Bookkeeping and Accounting Setup
Assess whether your new business has a bookkeeping system, chart of accounts, and process to keep clean records from the start.
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For founders, new owners, and anyone starting out
Payroll and First Hire Setup
Screen what registrations, forms, and systems you need before paying yourself or a first employee, and what to prepare.
4 guided steps
Private in your browser
Official guidance links
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Your free guided checker
Answer a few quick questions below. It is private - nothing is submitted or stored - and takes about a minute.
Informational business-formation diagnostic only; not legal, tax, accounting, or investment advice. Confirm entity, tax, and state decisions with a qualified attorney and CPA.
The questions this tool walks you through
Here is what the checker asks and why each step matters. Prefer to talk it through? Contact us and we will help directly.
Will you bring on W-2 employees - people whose work, hours, and methods you direct?
Employees trigger the full weight of employer obligations before the first check; contractors do not, but calling an employee a contractor to avoid that is the costliest mistake in this area.
Use the interactive tool above to see how this applies to your situation.
Official guidance: IRS hiring employees
Will any employee live or work in a different state from the business?
Each state where an employee works can create its own payroll tax, withholding, and unemployment registration - remote and cross-border hires multiply the setup.
Register for payroll in every state where an employee works.
Official guidance: IRS hiring employees
Has the business elected S-corporation tax treatment, with an owner who works in the business?
An S-corporation owner who works in the business must take a reasonable W-2 salary through payroll before taking distributions - the IRS scrutinizes owners who skip it.
Run reasonable-salary owner payroll alongside employee payroll. Complete federal and state payroll registration before the first check.
Official guidance: IRS hiring employees
Will you pay independent contractors - freelancers or vendors who control how they do the work?
Contractors get a 1099 rather than payroll, but the classification has to hold up - a worker you direct like an employee is an employee, whatever the agreement says.
Set up 1099 handling and confirm the contractor classification. Prepare the payroll basics to set up before you hire.
Official guidance: IRS hiring employees
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