Payroll and compliance
Payroll, done properly, for Washington businesses
Overnight shifts, split rates, overtime, people who live where they work. We run payroll for businesses across Washington, keep the records regulators and reviewers ask for, and make the deposits and filings when they fall due.
Request a payroll quote
Tell us about your business and we will come back by email with a monthly figure. No payment is taken on this site.
Washington is where we do most of our work, from single-site operators to homes and small firms with staff on rotating shifts. Everything is handled remotely, so where you are in the state makes no difference to the service or the price. We also run payroll for employers in other states — ask us when you enquire.
- Seattle
- Tacoma
- Spokane
- Everett
- Vancouver
- Olympia
- Bellingham
- Yakima
- Statewide
- Other states on request
- $17.73 an hourThe state minimum wage rises from $17.13, a 3.5% increase announced by L&I.
- $82,976 a yearThe salary a worker must earn to stay exempt from overtime, for employers with 1 to 50 staff. It is $92,196 at 51 or more.
- 1.2% premiumThe Paid Family and Medical Leave premium rises from 1.13%.
- 15 employeesPaid leave job protection reaches employers with 15 or more staff, down from 25.
Straightforward monthly pricing
One monthly fee covers your pay runs. Quarterly filings are charged separately, once a quarter, so you only pay for what you use.
Covers up to 10 employees, including pay runs on your chosen cycle, payslips and the deposits that fall due.
More than 10 people on the payroll adds to the monthly fee. We quote it to your headcount before any work starts.
Preparation and submission of your quarterly payroll filings, charged once each quarter rather than monthly.
Prices are for the service we provide. Government fees, and any penalties already owed before you join us, are separate and are never collected by us without telling you first.
Where payroll and compliance meet
Payroll is not only about paying people. It is the record that shows who was on shift, for how long, and at what rate — and that record is what others rely on when they check your business. Some of what follows applies to every Washington employer; some applies if you run an adult family home.
The Bolina ruling changed what live-in caregivers are owed
On 9 July 2026 the Washington Supreme Court decided Bolina v. AssureCare Adult Home LLC by 8 to 1. The court struck down the long-standing Minimum Wage Act exemption for live-in caregivers, as applied to adult family homes.
In practice this means live-in caregivers at an adult family home are entitled to minimum wage for the hours that count as work, and overtime beyond 40 hours in a week. Hours generally count when the caregiver has to be available to residents, rather than being free to leave and do as they please. The Adult Family Home Council has estimated this adds somewhere between $70,000 and $150,000 a year for a home.
Whether the ruling reaches backwards is still being decided by the trial court, so earlier pay periods may yet come into question. That is precisely why the way you record hours from here matters. We set your payroll up to track compensable hours and overtime properly, so the figures hold up whichever way that question is answered.
Read the full guide: do you owe your live-in caregiver overtime?
Bolina v. AssureCare Adult Home LLC, Washington Supreme Court, 9 July 2026. This is a plain summary, not legal advice; speak to an employment lawyer about your own home.Are your caregivers paid what the law now requires?
Put in what one caregiver works and is paid in a typical week. We compare it with the Washington minimum wage plus overtime, the way the Bolina ruling applies it to live-in caregivers.
- 40 hours at $17.73$709.20
- Overtime: 20 hours at $26.60$531.90
- Total required, per week$1,241.10
- You pay$900.00
- Works out at$15.00/hr
- Across 2 caregivers, over a year$35,474
An estimate, not legal or payroll advice. It uses the Washington state minimum wage and overtime after 40 hours in a week. Seattle, SeaTac, Tukwila, Renton, Bellingham, Everett, Burien and unincorporated King County set higher local rates, and it does not account for lodging arrangements, deductions or back pay. Which hours count as compensable is the part most often argued over, and the retroactivity of Bolina is still before the trial court.
