Payroll Companies & Payroll Services in Osseo, MN

Barton, Walter & Krier, P.C. (often shortened to BWK) is a full-service certified public accounting firm based in Maple Grove, Minnesota. It works mainly with small and middle market companies across the Twin Cities metro and the wider upper Midwest. BWK is not a payroll-only bureau.

Payroll is one part of a larger outsourced accounting offering, so it suits buyers who want payroll handled by the same CPA team that keeps their books, prepares their taxes and advises on financial strategy.

Payroll and Outsourced Accounting

BWK's accounting advisory practice lets a company hand off some or all of its finance function, either for a short stretch or as a permanent arrangement. The firm describes itself as working like an extension of a client's internal staff.

Payroll appears on its list of outsourced services next to bookkeeping and compliance work, and its business tax group handles payroll and sales tax reporting. A business can therefore keep wage processing and the related tax filings with one provider. The outsourced menu includes:

• Payroll processing and payroll tax reporting
• Bookkeeping and preparation of financial statements
• Tax compliance, including sales and use tax
• Cash flow analysis, budgeting and forecasting
• Audit preparation
• Financial modeling and KPI analysis

Beyond these outsourced services, the firm offers audit and assurance, business and personal tax, estate, gift and trust work, and state and local tax. It also handles transaction advisory for companies preparing for a sale, ERISA audits and advisory for retirement plans, and succession deals for accountants selling their practices. Its staff list includes bookkeepers, a QuickBooks consultant and human resources consultants, which may matter to employers who want payroll handled close to their day-to-day books.

Industries Served

BWK focuses on a handful of sectors, each with its own cost pressures and compliance needs:

• Manufacturing
• Real estate and land development
• Construction
• Professional services, including healthcare, legal and technology firms
• Distribution and logistics

For distributors in particular, the firm names payroll among the support it provides, alongside compliance, bookkeeping and planning.

How BWK Works With Clients

Every client account is staffed by two people: a primary consultant and a senior partner. The idea is to give clients access to someone all year rather than only at filing deadlines. Engagements follow three stages. First the team reviews the current financials and makes recommendations. Next it puts changes in place to support growth, lower taxes and improve profit. Finally it keeps refining the plan over time. The firm stresses accuracy, timeliness and thorough reporting.

Team and Background

Many of BWK's professionals previously worked at Big Four firms or at boutique practices. The firm uses that mix to pitch large-firm expertise delivered with the attention of a small firm. The leadership group is made up of several shareholders and directors, all CPAs, and one director also holds the CCIFP construction finance credential.

The broader staff includes enrolled agents, tax and audit managers, trust and estate specialists, bookkeepers and HR staff. The firm says it values integrity, collaboration and proactive problem solving. Client testimonials from manufacturers, homebuilders and technology companies point to long relationships and responsive service.

For employers comparing payroll providers, BWK is best suited to those who want payroll as part of an integrated, CPA-led accounting and tax relationship rather than a standalone software platform.

Berg Accounting Services, LLC is a small Minnesota accounting and tax practice with offices in Maple Grove and Robbinsdale. It works with individuals, self-employed people and small businesses. The firm handles payroll as part of a wider set of bookkeeping, tax and accounting services. That can suit owners who want payroll, books and tax filings handled by one local team instead of spread across several vendors.

Payroll and related services

Payroll is part of the firm's accounting work, next to bookkeeping and complete accounting support. Several related services cover ongoing and year-end payroll duties, so the same staff can handle the filings for businesses with employees or contractors:

• Payroll processing for small businesses
• W-2 and 1099 preparation, issuance and electronic filing
• Form 1096 submission with 1099s
• Reviews of income and withholding
• Sales tax processing
• Help responding to letters from the IRS or the Minnesota revenue department

Outside payroll, the practice offers bookkeeping, QuickBooks setup and support, QuickBooks clean-up, fixed asset management, financial statement preparation and business consulting. It also helps register and launch new businesses. On the tax side, it prepares individual returns and returns for sole proprietors, small businesses, partnerships, nonprofits and S corporations, and it offers tax planning consultations. As a QuickBooks ProAdvisor practice, the firm gives its accounting clients a discounted QuickBooks subscription.

