deposits hit employee accounts on schedule. The complexity lives in the setup, not in the ongoing process.
If something changes down the road, like an employee updating their W-4 or adding a new benefit deduction, you have a clean system to work with. Making adjustments to a properly configured system is straightforward. Making adjustments to a system that was set up incorrectly just adds more problems on top of existing ones.
Ready for Payroll
Ready for Payroll
Your system is tested and verified. Employees are set up correctly. Direct deposit connections are confirmed and working. Tax withholding calculations match what they should be. When payday arrives, you can run payroll with confidence that the numbers are right and payments will go through without issues.
Your Choice Moving Forward
Your Choice Moving Forward
Some clients run their own payroll after setup. Others use our payroll processing service to handle it ongoing. Either way, the foundation is solid. A well-configured system makes both options easier and eliminates the ongoing worry about whether things are set up correctly in the first place.
Metro Detroit's Small Business Bookkeeper
The Next Step:
A Short Conversation
Tell us about your business and your current bookkeeping situation. We'll listen, answer your questions, and give you a clear quote.