Have us check your payroll properlyA salary does not, by itself, remove overtime
This is the mistake we see most often. Putting someone on a salary does not make them exempt from overtime. In Washington the salary has to clear a threshold set as a multiple of the minimum wage, and the role has to pass a duties test as well.
From 1 January 2027 that threshold is $82,976 a year for employers with 1 to 50 staff, and $92,196at 51 or more. A house manager on $55,000 working 50-hour weeks is owed overtime on every hour past 40, salary or not. Employers with 1 to 50 staff move up to the higher multiple in 2028, so a salary that passes next year may not pass the year after.
Read the full guide: what changes for Washington employers on 1 January 2027
Washington State Department of Labor & Industries overtime rules, 2027 salary thresholds. Meeting the salary is necessary but not sufficient; the duties test applies too.Is your salaried manager actually exempt from overtime?
Paying someone a salary does not, on its own, remove your overtime obligation. From 1 January 2027 the salary has to clear the threshold below, and the role has to pass the duties test as well.
- 2027 threshold (2.25x of minimum wage)$82,976
- Per week$1,596
- This salary$55,000
An estimate, not legal or payroll advice. Employers with 1 to 50 staff move to 2.5x in 2028. Salary is only one part of the test: the role must also meet the duties test to be exempt, and some jobs are never exempt whatever they are paid.
Ask us to review your salaried rolesManaged care reviewers check that the care was actually delivered
When a managed care organisation looks at whether its clients received the services they are paying for, the question comes back to staffing: was somebody there, and for how long. Your payroll and time records are the evidence of that.
We keep pay runs tied to hours worked, so when you are asked to show that a shift was covered, the answer is in your records rather than in somebody’s memory.
The records you are required to keep
Washington requires employers to keep payroll records, including actual hours worked and rates of pay, for at least three years, and employees may ask to see them. Separately, an adult family home must keep its staff records where DSHS can get to them readily, and for at least two years after someone leaves.
We maintain your payroll side of that: pay runs, payslips, rates and hours, organised so you can produce them when asked instead of assembling them under pressure.
Washington State Department of Labor & Industries payroll record rules; WAC 388-76-10198 (adult family home personnel records).What the monthly fee covers
- Pay runs on the cycle you choose
- Gross-to-net calculation, including overtime, split shifts and multiple pay rates
- Payslips for every employee, every period
- Federal and Washington payroll tax deposits
- Year-end forms, including W-2s
- New-hire reporting and employee record setup
- Hours and rate records kept in a form you can produce on request
- A named person to ask when something looks wrong
Common questions
Do I pay anything on this website?
No. Payroll is quoted and invoiced separately. This page only takes your enquiry; there is no checkout and no card details are collected here.
What happens if I have more than 10 employees?
The $85 monthly fee covers up to 10. Above that we quote the additional cost to your headcount, and you will see the figure before any work begins.
Are the quarterly filings included in the $85?
No. Quarterly filings are $15 per quarter, charged on top of the monthly payroll fee at the time each filing is prepared.
Does the Bolina ruling apply to my home?
It applies to live-in caregivers at adult family homes in Washington. Whether and how it affects your particular arrangements is a question for an employment lawyer. What we do is make sure the hours and overtime are recorded and paid correctly from the point you join us.
Do you only work with Washington businesses?
Washington is where most of our clients are, and where our compliance knowledge is deepest. We do take payroll clients in other states — tell us which state you are in when you enquire and we will confirm what is involved before you commit to anything.
Do I need an EIN and state employer accounts first?
Yes. Payroll needs a federal EIN and the relevant Washington employer accounts. If anything is missing we will tell you during scoping rather than after you have signed up.
Who is responsible for the payroll taxes?
The employer remains legally responsible. We prepare and submit on your behalf, and tell you what is due and when, but the liability stays with the business.
Can you take over partway through the year?
Yes. We will need your year-to-date figures so totals and year-end forms stay correct.
Tell us about your business
Send us your details and we will reply by email with a monthly figure and what we would need to get started. No payment, and no obligation.