How they work with clients

The firm says it shapes its approach around each client instead of using a fixed package. It aims to take the stress out of record-keeping for small business owners and to give them reliable numbers to base decisions on. New clients can book appointments online, and existing clients can ask for access to a secure portal to exchange documents.

Office hours are short: Monday from morning to early afternoon and a longer day on Thursday. Prospective clients should plan meetings around that.

Team and background

Owner Joy Berg has worked in accounting since 2005. She once audited individual returns for the state revenue department and has also worked at nonprofit organizations and large corporations. Her focus is self-employment taxation, and she does ongoing accounting and bookkeeping for many self-employed clients. She takes continuing education courses to keep up with changes in tax law.

Laura Lodin joined full time in 2022. She prepares personal and small business returns and also advises on running the practice and on consulting. Aleathea is the senior accountant: she reviews returns, handles research and trains the firm's apprentices. Shantel has held VITA certification for more than 15 years.

She helps with bookkeeping and with returns for complex businesses and nonprofits, and she also offers notary services. Christina works in customer service, and Reis handles office support, bookkeeping and apprentice tax work.

For payroll buyers, the main draw is that payroll, bookkeeping, employee and contractor information returns and tax preparation all happen in one place. The owner also brings experience as a state revenue auditor. The in-house apprentice program, run by a senior trainer, shows the firm puts effort into training its staff.

The firm is a good fit for small businesses, sole proprietors and nonprofits in the northwest Twin Cities suburbs who want a personal, local relationship rather than a large national payroll platform.

Headquartered in Maple Grove, Minnesota, Clergy Financial Resources handles tax, payroll, bookkeeping and human resources work for one client group only: ministers, congregations and other faith-based organizations. Churches comparing payroll providers will find a company built around the specific rules for paying pastors, rather than a general-purpose processor adapted for religious employers.

Background and Clients

The company says it has more than four decades in this niche, with recent pages putting the figure at over 46 years. Each year it works with upward of 2,500 clergy and congregations, and its clients range from local congregations and synagogues to dioceses, synods, whole denominations, ministries and outreach groups nationwide.

It holds Better Business Bureau accreditation and an A+ rating. It also describes its approach as advisory: automation handles routine tasks so staff have more time to advise clients on compensation and compliance questions.

Church Payroll Service

The firm's payroll offering is aimed at treasurers, bookkeepers, administrators and HR staff. Its main selling point is knowledge of minister-specific issues such as housing allowances, ministerial pay arrangements and the voluntary withholding a church can set up so a pastor does not have to make quarterly estimated payments. The service uses a flat monthly fee, and features listed on the site include:

• Unlimited payroll runs each month
• Direct deposit for every employee at no extra charge
• Year-end W-2 forms prepared and filed at no added cost
• Quarterly payroll tax returns, both federal and state, included
• A one-year price guarantee to help with budgeting
• Online payroll reports with real-time access
• A named support representative, plus advice from clergy tax specialists

Payroll clients also get free access to a basic HR platform from Mineral. It includes a compliance dashboard, alerts when employment laws change at the federal or state level, HR self-assessments, a handbook builder, policy templates and a resource library. Organizations that only need year-end reporting can use the separate online W-2, W-2c and 1099 filing tool.

Related Services and Products

Apart from payroll, the company prepares individual clergy tax returns as well as nonprofit and business returns. It also offers tax resolution, help with estimated payments, free tax reviews, advanced planning, outsourced church bookkeeping, fractional CFO work and audit services. Its subscription Pro Advisor plans let church staff call an expert with payroll or tax questions.

The online store sells its yearly Church and Clergy Tax Guide, housing allowance and accountable reimbursement guides, a clergy tax organizer in online and PDF formats, and church benefit plans such as QSEHRA, ICHRA and dependent care assistance arrangements.

What Sets Them Apart

For buyers, the key difference is focus. Clergy Financial Resources argues that secular payroll companies often lack the clergy tax knowledge churches need, and it presents itself as an ongoing partner rather than a processor that only runs paychecks. Client reviews on the site come from congregations in California, North Carolina, Alabama, Indiana, Minnesota and other states. Several of these churches say they switched after problems with earlier payroll vendors.

