Guide
Hire a Payroll Person or Use a Payroll Team: What Each Includes
A payroll team keeps every pay run going, whoever is out. Once salary, taxes, benefits, recruiting and backup coverage are counted, it costs in the range of one full-time hire.
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At a glance
Every payroll checked twice before it goes out
Backup coverage when someone is out
Federal, state and local tax filings handled
You approve every run
Works with any payroll system.
The full cost of a hire
What does one payroll hire really cost?
Payroll and timekeeping clerks, the closest occupation BLS tracks, earned a national median of $58,260 a year in May 2025. The middle half earned $47,990 to $69,600.
Wages are only part of the cost. BLS reports that benefits, including legally required payroll taxes, made up 30.0% of private employers’ compensation costs in June 2026.
What the full cost of a hire includes:
Salary or hourly wages
Employer Social Security tax: 6.2% of wages, up to $184,500 in 2026
Employer Medicare tax: 1.45% of all wages
Federal unemployment tax: 6.0% of the first $7,000, often 0.6% after the state credit
State unemployment insurance, at the rate your state assigns
Benefits such as health insurance and retirement
Recruiting, onboarding and training
Cover for time off, and hiring again after turnover
Sources, retrieved October 2, 2026:
BLS wages for payroll and timekeeping clerks IRS Publication 15 (2026)A part-time hire
What a part-time hire covers, and what it does not
A part-time payroll person works fewer days, checks their own work and has no backup.
That can work for a simple payroll. The risk shows up when they are out on a pay date, or when a notice arrives on a day they do not work.
Where one hire leaves gaps
1.
Nobody checks the payroll before it goes out.
2.
Vacation or sick days fall on a pay date.
3.
Multi-state tax questions go past what they have handled before.
4.
Year-end work and notices wait for the days they work.
5.
When they leave, the knowledge leaves with them.
Side by side
How do a part-time hire, a full-time hire and a payroll team compare?
Part-time payroll hire
Full-time payroll hire
A PayAdvisors payroll team
Who does the work
An employee, part of the week
An employee, full time
A team of payroll professionals
Backup when someone is out
Only if someone is trained to cover
Only if someone is trained to cover
Other team members cover the run
Second check on each payroll
Only if someone else reviews it
Only if someone else reviews it
Built into every run
Multi-state tax depth
What they have handled before
What they have handled before
Registrations and filings in all 50 states
Time to start
Recruiting, then training
Recruiting, then training
First live payroll in weeks 3 to 4
What you pay for
Wages, payroll taxes, recruiting
Wages, payroll taxes, benefits, recruiting, training
One monthly retainer
Management load
You manage the person
You manage the person
We manage the work; you approve each run
Turnover
You hire again
You hire again
The team stays in place
When to hire
When hiring in-house is the right call
A hire makes sense when your payroll volume keeps a full payroll department busy and you can staff backup for it.
A full payroll department
Enough payroll to keep several people busy, with backup for vacations and turnover, can justify an in-house team.
A coordinator plus a team
An in-house coordinator gathers inputs on site, while our team runs, checks and files each payroll.
A payroll team instead of a hire
One team covers every pay run, tax filing and paycheck question.
Our team
Why PayAdvisors
PayAdvisors is a team of 25+ payroll and HR professionals. Businesses bring us in when payroll has outgrown one person, and we become their payroll department.
Decades of combined payroll experience
Three support levels: about 5, 10 or 20 hours a week
A dedicated Client Success Manager
What our clients say
“Of all the consultants that I’ve actually had, I’d say PayAdvisors has been the best. And I think one of the reasons is that it’s not just a single person, it’s a team behind me.”
Melanie T.
President, The Hopkins Group
Hiring vs outsourcing questions
How does the cost compare with hiring a payroll person?
Comparable, once you count the full cost of a hire: salary, payroll taxes, benefits, recruiting, training, time-off coverage and turnover. What changes is coverage: a team runs every pay run, five days a week, and does not leave when one person does.
When should a business outsource payroll?
When payroll depends on one person, when you add employees in new states, or when errors and notices keep coming back. That is where a second check and backup coverage matter most.
Do we have to switch payroll systems?
No. We run payroll inside the system you already use, so there is nothing to migrate.
How is PayAdvisors priced?
As a monthly retainer for a defined level of team support, at about 5, 10 or 20 hours a week. Work beyond your level is billed hourly or moved up a level.
Is there a contract or minimum term?
No. There is no minimum term. Service is month to month.
How long does onboarding take?
Onboarding runs in phases. Weeks 1 to 2 are onboarding and training. Weeks 3 to 4 are payroll takeover and your first live payroll with us. From week 5, we move into ongoing payroll optimization.
Keep reading
Related payroll services
Why outsource payroll
The benefits of an outside payroll team for small and mid-sized businesses.
Interim payroll services
Your payroll person left or is out: we start with your next pay run and stay on as your payroll team.
Should the controller, CFO or owner run payroll?
What to weigh when someone senior runs payroll, and when to take it off their desk.
Have our team contact you
Tell us who runs payroll today and what it takes.
What happens next
1.
Send the form with your name, email, phone, company and company website.
2.
We will contact you soon.
3.
If payroll cannot wait, call 866-839-3322, Monday through Friday.
Other ways to reach us
Monday through Friday
Send your details
Next step
Compare it with your own numbers
Tell us about your payroll, and we will scope the level of team support it needs. There is no obligation.