Payroll Health Check
A 45-minute conversation that maps your payroll function: where capacity is stretched, where exposure is building, and what to fix first.
Complimentary · 45 minutes
Now scheduling for early 2027
Senior payroll leadership, without the full-time hire.
Fractional payroll advisory for growing California companies that have outgrown their payroll specialist but can't justify a $150,000 payroll director. We work inside the system you already use. We don't process payroll.
20 years California payroll operations
IRS Enrolled Agent
100–250 employee companies
Multi-state and California compliance
Is this you?
Too big for one payroll specialist. Too small for a full-time director.
- Your payroll specialist was a great fit at half your current size and is now stretched thin around every pay run.
- Exceptions like a new state, a tax notice, or a garnishment take days to resolve and land on the CFO's desk.
- Nothing is documented, so one long absence would put payroll at risk.
- You suspect errors are building up, but nobody senior has looked.
Services
Pick what you need. Keep the system you have.
Compliance Review
A fixed-scope review of your configuration, overtime and premium calculations, classifications, and state registrations, with a prioritized fix list.
Fixed fee · about 30 days
Fractional Payroll Leadership
An experienced payroll leader your team can escalate to, with regular check-ins, issue resolution, and oversight of compliance changes.
Monthly retainer · cancel anytime
Team Training
Practical training for your payroll and HR staff on California rules, your platform, and the edge cases that cause errors.
Per session or included in retainer
Reporting and Analysis
Payroll reports your CFO can use: labor cost, overtime trends, GL reconciliation, and audit-ready summaries.
Project or ongoing
Tax Notice Support
Triage and response for federal and state payroll tax notices, handled by an IRS Enrolled Agent.
As needed
What we don't do: process payroll, hold company funds, sell software, or replace your HR team or employment counsel. We work alongside them.
What senior eyes catch
A small rate error, repeated every week.
In California, overtime is owed on the regular rate, which includes commissions and most bonuses. Many systems pay overtime on base pay only. One hourly employee with a commission, one week:
| Line | Hours | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| REG base pay | 45.0 | $20.00 | $900.00 |
| COMM weekly commission | — | — | $300.00 |
| Regular rate ($1,200 ÷ 45 hrs) | — | $26.67 | — |
| OT owed at 1.5 × regular rate | 5.0 | $40.00 | $200.00 |
| OT if paid at 1.5 × base | 5.0 | $30.00 | $150.00 |
| Underpaid this week | $50.00 |
Simplified illustration. Across 40 employees and 50 weeks, that $50 becomes $100,000 before penalties, and no single paycheck looks wrong.
How it works
Start with a conversation, not a contract.
Health Check
We talk for 45 minutes about how payroll runs today and what's landing on your desk. You leave with a clear read either way.
Compliance Review
If it makes sense, we review your setup in detail and hand you a prioritized list of what to fix and why.
Ongoing support
Your team gets a senior payroll leader on call, month to month, for as long as it's useful.
About
Twenty years inside California payroll.
Fractional Payroll Advisors is led by a payroll operations leader with 20 years at an independent HCM service bureau serving thousands of California employers. Along the way that meant building payroll teams, running two platform migrations, and resolving the same compliance problems at hundreds of growing companies.
Our founder is an IRS Enrolled Agent, licensed to represent taxpayers before the IRS, and has worked across isolved, ADP Workforce Now, Paylocity, Gusto, and Rippling.
Questions
Common questions
Do you process our payroll?
No. Your team or your provider keeps running payroll. We advise, review, train, and step in on complex issues.
Will we need to change payroll software?
No. We work inside the platform you already use. If you're considering a switch, we can help you plan it.
How is this different from our HR consultant or attorney?
HR consultants cover people policy, and attorneys cover legal advice. We cover the payroll mechanics in between: rates, calculations, tax setup, and multi-state registration. We coordinate with both.
What size companies do you work with?
Mostly California companies with 100 to 250 employees, often with staff in more than one state.
When can we start?
We're scheduling Health Checks now for engagements beginning in early 2027.
Get started
Request a Payroll Health Check.
Tell us a little about your company and we'll reply within two business days to find a time. There's no cost and no obligation.
* Required
Request received.
We'll reply within two business days to schedule your Health Check.