It pays to payroll
WHEN ANDY Bremmeyer started Wedgwood
Architectural Services in Vancouver, Washington, two years ago, he didn’t anticipate how
much time processing the payroll would take,
even with only two employees. An accountant
suggested he try a payroll service, and
Bremmeyer happened to notice a brochure for
Intuit® Payroll Services on a trip to Costco.
Now, Bremmeyer says, the service is saving him four to eight hours of work each
month. “Multiply that by the rate I make and
I’m saving about $600 a month,” he says.
Connecting
QuickBooks is available at Costco warehouses and costco.com.
with Costco, Intuit
That’s roughly 10 times the cost of the service. printed and delivered to you, or you can print
(This was the user’s experience. Individual your own. And you can enter and access pay-results may vary.) roll information from multiple locations.
Costco has teamed up with Intuit (the Eachprovidespromptandcourteousser-makers of QuickBooks®) to provide two pay- vice and support and a “no-penalties” guar-roll solutions to meet the needs of Costco antee: If the data supplied are accurate and on
members. Here’s a look. time and the account is sufficiently funded,
■ QuickBooks® Assisted Payroll (as low as the payroll tax-deposit filings are guaranteed
$59 per month) enables you to process payroll to be accurate and on time or Intuit will pay
in QuickBooks and lets Intuit handle your the resulting tax penalty.
payroll taxes. Federal and state tax deposits Intuit’s payroll servicesoffer Costco mem-and filings are done for you. You enter infor- bers assistance at an exclusive price. Executive
mation directly through QuickBooks and get members are eligible for additional benefits.
customized payroll reports, including de- With a new year just around the corner,
tailed job-costing analysis. now is a good time to see if a payroll service is
■ Intuit® Payroll Services Complete Payroll right for your business. For more informa-
(as low as $75 per month) is a comprehensive tion, call toll-free 1-866-297-7900 and men-solution that works with or without Quick- tion source code C40021. Or visit costco.com
Books. Federal, state and local tax deposits and click on “Services,” then “Payroll Pro-and filings are done for you. Paychecks are cessing.”—Steve Fisher
Small-business health
insurance by the letters
TALK TO ANY small-business owner and
you’ll learn that providing health insurance to
employees can be a daunting task in myriad
ways. Challenges include finding a program
that is affordable, will cover a small number
of employees and will serve the needs of owners and employees alike. Then there’s the confusing alphabet soup inherent in health
plans—HMO, PPO, COBRA. It’s enough to
trigger a migraine.
As part of its suite of business services,
Costco has negotiated competitive rates for its
Small-Business Health Insurance plan with
partners in California, Hawaii, Nevada,
Oregon and Washington. The plan features a
comprehensive network of hospitals and
physicians meeting industry-high standards
of service and care. Recently, dental coverage
and High Deductible Health Plans (HDHP)
were added to the options.
HDHPs are worth considering for business owners who’d like to offer creative
options to employees in terms of health-care
costs. Individuals who have qualified HDHPs
can establish a Health Savings Account (HSA).
Employees can set aside pretax earnings for
future medical needs into these accounts.
HDHPs typically have lower premiums.
“The savings generated by those lower premiums can be contributed to the HSA
to cover future health-related
expenses,” explains John Conlon,
director of insurance services at
Costco. “Members also have the
option of investing HSA funds in
stocks, bonds or a money market
account, creating a boon to one’s financial
as well as physical health.”
Health and dental insurance is available
to Costco Executive Members in California,
Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon and Washington
only. Group eligibility may be dependent upon
state-specific underwriting guidelines that
may include the number of employees,
industry and geographic limitations.
For more information, call toll-free
CHRIS A RUSNAK
1-800-611-9056 Monday through Friday, or
go to costco.com and click on “Services,”
then “Services for Your Business” and
“Health & Dental Insurance.” Choose your
state and follow the instructions to obtain an
online quote.—SF
