Payroll Built Around the Owner, Not a Workforce
Most owners we work with do not have an HR department or a staff of twenty. They have one or two shareholders, sometimes a spouse on the books, and a payroll that exists because the S-corp election requires it. That is a different problem than running a large workforce, and it should not be treated like one.
Owner payroll is small in volume and high in consequence. The salary number has to be defensible. Health insurance has to land on the W-2 correctly. Deposits have to hit on schedule. Get those right and the election does what it was supposed to do. Get them wrong and you are looking at notices, a lost deduction, or an IRS position that your distributions were really wages all along.
What We Handle
We handle the payroll functions a closely held S-corp actually needs:
- Owner payroll setup and processing
- Reasonable compensation analysis and documentation
- Federal and state payroll tax registration
- Payroll tax deposits on the correct schedule
- Quarterly Form 941 and annual Form 940 filings
- Spouse and family member payroll
- Owner health insurance reported correctly on the W-2
- Retirement contributions coordinated through payroll
- Accountable plan reimbursements set up alongside payroll
- Year-end W-2s, plus 1099s for the few contractors you use
- Catch-up payroll when the year is nearly over and nothing has run
Whether you need setup, cleanup, or someone to just run it quietly all year, we can pick it up from wherever it currently stands.
Who This Is For
This is built for owner-operated S-corporations: a single shareholder, a husband and wife on the payroll, or two partners running a profitable business with few or no outside employees. It also fits owners who just filed the election and have not run a single paycheck yet, and owners whose prior accountant set the salary once and never revisited it.
What Usually Goes Wrong
The failures we see are predictable. An owner elects S-corp status and never runs payroll at all, which puts the whole election at risk. The salary is set far too low, which invites reclassification and back payroll taxes. Health insurance premiums are paid by the company but never added to the W-2, so the deduction disappears on the personal return. Deposits are missed by a few days and generate penalty notices that compound quietly. None of these are complicated to prevent. They just require someone paying attention before year-end instead of after.
Ongoing Owner Payroll Support
Once it is set up, owner payroll should be close to invisible. We keep the runs on schedule, monitor the deposits, revisit the salary when profit changes, prepare the year-end forms, and make sure what comes out of payroll ties cleanly to the 1120-S and your personal return. Low friction is the point. You should not have to think about it between quarters.