Platforms
Dedicated offshore payroll specialists running Gusto, ADP, Paychex, Rippling, and Paylocity. Multi-state tax, garnishments, 401(k) reconciliations, W-2 and 1099 filings. Built for firms offering payroll as a client service.
Payroll scope
Processing, tax filings, reconciliation, and year-end – delivered inside the payroll software you already run.
Platforms
Pricing
For CPA firms billing clients
One seat runs 40–80 clients
Direct employer (500+ EEs)
If you're a direct employer looking at payroll options, the US market has strong competitive alternatives – ADP Run, Paychex, Gusto, and Rippling will all handle a 50-person payroll for $60–$200/month plus per-employee fees, with customer service and liability baked in. Offshore payroll for direct employers saves money but the delta vs those modern platforms is often smaller than people expect.
Where offshore payroll actually reshapes economics is CPA firms that offer payroll as a client service. A typical small-to-midsize CPA firm running payroll for 30 small-business clients has a specific operational problem: each client is a $150–$500/month line item, one payroll specialist can realistically run 30–50 clients, and US payroll specialists cost $55k–$75k loaded. The math gets tight fast. Firms either have to charge higher rates (losing clients to Gusto) or run payroll at a near-breakeven margin.
Offshore payroll rebuilds that math. A dedicated offshore payroll specialist at $2,400/month can handle the same 40–80 client load. Your US staff stay on client-facing work – problem resolution, setup calls, year-end review. The offshore specialist runs production: pulling hours, submitting payroll, reconciling to the GL, handling quarterly filings. At typical pricing, this takes a 15% margin payroll practice to a 50–60% margin practice – and that's before any price adjustments.
If you search "payroll outsourcing services," Google shows you ADP, Paychex, and Gusto – competing for direct-employer business. Those aren't our competition. We're the production layer behind the CPA firms that sit alongside those platforms, handling the actual payroll work on behalf of their clients. That's why our CPA firm page goes deeper on the economics than this page does.
Most payroll errors we see in client audits come from state tax setup, not from processing. A client with W-2 employees in 12 states has 12 state withholding registrations, 12 SUTA accounts, 12 sets of quarterly filings – plus local taxes in cities like New York, Philadelphia, and most of Ohio. Our specialists run a quarterly checkup on every payroll client: state rate changes applied, SUTA rates updated, new employee resident/work state splits reviewed. This is the kind of work that takes 20 minutes per client per quarter but prevents $500–$5,000 state agency notices.
For the bigger context on how payroll fits into a full offshore function, see our offshore accounting services overview or read how we handle offshore bookkeeping alongside payroll.
FAQ
They prepare and submit the filings through your payroll software (Gusto, ADP, Paychex), but the returns are filed under your EIN or your client's EIN. The software is the filer of record, the specialist is the preparer. This is the standard model for any outsourced payroll arrangement.
40–80 clients depending on complexity. Simple single-state bi-weekly payrolls under 25 employees: closer to 80. Multi-state, garnishments, union, or prevailing-wage: closer to 40. We scope this specifically per firm on the onboarding call.
This is exactly why offshore payroll works for CPA firms. Payroll is continuous weekly/bi-weekly work regardless of tax season. By having a dedicated offshore specialist, your US team isn't pulled off 1040 prep to run a client's Friday payroll in March.
We sign BAAs (Business Associate Agreements) with firms whose clients require them. Our infrastructure supports HIPAA-compliant data handling including encrypted transmission, access controls, and audit logs. Details on our security page.
Liability sits with whoever signs the engagement letter with the end client (your firm or direct employer). We carry errors & omissions insurance on our offshore delivery and indemnify against errors caused by our processing – but any mistake that reaches an end client is first resolved through your firm's client relationship.
Yes. WH-347, state prevailing wage forms, fringe benefit allocation, Davis-Bacon compliance. Our team has specific training for certified payroll – not every payroll specialist handles this, so we match construction clients to specialists with that background. See our construction industry page.
Yes. We work with clients using TriNet, Justworks, Insperity, and other PEOs – typically on the reconciliation and GL-posting side, since the PEO runs the actual payroll.
Related
15-min call. We'll scope your client book and model what offshore production does to your payroll margin.
Scope my payroll practice →