Payroll Companies & Payroll Services in Des Moines, IA

OWL Accounting Services is a family-run accounting practice based in Des Moines, Iowa, operated by a married couple, Lindsay and Toby. It lists an office on Kinsey Avenue but delivers its work entirely online, supporting individuals and small companies throughout Iowa and elsewhere in the country. Its offering combines payroll administration with monthly bookkeeping, cleanup projects, QuickBooks Online setup, business consulting and tax preparation. This lets employers have the same team handle both wage processing and their general ledger.

Payroll Services

The firm treats payroll as one piece of a client's back-office system rather than a standalone check run. Every engagement comes as a single full-service package without tiers or add-on charges, and the firm describes its pricing as fixed-fee. Covered tasks include:

• Running each pay cycle, with next-day or two-day direct deposit depending on service level
• Federal, state and local payroll tax deposits and returns
• Year-end W-2 and 1099 preparation with electronic delivery
• Posting payroll journal entries to the general ledger
• Workers' compensation reporting and help during audits
• Multi-state payroll for employers hiring outside Iowa

Employees get access to a self-service portal with digital pay stubs and tax forms. The portal also includes onboarding tools for new hires, benefit and deduction handling, and a staff directory. At certain service levels it adds PTO tracking and clock-in timekeeping.

On the accounting side, payroll syncs with QuickBooks Online and can be tracked by department, class or location where the platform supports it. Clients can also request custom or on-demand reports. Lindsay holds payroll certifications for both QuickBooks Online and Gusto, the platforms the firm works with.

People Advisory

Beyond processing, a People Advisory service uses a company's financial data to inform workforce decisions. It covers team sizing and structure, deciding whether workers should be contractors or employees, compensation benchmarking, and evaluating benefit costs. It also includes assessing turnover risk and drafting offer letters, org charts and basic policies. The firm notes that this is financial guidance and does not substitute for legal counsel or a dedicated HR provider.

Who It Serves and How It Works

Typical payroll clients include small businesses paying hourly or salaried staff and owners who want payroll and bookkeeping in one place. The firm also serves companies moving away from error-prone do-it-yourself payroll and employers beginning to hire across state lines. Onboarding starts with a discovery call with Toby to review needs, existing systems and pricing.

The payroll platform is then set up or migrated and aligned with the books. After that, the firm processes payroll each pay period and provides ongoing reports and support. Clients deal directly with the two owners rather than a call center. Every engagement gets a two-person check: Lindsay does the work and Toby reviews financials before delivery.

Background and Credentials

Lindsay, the founder, brings more than two decades of accounting and finance experience. She is known for catch-up cleanups and desktop-to-online QuickBooks conversions. Her credentials include QuickBooks Online Level 2 certification, Intuit Bookkeeping certification and professional tax preparer status. Toby, the firm's president, holds a finance degree and has a 17-year insurance background.

He has owned multiple businesses for over a decade. At the firm he leads sales, payroll systems and compliance, workflow design and consulting. On the tax side, the practice prepares both personal and small business returns and files working children's returns at no charge when their parents are clients. Office hours run Monday through Friday on Central time.