Paychex supplies employers throughout the country with payroll processing, workforce administration, employee benefit programs and business coverage. Its client base spans solo operators and newly launched ventures all the way up to organizations employing well over a hundred people. By the company's own estimate, around 840,000 enterprises rely on it, and its track record stretches back roughly fifty years.

Paychex serves customers in every corner of the United States as well as parts of Northern Europe, and it maintains branch locations nationwide, one of which sits in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul region.

Paycheck Processing and Package Options

Compensation processing remains the foundation of the business. Through Paychex Flex, its web-based system, an employer can enter and authorize each cycle's wages with only a handful of clicks. The software also calculates what is owed in employment taxes, remits those amounts and submits the required filings on the customer's behalf.

Workers get access to portals where they can manage everyday requests themselves, easing the load on administrative personnel. Pricing is organized into four levels, called Basic, Foundations, Advanced and Complete. Each level allows an unrestricted number of pay cycles, while the upper levels layer on additional personnel-management capabilities and more personalized assistance.

Distinct packages exist for one-person businesses, smaller employers, and mid-market or large corporate accounts.

Additional Offerings

Companies seeking support that extends past wage processing can choose from many complementary products:

• Advisory help on workforce matters, regulatory guidance and a complete co-employment (PEO) arrangement
• Hiring software, candidate tracking, pre-employment checks, new-hire setup and an online training platform
• Hour and shift recording backed by on-site punch devices, along with staffing data insights and dashboards
• 401(k) and other retirement savings programs, medical coverage, optional and lifestyle perks, and plan administration
• Workers' compensation, general liability, commercial auto, cyber liability, umbrella, EPLI and business owner coverage arranged by licensed agents
• Oversight of state unemployment insurance (SUI) accounts, spending controls, payment acceptance and access to financing

The Paychex Service Model

The company pairs automated technology with direct access to experienced advisors. According to Paychex, its artificial intelligence was built using many years of genuine workplace-related exchanges, enabling it to resolve common inquiries without human involvement. Harder situations are routed to a sizable group of personnel specialists.

Help is staffed domestically and reachable at any hour through telephone, email or live messaging. Its SUI specialists can review charges against an employer's account and monitor for unwarranted jobless claims. Paychex additionally hosts a catalog of connected third-party applications and provides worldwide recruiting, staffing administration and compensation support for companies with overseas personnel.

Sector Focus and Company History

Paychex tailors its programs for specific lines of business. These include eateries and lodging operators, consulting and other expertise-based firms, stores and shops, construction and craft contractors, elder care residences, medical providers, factories and production plants, and charitable organizations.

It also maintains partnership programs for CPAs, lenders, insurance intermediaries, wealth advisors, franchise systems and nationwide member groups that recommend or assist their own customers. Paychex completed a purchase of Paycor not long ago, expanding its human capital management portfolio, and it operates a philanthropic foundation as part of its community commitments.

For organizations weighing their options, the provider's strongest selling points are its size, its broad menu of supplementary products and its capacity to evolve from simple wage processing into a fully outsourced workforce and benefits partnership.

Peterson, Beyenhof and Zahler, Ltd., which does business as PBZ CPA, is a certified public accounting firm in Maple Grove, Minnesota. It works with individuals and businesses across the Twin Cities metro. Payroll is one part of a wider practice that also includes tax, accounting and advisory work. That makes it a good fit for companies that want their payroll, books and tax filings handled by the same small, locally owned team instead of a national payroll processor.

Payroll Services

The firm sets up computerized payroll systems for its business clients and puts them into operation. The aim is to cut the hours owners and managers spend on payroll administration. According to the firm, a well-built system makes each pay run easier to process, helps employees get paid on schedule and makes payroll tax filings easier to complete.

Because PBZ CPA also handles bookkeeping and tax work, payroll data can feed straight into the client's financial records and annual filings. The firm also advises on employee benefit matters.

