SMBHR for Cook Organization
Prepared for Andrew Cook, CPA · The Cook Organization
For CFOs and CPA firms

Payroll, benefits and HR, off your desk.

They land on the finance person because nobody else owns them. This page shows where your work stops and ours starts, where the two overlap, and the moments you'd hand a client to us.

When to call us Where we overlap

The Cook Organization

  • Books and the monthly close
  • Tax planning and returns
  • Cash flow and growth strategy
  • Tax strategy behind the 401(k)

Where we meet

  • Payroll reports in the format your entries need
  • What benefits cost per person
  • The loaded cost of a new hire
  • PEO invoices in your books
Data moves both ways. Each side keeps its own work.

SMBHR and Pillar

  • Preparing and checking every payroll
  • HR: hiring, policies, leave, exits
  • Benefits shopping and renewals
  • Choosing and managing a PEO
What CFOs end up doing

Not finance work. On your desk anyway.

Little of this needs a CPA. All of it takes time from the advising your clients pay you for, and most of it carries risk if it slips.

  • Clicking “run payroll” every other FridaySMBHR
  • Answering “why is my paycheck short?”SMBHR
  • Fixing a local tax notice from last yearSMBHR, with you
  • Explaining a benefits renewal to the ownerPillar
  • Chasing a PEO for its invoice detailPillar
  • Writing the offer letter for the new hireSMBHR

What you hear from a client, and what it usually means

The trigger is rarely “we need HR.” It sounds like one of these.

You hear or seeWhat it usually meansWho takes it
I'm the one clicking run payroll every two weeks.You, or the office managerWe prepare and check every run in the client's own system. The owner approves and funds it. You get the reports.SMBHR
A tax notice shows up from a state or a local tax office.In the mail, months lateWe find the cause, fix the setup and draft the response for you or the owner to review and send. Representation before the agency stays with you.SMBHR, with you
We just hired someone who works from another state.Register for that state's withholding and unemployment accounts where required, before the first paycheck, not after the first notice.SMBHR
Overtime that doesn't add up, or salaried people doing hourly work.In the payroll registerA classification check: who is exempt, who is a contractor, and what back pay could look like before someone asks.SMBHR
We want to switch payroll systems.A fixed-price move, timed to the start of a quarter, with the general ledger mapping set up with you.SMBHR
SMBHR: HR and payroll workPillar PEO Advisors: benefits and PEO placementBoth firms

Side by side, task by task

The work The Cook Organization SMBHRHR and payroll Pillar PEO AdvisorsBenefits and PEO
Books, close and reporting Owns it HelpsPayroll reports in the format your entries need
Tax planning, returns and agency representation Owns it HelpsSpots payroll tax problems early
Cash flow and “can we afford this hire?” Owns it HelpsThe loaded cost of the role HelpsBenefits cost per person
Tax strategy behind the 401(k) Owns itWith the plan's administrator and actuary HelpsScreens PEOs for plan fit
Preparing and checking payrollOne option to talk through ReviewsGets the reports, stops clicking run Prepares and checks itOwner approves and funds every run
HR: hiring, policies, leave, exits Owns it
Payroll and HR system setup HelpsLedger mapping and integrations Owns it
Benefits shopping and renewals HelpsSets the budget HelpsEnrollment and deductions Owns it
Choosing a PEO, setup and renewals HelpsChecks the tax side HelpsRuns the move Owns it

Legal advice sits with the client's attorney in every row. We are not a law firm or a CPA firm.

The parts worth saying out loud

OverlapThe plain truthHow we'd handle it
Payroll

If your firm bills for payroll today, moving it to us moves that fee too. You decide which clients move, if any.

Some CFOs want payroll gone. Others want to keep the client and hand off the work. We can take the runs, check your team's runs, or work behind your firm's name.

A PEO changes what you see

Under most PEOs, W-2s and federal payroll tax returns go out under the PEO's tax ID. State unemployment varies by state. One invoice mixes wages, taxes, benefits and fees.

We get you the PEO's year-end reports before tax season and map the invoice with you once.

How Pillar gets paid

Pillar is paid by the PEO or the benefits carrier for as long as the client stays. That is a real incentive to recommend one.

It's disclosed to the client in writing before they sign. SMBHR's HR fees are fixed and don't depend on it. When a PEO is the wrong answer, we say so.

The 401(k)

Some PEOs require their own 401(k), and some limit profit sharing or a cash balance plan.

You set the tax strategy first. We only bring PEOs whose 401(k) rules fit it.

Our size

SMBHR is a small firm, not a payroll company with a call center.

Every client gets a named HR lead and a backup, and a reply within one business day.

What every pay period looks like with us

  1. 1

    We collect the changes

    Hours, new hires, exits, raises, bonuses and commissions, before each run.

  2. 2

    We prepare and check it

    Staged in the client's own payroll system. Rates, overtime, deductions and state and local withholding checked.

  3. 3

    The owner approves it Client's step

    Nothing is released until they approve. The money moves from their account through their payroll provider.

  4. 4

    We close it out and send you the reports

    Filings confirmed, anything odd flagged for next time, and the payroll reports in your inbox for the books.

What we never do
  • Hold or move a client's money.
  • File tax returns or represent a client before a tax agency.
  • Take over your client relationship or sell accounting, tax or CFO work.
To settle on this call

A payroll option for your clients

Today, payroll prep comes inside our HR Partner package. A payroll-only version for your clients is the piece to shape together.

  1. Which clients, and how many peopleSets the fee. Fixed monthly by headcount, never hourly.
  2. Which payroll systems they use todayWe work inside the client's system rather than moving them.
  3. Who answers employees' paycheck questionsWe'd suggest us, so they stop reaching you.
  4. Pennsylvania local tax accountsWho registers and keeps them current as people move.
  5. Start datesA new quarter is the clean place to switch.

Where it shows up in your client base

Providers and staff want different benefits

Providers often want a high deductible and an HSA. Frontline staff want a low deductible. That usually means two classes of employees on two plans. A separate management company doesn't get around 401(k) or benefits testing, since commonly owned companies are usually tested together.

Every new provider brings support staff

Hiring comes in batches: offer letters, I-9s, license checks for clinical roles, and onboarding that doesn't depend on the office manager remembering every step.

Home visits mean drive time

Travel between patients during the workday generally counts as hours worked for hourly staff under federal rules. The commute to the first visit usually does not. Both change the overtime math.

A new state means new accounts

Seeing patients in another state takes licenses there and sometimes a separate practice entity, depending on that state's rules. Either way it means new payroll accounts and a benefits check.

Recruiting against hospital systems

Hospitals win on paid leave and rich benefits. A practice can get closer with company-paid short-term disability and a written paid leave policy, priced before the offer letter goes out. Some states and cities require paid leave. Pennsylvania has no state paid family leave program today, so beyond what the law requires, what the practice offers is its own choice and its own cost.

Send us the first one.

  1. YouSend one emailThe client copied, with one line on what you heard.
  2. One business dayWe reply and set a timeWith the owner, and with you if you want to be on it.
  3. First lookFree, either wayAn HR health check, or a benefits and PEO review. The client sees what we'd change before paying for anything.
  4. AfterYou hear what touches your workPayroll, benefits cost and anything that moves the books, with the client's OK.
Caleb SherrillCo-foundercaleb@smbhr.com(704) 787-1261
Lui PrietoCo-founder and Chief People Strategistlui@smbhr.com