Payroll Companies & Payroll Services in Meridian, MS

Compton & Company CPAs is a family-owned accounting practice headquartered in Meridian, Mississippi. It works mainly with small businesses, along with families and individuals. Payroll is one of its three core service lines, alongside accounting and tax work. For a business owner, this means wages, bookkeeping and tax filings can all be handled under one roof instead of being split across several vendors.

Payroll Services

The firm runs payroll for its business clients and handles the tax obligations that come with having employees. The goal is to take a recurring administrative burden off the owner's desk. Its payroll offering covers:

• Regular payroll processing for staff
• Printed paychecks and electronic direct deposit
• Payroll reporting for owners and managers
• Preparation of payroll-related tax forms
• Ongoing attention to payroll tax compliance

Eddie Sheely serves as the firm's dedicated payroll specialist and has held that role since 2020. Before joining, he spent close to three decades as an FAA radar air traffic controller at NAS Meridian, retiring in 2014. He also taught math for several years.

Connected Accounting and Tax Support

Because payroll sits inside a licensed CPA practice, it can be tied directly to a client's monthly books and business tax planning. The firm offers:

• Ongoing bookkeeping
• Reconciliation of bank and credit card accounts
• Monthly financial statements, plus year-over-year comparative reports when useful
• Tax preparation and planning for businesses and individuals

The team works in both QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online and provides software training tailored to each client. Staff also make a point of explaining reports in everyday language, so owners understand what their numbers show.

How Clients Work With the Firm

Clients can meet with the team at the Meridian office or work with it entirely remotely. Remote clients use secure electronic portals, video calls, screen sharing and digital document signing. The firm serves clients across Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee, and it says it can take on work from clients nationwide.

Background and Credentials

David M. Compton founded the firm in 1987, having earned his CPA credential in 1981. His practice centers on tax strategy, business planning and representation before the IRS. He is a Mississippi College graduate and belongs to both state professional accounting associations. He has also held national board positions, including Treasurer and President, with PASBA, a professional association for small business accountants.

Leadership has since passed to the second generation. Elizabeth Holloway, CPA, now serves as president. She joined in 2012 after working at an accounting firm in Memphis. She graduated summa cum laude from Mississippi State University with a Bachelor of Accountancy and became licensed in 2010. She is also registered with Tennessee's accountancy board. Bookkeeper Mona Clayton, who holds degrees in computer science and accounting, joined the staff in 2025. The firm operates under Mississippi accountancy permit number F0230.

Personnel Network, Inc., often called PNI, is a Meridian, Mississippi company that gives businesses outsourced administrative support under contract. Its main job is making sure employees get paid correctly. It also handles human resources work, employee benefits, accounting and technology support. That lets a client company use one outside partner for many back-office tasks instead of coordinating several separate vendors.

Payroll at the Core

Payroll is the center of what PNI offers. The firm does more than calculate wages. It also takes on the tax work that comes with each pay run: it remits the payroll tax deposits a client owes and sends benefit payments for that client. PNI also prepares the reports that employers are required to file. This takes the work of tracking deadlines, deposits and paperwork off the business owner, which matters most for smaller organizations without an in-house payroll specialist.

Two Ways to Work With PNI

Buyers can choose between two arrangements.

• Processor only. PNI runs payroll through the client's own tax accounts and the client's own funds. The business stays the employer of record for its staff.
• Employment network. The client's workforce joins PNI's network, where employees from several companies are combined into one larger group. The company says this pooling can bring wider access, lower costs and economies of scale that a small employer would find hard to get alone, while keeping administration efficient.

Businesses comparing providers will recognize the second option as similar to co-employment or PEO-style models. Prospective clients should confirm the exact terms and responsibilities directly with the firm.

Service Overview

• Payroll processing for client employees
• Filing payroll taxes and making tax deposits
• Completing required payroll reports
• Employee benefits administration and benefit payments
• Human resources management
• Pooled employment through the PNI network
• Bookkeeping and tax filing for small businesses
• Technology management, support and data storage

Beyond Payroll

PNI also offers accounting help aimed at small businesses. This covers the full cycle, from routine bookkeeping through to tax filing. Owners can therefore hand over both their payroll and their general books to the same team. On the technology side, the firm manages and supports a range of information services, including collecting and storing data.

That may appeal to companies that lack dedicated IT staff. Taken together, these services suit small and mid-sized employers that want payroll, HR, benefits and financial administration handled under one roof.

Background and Location

The company works from an office on Robuck Drive in Meridian, so it is a locally based option for employers in east Mississippi. Its website includes sections for corporate information and employment, a client login area and forums. Its copyright notice dates to 2013, which shows the firm has had an online presence since at least that year.

For buyers, PNI's main differences are its flexible engagement model, letting a business keep its own tax accounts or join a larger employee group, and its broader accounting and technology support alongside payroll.

Swain, Collins & Napp, P.A. is a certified public accounting firm based in Meridian, Mississippi. It offers payroll processing as part of a wider set of bookkeeping, tax and assurance work. The firm has practiced public accounting for over four and a half decades.

Its clients include individuals as well as businesses whose operations range from purely local to regional and national. For employers comparing payroll providers, the firm's appeal is that payroll sits alongside the bookkeeping, tax and audit support many small and mid-sized companies already need. All of that work comes from one licensed CPA practice rather than a standalone processing service.

Payroll and Bookkeeping Support

Payroll is listed among the firm's accounting and bookkeeping offerings, together with monthly write-up work and the preparation of financial statements. Because these functions are handled in the same office, a client's payroll records can feed directly into the periodic books and year-end reporting. Two long-serving staff members bring specific payroll background:

• Debbie Bishop, the Firm Administrator, joined as a staff accountant in 2004. She has more than two decades of experience across tax, payroll and bookkeeping.
• Cheryl Bowles has served as Office Manager since 2001. She arrived with over fourteen years of prior bookkeeping experience and specializes in bookkeeping and payroll.

Broader Accounting, Tax and Assurance Work

Beyond payroll, the practice provides tax services, consulting and compliance work. It also offers attest engagements, including audits, reviews and compilations. Its assurance work covers private companies, employee benefit plans and nonprofit organizations. Employers that sponsor retirement or other benefit plans may find it useful that the firm handles both payroll and benefit plan audits. The firm also lists employee benefit plan compliance and administration among the areas it serves.

Industries Served

The firm works with clients in a varied mix of sectors, including:

• Healthcare
• Wholesale distribution
• Oil and gas
• Automobile dealerships
• Manufacturing
• Timber management
• Nonprofit organizations
• Estate planning and trust administration

Team, Credentials and Client Tools

The practice is led by three shareholders who are all CPAs: Kelly Swain, Al Collins and Danna Napp. The firm holds a Mississippi license, and each of its CPAs carries a valid Mississippi certificate. Staff accountant Ashley Coleman earned her CPA license in 2024 and holds a Master of Accounting from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

She belongs to both the state and national CPA societies and has experience in attestation and tax engagements. Andrew Dayton joined in 2024 with an audit and assurance background and an MBA from Millsaps College. He is working toward CPA certification. Several team members are Meridian natives and graduates of Mississippi State University's Meridian campus.

The firm aims to give clients the depth of service usually associated with bigger accounting practices while keeping the personal attention of a hometown office. It emphasizes listening to what each client needs and guiding them through the available choices. Clients get access to a secure, password-protected online portal for storing and retrieving financial documents.

The website also offers a newsletter, tax due date calendars, rate tables, financial calculators and a tax organizer, all of which help employers keep track of filing obligations throughout the year.