Broader Accounting and Advisory Work

Besides payroll, the firm serves young businesses as well as long-established companies with a range of financial services, including:

• Tax preparation and tax planning for businesses and individuals
• Preparing financial statements
• Analyzing cash flow and building budgets
• Ongoing bookkeeping and record-keeping
• Setting up accounting systems for new businesses
• Cost-containment reviews
• Guidance on investments and employee benefits

The firm believes owners need reliable financial information to stay profitable and to act on growth opportunities. Its work focuses on keeping records accurate and reports timely, and on helping clients through financial decisions as they come up.

How the Firm Works With Clients

PBZ CPA puts personal attention at the center of its approach. Its stated mission is to keep clients financially sound today while planning ahead for the goals they want to reach later. The firm says this depends on regular, open conversations to understand each client's situation, followed by research and careful analysis before it makes recommendations. Many clients have stayed with the firm for years, and it presents itself as a long-term partner rather than a one-time vendor.

Background

The practice was founded in 1978 and has been serving Minnesota clients for more than four decades. It has one office in Maple Grove and is listed with the Minnesota Society of CPAs as a local firm with multiple owners. Its staff is small, which suits buyers who would rather work directly with the same CPAs over time.

For a small or mid-sized employer, the main difference from a payroll-only provider is that a licensed accounting firm with tax planning, financial statement and bookkeeping skills can oversee payroll as part of the company's overall finances.

Van Winkle & Co. CPA Advisors is a licensed accounting practice serving the Twin Cities area. It began in 1989 as Jenson & Co. and now works out of an office in Maple Grove, a short drive from Brooklyn Park. Payroll is one part of a broader menu that also covers tax returns, bookkeeping and consulting for business owners.

The firm works with individuals, small and medium-sized companies, nonprofits, and estates and trusts. Its home base is Minnesota, but it says it accepts clients from any state.

Payroll and bookkeeping offering

Employers comparing providers should understand that accountants manage this service directly; it is not a do-it-yourself software product. Each payroll run is calculated and processed through ADP, and the firm's staff handles the related government filings. The work in this area covers:

• Running employer payroll through the ADP platform
• Preparing and filing federal and state payroll tax returns
• Helping families that employ a nanny or other household worker meet their obligations
• Representing clients during payroll, sales or use tax examinations
• Support during workers' compensation insurance audits
• QuickBooks setup and hands-on training for employees
• Continuous upkeep of ledgers, books and financial records
• Business and personal financial statements, plus analysis of trends to guide planning decisions
• Open-ended consultation, with clients free to ask as many questions as they need

People and credentials

The payroll function is staffed by credentialed professionals. Nicole Weestrand joined the firm in 2015. Her qualifications include the CPP payroll designation and ProAdvisor certification for QuickBooks, and she guides employers through the specifics of their payroll while tailoring QuickBooks instruction to how each company operates.

Kayla Barden is a senior accountant with more than eight years of experience; she handles returns for individuals, corporations and partnerships and also manages payroll and bookkeeping assignments. Theresa Pietenpol, CPA, brings over three decades in public accounting, combining tax planning with payroll and general accounting support for her clients.

Majority partner Robert Van Winkle, a licensed CPA, heads the practice and advises companies and individuals throughout the year instead of only during tax season. The team also includes CPA Mozhdeh Rahimi, senior accountant Adam Duffey and tax accountant Brodie Martinka.

Tax and advisory depth

Because payroll sits inside a full-service accounting firm, clients can rely on the same staff for their tax needs. The practice prepares individual and business returns as well as returns for partnerships, estates, trusts and people with cross-border tax requirements. Owners can also receive advice on choosing an entity type and on winding down or selling a company.

Other services include litigation support in divorce and business dissolution cases, help with self-directed IRAs, electronic filing, and representation before the IRS and state tax agencies.

The firm's published client reviews come from a window installation company, a nonprofit and a multi-physician medical group, suggesting the range of employers it serves. For businesses in the northwest suburbs, the main advantage is consolidation: a single firm covers payroll runs, payroll tax compliance, audit representation and year-round tax planning, so owners avoid juggling a separate payroll vendor and a different tax preparer.