Was Your Local Payroll Company Sold to a National Company? | Baron Payroll

Few things are as disruptive to your business as when your local payroll company is sold to a national company, and you go from being a person to just a number.

People who have had this happen to them often say things such as:

• I didn’t choose the giant payroll company—I was forced into it.
• I was happy before. Now I’m not happy. I want to be happy again.
• Before the switch, I was able to easily reach someone on the phone. Now I must wait on hold forever.
• When I ask them to do something, large payroll companies think they’re doing me a favor!

Will the move to a national payroll company hurt my business?

Quite possibly. The reason for this is that a national payroll company is less familiar with your state laws and compliance issues than a local payroll company. Running afoul of state laws can carry penalties. In addition, there are times when you may want to discuss payroll and HR compliance issues with your payroll provider. This is where working with a local payroll company will really pay off.

What things should I consider when switching from a giant payroll company?

This is a great question. After being forced to switch from a local payroll company to one that’s far away, it’s only natural to want to regain control of your payroll and switch to a nearby company that understands your needs. Things you’ll want to ask before switching payroll companies:

• Is the new payroll company familiar with local laws?
• Can I easily reach someone on the phone?
• Does the new company have multilingual software for my employees?

What are the chances that my local payroll company will be sold?

While there’s no foolproof way to know if a giant payroll company will swoop in to make an offer your local company can’t refuse—you can always ask them. And if you’re escaping from a giant payroll company, it’s worth bringing up this topic when interviewing local payroll companies. In fact, any payroll company worth considering will welcome any questions you may have.

Which local payroll companies were sold to giants?

There’s Ace Payroll Services, also known as Ace Workforce Technologies, formerly located in Melville, New York.

Who was Ace Payroll Services sold to?

They were sold to isolved Payroll.

Were Ace Payroll customers unhappy about being “traded” to isolved Payroll?

From what we’ve heard through the grapevine, former Ace Payroll customers were unhappy with the switch. They went from working with a local New York State payroll services company located in Melville, NY to a huge national company with offices in Charlotte, NC, Salt Lake City, UT, and Phoenix, AZ.

And even if your company were in one of these locations, would you really enjoy collaborating with a company that wasn’t focused exclusively on your location?

Ace Payroll Service customers were also unhappy because it became harder for them to get a real person on the phone. And even if they got through to someone, they weren’t as knowledgeable about local New York State employment laws as Ace Payroll was.

I heard Associated Payroll was also sold to a national payroll company.

That’s true. Associated Payroll was sold to Asure Payroll.

Were customers unhappy with the switch to Asure Payroll?

Yes. One of the reasons business owners were unhappy with Asure Payroll is that they’re located in Rochester, New York.

What’s wrong with Asure Payroll being in Rochester?

The problem with Asure Payroll being in Rochester is that it sometimes impacted Associated Payroll’s former customers located on Long Island. As a result, they had to wait for paychecks to be shipped by FED EX. As you know, tracking packages with FED EX isn’t fun. Employers hate not being able to track the whereabouts of their paychecks, and it causes anxiety. And what’s worse, is that it can lead to missing payroll, and not being able to hand out payroll checks on time.

Imagine if your employees didn’t go home with their paychecks at Christmas.

What other local payroll companies were sold to national companies?

Well, Pay USA was sold to ADP.

I’m afraid to ask, but how did that work out for the customers?

We hear that it was a nightmare, too. Customers went from having effective communication to “awful” communication.

Did ADP ever fix the communication issues?

That's debatable. Some companies that got switched from Pay USA to ADP, say that ADP stands for Answer-The-Damn-Phone.

Seriously? You're not trying to be funny, are you?

Sadly, no. When you need help with your payroll, there's nothing worse than not being able to communicate with your payroll company.

Where there more issues with the switch from Pay USA to ADP?

Yes. These issues were the ones you’d expect when you go from a payroll company where you have a single point of contact—one person who knows you and can anticipate your needs, to where you’re just a number.

With the huge payroll companies like isolved, Asure, and ADP, there’s often a lack of continuity. How many hours do you want to wait on hold to speak with someone?

So, I get it. When small payroll companies are sold to national payroll companies, things often change for the worse. In fact, that’s my current situation. What do you suggest I do?

One solution would be to switch to a local payroll company. Naturally, the idea of switching sounds like a huge headache. However, it’s easier than you might expect.

That’s what I was thinking. However, my business has offices in the New York City / Long Island area. Are there any great local payroll companies I should consider? I’m particularly interested in Nassau County, and Suffolk County payroll companies.

Yes. There are a handful of quality local companies in the New York City and Long Island area. My recommendation is to contact payroll companies in your area, meet with them, and see if they’re a good fit.

Naturally, the payroll company I know the best is our own company—Baron Payroll. I’ll let the fact that our customers have been with us for decades speak for itself.

Of course, every business is unique, as is each business owner. So, the best way to choose a local payroll company is to meet with them. Being that they’re local, that should be easy.