Payroll Companies & Payroll Services in Wheeling, WV

Seachrist & Associates, A.C. is a CPA practice based in Wheeling, West Virginia. Its accountants handle payroll, bookkeeping, tax returns, audits, compilations and financial planning. Employers in the Northern Panhandle who want payroll handled by credentialed accountants, rather than a standalone processing vendor, can rely on one office for wage processing and for the related bookkeeping and tax work. The firm opened on November 1, 1998, and has served local businesses and individuals for more than two decades.

Payroll Services

The firm offers two levels of payroll help. In the fully managed option, a client submits employee hours and the staff processes the rest of the pay cycle. Workers are paid by direct deposit or by paper check sent through the mail. Some employers would rather run their own payroll.

For them, the firm can take on the compliance side, preparing the recurring federal filings due each month, quarter and year. These include Form 941, Form 940 and year-end W-2 statements.

• Complete outsourced payroll based on client-submitted timesheets
• Employee payment by direct deposit or mailed checks
• Preparation of monthly, quarterly and annual payroll reports
• Help with Forms 941, 940 and W-2 for employers who process payroll in-house

Accounting and Bookkeeping

Payroll fits into a broader accounting service. The firm can keep a client's general ledger on its own network, or it can work directly in the client's existing software. Staff most often use QuickBooks and Sage 50 Accounting, the product once sold as Peachtree. The team has also helped larger distributors that use specialized inventory systems with their accounting.

Because payroll and books sit with the same CPAs, wage expenses and tax liabilities can be reconciled with the rest of the financial records.

Tax, Planning and Advisory Work

Beyond payroll, the practice prepares tax returns and offers management consulting. Its financial planning work starts with a review of a client's assets, liabilities, wills and related documents, projected estate value, retirement plans and death benefits. From that review the accountants build a coordinated plan around the client's goals. The firm also supports attorneys and their clients.

This work covers mergers and acquisitions, the purchase or sale of a business, divorce matters including hidden-asset analysis, shareholder disputes, computer forensics and audits of computer information systems.

The firm lists experience with a range of industries and engagement types, including:

• Architectural and automobile dealerships
• Cemeteries
• Electrical contractors
• Business and debt restructurings
• Buy-sell agreements and cash flow analysis
• Compensation and termination cases

Buyers comparing payroll providers will find Seachrist & Associates suits small and mid-sized employers who want payroll, bookkeeping and tax compliance handled by one local CPA team. Its flexible model lets companies hand off payroll entirely or keep processing in-house and outsource only the reporting. The office in Wheeling is open on weekdays, and clients can send files to the firm through its website.