Payroll Companies & Payroll Services in Grafton, WI

A CPA Firm With an In-House Payroll Practice

Donahue & Associates LLC is a certified public accounting firm in Grafton, Wisconsin, in Ozaukee County. It handles payroll alongside its accounting, tax and QuickBooks work. The firm began in 1983 as a part-time practice and grew into a full-service CPA firm in 1988. Its staff includes people who previously worked at national accounting firms and in private industry.

Employers who want payroll handled by the same accountants who manage their books and tax returns may find this combined setup convenient.

Payroll Services

The firm runs payroll for businesses of varying sizes and adjusts the setup to each employer. Clients decide how workers get paid, either by printed paycheck or by direct deposit. The firm takes care of the required federal and Wisconsin payroll tax returns and also submits the related tax deposits.

Companies that prefer to calculate payroll internally can send their own payroll reports instead. The staff keys that data into the firm's system and still handles the filings and deposits. The firm also completes the federal and state registration paperwork that new employers need.

• Check register for each pay run, showing gross wages through net pay
• Audit report used to confirm payroll data entry
• Earnings reports covering vacation, sick time, holiday pay and bonuses
• Deduction reports for items such as insurance and pension contributions
• Quarterly filings, including tax deposits, Form 941, Wisconsin WT-6 and UCT-101
• Year-end forms, including W-2, W-3, WT-7, Form 940 and any needed 1099 and 1096 forms

Accounting, Tax and Advisory Support

Beyond payroll, the firm offers bookkeeping, general ledger maintenance and budgeting. It also prepares compilations, reviews and audited financial statements. Its tax practice covers returns for individuals, corporations, partnerships, estates, gifts and trusts, including multi-state filings.

The firm also does tax planning and represents clients before the IRS and the Wisconsin Department of Revenue, whether an audit is conducted in person or by mail. For growing companies, it provides start-up assistance, computer system design and management advisory work. It also helps with investment consultation, retirement planning, personal financial statements, and loan or SBA application packages.

The firm describes itself as an authorized reseller of accounting software and assists clients with setting up and using QuickBooks.

Credentials and Approach

The firm belongs to both the American Institute of CPAs and the Wisconsin Institute of CPAs. As a result, its accounting, compilation and audit engagements go through periodic quality reviews. The firm reports that it has always received an unqualified opinion on these reviews. Staff complete continuing education every year. Founder Mike Donahue was named to the Forbes 2025 list of Top 200 CPAs in America and has received recognition from Forbes as a Best-In-State CPA.

The firm emphasizes taking extra time to explain its work, so clients understand their numbers well enough to make sound financial decisions. It tailors its services to each client rather than offering a single package. For employers comparing payroll providers, the firm offers payroll processing backed by a CPA practice that can also handle bookkeeping, year-end reporting, tax returns and representation before tax agencies.

Payroll Freedom is a payroll and HR provider for small businesses. It was founded in Mundelein, Illinois in 2004, and its Wisconsin office in Grafton serves employers across Southeast Wisconsin, including the Milwaukee area. Its main clients are companies with roughly one to one hundred workers in Illinois and Wisconsin, though it also takes on businesses outside those two states.

The firm presents itself as a local option for owners who are frustrated with large national processors and their call-center support.

Payroll and related services

The core service is full-service payroll. Clients can run it weekly, biweekly, semi-monthly or monthly, and employees can be paid by direct deposit, pay card or printed check. The firm deposits and files federal and state payroll taxes, including Forms 940 and 941, state withholding, unemployment and local taxes.

It also prepares and distributes W-2s and 1099s at year end and handles state new hire reporting. Employees get a mobile-friendly self-service portal, and owners get a dashboard showing payroll costs and headcount.

Everything runs on the iSolved HCM platform, so payroll connects with the firm's other modules:

• Time and attendance through iSolved Time, with mobile or physical clock options, scheduling, overtime alerts, PTO tracking and geofenced job-site punches
• HR tools such as electronic onboarding, document storage, labor poster compliance, ACA administration and optional advisory support
• Recruiting through iSolved Hire, which posts jobs to multiple boards, tracks applicants and passes new hires into onboarding
• Benefits enrollment and administration of retirement plans like SIMPLE IRA, SEP-IRA, Solo 401(k) and group plans
• Pay-as-you-go workers' compensation tied to actual payroll

Partner services include background checks through National Crime Search, short-term payroll funding through PAYRO Finance, business insurance, financial coaching for employees and business registration support. Its sister company, Accounting Freedom, is a CPA firm that provides bookkeeping, accounting and tax planning.

Industries served

The firm has built industry-specific offerings for construction trades, including electrical, HVAC, plumbing, roofing and landscaping contractors. For these clients it covers prevailing wage and certified payroll, job costing, crews working in more than one state, union and non-union pay, and seasonal staffing. It also serves restaurants (tip reporting and tipped minimum wage), medical practices (shift differentials and on-call pay), insurance agencies (commission pay and worker classification), family-owned companies (owner and S-Corp shareholder pay), salons and spas, and content creators.

How it works with clients

New clients start with a 30-minute discovery call. The firm then builds a custom package and moves the client's data over from the previous provider. According to the firm, most businesses are live in two to three weeks, and it says it has handled hundreds of conversions.

Each client is assigned one dedicated representative who stays on the account over time, rather than being routed through a ticket queue. Plans come in Core, Core+ and Core Pro tiers depending on company size, and the firm publishes its pricing and offers an online cost calculator so buyers can see their costs before signing.

Its people are based in Mundelein and Grafton, and the company says it brings more than twenty years of experience with Illinois and Wisconsin payroll rules.