Your staff is the backbone of your legal practice, and the payroll processing strategy you utilize will directly impact your firm’s growth and success. Payroll processing for law firms is incredibly complex, and most attorneys do not have the accounting prowess necessary to stay on top of evolving tax regulations and the complicated payroll requirements of local, state, and federal agencies. At CPN Legal, our team is experienced in payroll setup for law firms, and we understand how to streamline these processes to drive efficiency in your firm. To learn more, consider connecting with us at (513) 334-5076 today.
About CPN Legal
We are full-service business consultants specialized in law firm accounting and bookkeeping. Our team of CPAs, controllers, bookkeepers, and payroll specialists partner with attorneys to help keep their practice fiscally strong while providing growth solutions to increase their bottom line. What sets us apart from other firms is our dedication to providing white-glove service and our engagement with every client we work with.
We want to know your why – your reason for embarking on this entrepreneurial journey. Using this insight, we develop a tailored strategy to help you not only meet your business objectives but honor your goals along the way. Having spent a decade supporting law firms through all levels of their scaling process, we are confident in our ability to increase efficiency and productivity across your firm’s workflows.
What Are Typical Payroll Processes that Law Firms Need?
Having even one employee on the payroll immediately adds a wide range of responsibilities. From hiring and onboarding to time tracking to PTO accruals, the payroll processes that you use to support your practice and your employees are vital to the growth of your business. Some of the typical payroll processes that law firms need include:
- Employee onboarding
- Submitting tax information, bank account changes, and 401K and other deduction options.
- Retrieving earning statements and tax forms
- Recording time/attendance
- Requesting time off and/or overtime
- Tracking PTO
- Processing and reporting payroll tax
What Are Common Difficulties of the Payroll Process?
While the payroll process may seem straightforward at first glance, this single exchange brings with it a myriad of complexities that you may not have initially considered. Indeed, payroll processing for law firms is particularly intricate, and while law firms continually strive for increased efficiency and productivity, payroll rarely receives much attention. This can cause law firms to encounter roadblocks that impact retention rates and employee morale, including:
- Risk of non-compliance. A simple error or miscalculation in your payroll could result in legal trouble, which could have major consequences for your practice. It is important to consider not only tax laws, but regulations in social security, wages, insurance policies, family leave, and many more. Keeping up with the complex web of compliance laws requires a great deal of time and expertise. With so many moving parts in operating a business, these concerns can easily fall through the cracks.
- Inefficient payroll setup for law firms. Many law firms initially utilize manual systems when setting up their payroll process for a small number of employees. Using spreadsheets and manual tools may seem like a cost-effective option, but it is inherently error-prone. As your practice grows, these systems will become not only outdated and inefficient, but risky. Setting up your payroll system to mitigate mistakes, comply with regulations, and protect confidential information is key.
- Minor changes evolving into major issues. Even small changes in an employee’s information can result in payroll issues. If an associate moves to a new tax jurisdiction, for instance, and you do not update their information promptly, you may be calculating tax withholding incorrectly. Putting in place an effective system for managing changes, such as self-service, can help relieve the burden.
Why is It Helpful to Outsource Payroll Processing to an Experienced Team?
Streamlining the payroll process is key to managing larger workloads, combating low morale and retention in your firm, and fulfilling compliance requirements. A solution that can simplify the payroll process will, in turn, simplify other aspects of your legal practice. Aside from saving time and money, outsourcing payroll processing to an experienced team can help you drive efficiency, improve security, maintain compliance, and successfully integrate data into one platform.
Overall, 73% of organizations outsource some aspect of payroll, and for good reason. Between compliance, accuracy, technology adoption, and reporting capabilities, there are several areas of improvement that law firms struggle to navigate in-house. Not having to spend long hours on your payroll process allows you to focus on business growth and the improved accuracy that an outsourced team will provide can prevent costly penalties.
What Payroll Services Does CPN Legal Provide?
Our team of experts have decades of combined experience in payroll setup and payroll processing for law firms. When you partner with CPN Legal for your payroll services, you will gain access to the knowledge and expertise of our payroll specialists, CPAs, and bookkeepers who will assess your needs and develop a strategy to effectively streamline your processes.
- Payroll setup for law firms through providers like Gusto or other third party vendors
- Processing and recording transactions such as 401K, profit-sharing, and insurance transactions/allocations.
- Navigating tax complexities
- Optimizing time tracking systems by integrating software like Clio & QuickBooks Online
How Can CPN Legal Help with Payroll Tax Complexities?
It is the responsibility of the business to correctly calculate and withhold employment taxes, as well as pay the relevant share of payroll taxes. The IRS is incentivized to ensure that businesses get this right, especially since payroll taxes comprise over 70% of the agency’s revenue. As part of our payroll setup for law firms service, we automate tax withholding and filing to reduce the chance of manual error.
Speak with Our Team of Experts Today
At CPN Legal, we lay the groundwork that will sustain your legal practice’s growth for years to come. We believe in going above and beyond for our clients, which is why we offer this highly sought-out service that is not offered by many other bookkeeping firms. As experts in payroll processing for law firms, we have an in-depth understanding of the complexities of integrating a payroll system into your business and the roadblocks that may stand in the way.
By developing and implementing an optimized payroll process into your business, we can help minimize uncertainty, avoid complications, and remove error from your workflow. As a result, you can focus on what matters most. To discuss your payroll strategy with our team, consider contacting us at (513) 334-5076 today.