Managed Payroll · Marketing & Creative Agencies
Remote teams across multiple states, freelancers on W-2 or 1099, and AE commissions -- all managed. Marketing and creative agencies scale fast and hire everywhere, which means multi-state tax nexus accumulates faster than most founders realize. Add in the blurry line between W-2 creatives and 1099 contractors, account manager commission structures, and the administrative overhead of a fully remote team, and payroll becomes a real operational drag. We manage all of it at $25-$45 per employee per month.
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The Agency Payroll Problem
What We Manage
Multi-state payroll for remote teams with state registrations, withholding, and quarterly filings in every state your employees work. We add new states as you hire.
Contractor classification review for designers, copywriters, and creative consultants. Proper 1099-NEC filing at year-end. Classification risk flagged before it becomes an audit.
Commission plan administration, per-period calculation reconciliation, and FLSA-compliant documentation. Commission disputes are expensive -- we prevent them.
Owner-employees, officer compensation, and partner distributions handled with correct tax treatment and documentation for S-corp or LLC structures common in agency ownership.
How It Works
We map your remote employee locations, current state registrations, contractor arrangements, and commission structures. You get a fixed monthly cost and a gap report before we start.
We register in missing states, review contractor classifications, configure commission tracking, and set up your payroll correctly. No migration required -- we work in your existing system.
Every pay cycle, every state filing, every commission calculation, every 1099-NEC, and every year-end W-2 -- fully managed by BEG. Your team approves, we execute.
What You Get
Common objection: "We use Gusto and it is fine -- we just do not have time to manage it properly."
We do not require you to change platforms. BEG operates as your managed payroll team inside your current system -- Gusto, Rippling, QuickBooks, or whatever you are on. If you want to move to isolved for a more complete HR platform, we can manage that -- but it is never a requirement.
Common objection: "Payroll services charge extra for multi-state registrations, 1099 processing, and commission tracking."
The $25-$45 PEPM rate covers it all: multi-state payroll, new state registrations, 1099-NEC processing, commission tracking, year-end W-2s, and BEG support.
Common objection: "We are busy running client accounts and payroll problems end up sitting on someone's to-do list for days."
Your BEG payroll specialist is your ongoing contact. When you hire someone in Colorado and need a state registration, when a freelancer needs to go W-2, or when a commission dispute needs documentation -- one message gets it resolved before your next pay run.
Getting Started
15 minutes. We map your remote team locations, state registration gaps, contractor arrangements, and commission structures -- and give you a fixed monthly price.
Agreement signed, system access granted, remote employee locations and contractor classification reviewed.
Missing state registrations completed, contractor classification review done, and commission tracking configured in your existing system.
Your first fully managed agency pay run -- BEG executes, your team approves. State compliance gaps closed before this cycle.
The Math on Waiting
State revenue departments are increasingly aggressive about identifying out-of-state employers with unregistered employees. When they find you -- through W-2 data sharing, employee complaints, or unemployment claims -- the back taxes, penalties, and interest cover every year you had an employee in that state without registering. Fully managed payroll at $25-$45 PEPM on a 25-person agency costs under $14,000 per year. One state tax audit costs more.
Your Next Transition Window
Transitions take 30-60 days. If you are planning to hire in Q3 or Q4 -- or already have people in states you are not registered in -- the scope review is the first step. We identify every state where you have exposure and get you registered before the next payroll cycle.
15 minutes. We scope your remote team, state registrations, and contractor arrangements -- and give you a fixed monthly cost.
FAQ
You have unfiled payroll tax obligations in 6 states. As part of onboarding, we identify every state where you have employees and register you in the missing states before the next payroll cycle. We also handle back filings if required. Getting ahead of this proactively is always less expensive than a state revenue department finding you first.
We review the working relationship against IRS common law factors and applicable state tests -- behavioral control, financial control, and relationship type. Freelancers who work full-time hours, use your software and tools, follow your processes, and work exclusively for your agency typically qualify as employees regardless of contract language. We flag risk and walk you through the reclassification options.
Yes. We administer your commission plan, reconcile each period's calculations against your client revenue data, apply commissions correctly to the right pay period, and maintain documentation for FLSA compliance. If a commission dispute arises, we have the records.
No. BEG operates as your managed payroll team inside your existing system. Migration is an option if you want to upgrade, never a requirement.
Everything: multi-state payroll processing, new state registrations, contractor 1099-NEC filing, commission tracking, year-end W-2s, and BEG support.
S-corp owner-employees must pay themselves a reasonable salary through payroll -- not distributions only -- to satisfy IRS requirements. We structure owner W-2 compensation correctly, process it on schedule, and maintain the documentation your CPA needs for the S-corp election. Owner-employee payroll mistakes are one of the most common IRS audit flags for small professional services firms.
Yes -- this is included in the standard service. When you hire someone in a new state, we initiate the registration, get your accounts set up, and configure withholding before the first paycheck in that state. We track every state where you have payroll obligations and stay ahead of your hiring.
From signed agreement to live payroll: 3-5 business days. We identify every state where you have employees, complete missing registrations, review contractor classifications, and configure commission tracking in your existing system. Most agencies run their first BEG-managed payroll within a week -- with state compliance gaps that existed for months closed before that first pay cycle runs.
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