inside
costco
Payroll’s on a roll
Intuit makes processing easy
COSTCO MEMBER CAROL Greenwood
owns We’ve Got Beads in Pueblo, Colorado,
selling jewelry-making supplies and offering
instruction. “I did payroll manually and was
always making mistakes because I didn’t have
time for it,” says Greenwood.
Costco member Allison Berkowitz does
the payroll for the employees in her father’s
furniture showroom, Sofas Etc. (
www.sofasetc.
com) in Ventura, California. “With our former
[payroll] service,” Berkowitz says, “we had to
be at one computer with one certain kind of
printer with a certain kind of toner, and half
the time it didn’t work.”
Both businesses switched to Intuit Online
Payroll from Costco Services after reading
about it in The Connection. Ber-kowitz uses
one word to sum up how the service works:
“awesome.”
“I can do it [payroll] from any computer,
any time,” she says. “And it’s very easy to use.
Payroll used to take me hours. Now I can do
it in 10 minutes.”
Also “awesome” is the low cost. The
rate is $17.99 per month for Executive
Members, $19.99 for Gold Star and
Business members. Berkowitz says, “It’s
half of what our other service was.” Adds
Greenwood, “I don’t think an accountant
can do payroll as cheap as the Intuit service.”
The service is easy to use: You simply
enter hours worked and Intuit Online Payroll
automatically calculates deductions and
keeps track of the payroll taxes. It fills in the
federal and state tax forms, so all you have to
do is print, sign and mail them. You don’t
have to purchase any financial software.
Everything is online.
SPOTS ILLUS TRATION
When Costco member Alex King, who
runs Crowd Favorite™ (
www.crowdfavorite.
com), a Web development company, in Denver,
was asked if he’d recommend the service to
others, he said, “I just did this morning.”
— Steve Fisher
For more information, visit costco.com and
enter “Payroll08” in the search box, or call toll-free 1-877-202-0537.
YOU PROBABLY KNOW that Costco can save
you money on the essentials in life. But did you
know that great savings are also offered on
NASCAR merchandise, an afternoon at the
spa, a trip to Disneyland and more?
“These offers are part of the treasure hunt
we like to feature at Costco,” says Claudia
Augello, a Costco buyer who oversees the pro-
g ram in the warehouses. “And we’ve loaded
u p with a variety of exciting deals for the
holiday and winter season.”
Highlighting the program are gift cards
for a wide range of merchandise at a 20 perc ent savings. For example, NASCAR fans
will be interested in $50 gift cards that can be
u sed to purchase items at NASCAR’s online
s uperstore (
www.NASCAR.com) for $39.99.
L ikewise, $100 gift cards for merchandise at
NFLshop.com are available for $79.99.
For youngsters on your gift list, consider
a $50 gift card to a popular Build-a-Bear
workshop, where kids can build their own
teddy bears. The price at Costco is $39.99.
If you’re planning a vacation to Disneyland,
look into a Disneyland annual pass, offered at
Costco. The pass includes a $50 gift card that
can be used at Disneyland or at Disney’s
California Adventure park.
Great deals at Costco
Tickets, gift cards and more
offered at big savings
60 T he Costco Connection N OVEMBER 2008
A perfect gift for spa lovers is a SpaFinder
gift certificate. It’s good for sessions at any of
the quality spas participating in the SpaFinder
network across the country. Costco features
two $50 gift certificates for $79.99.
Tickets are available for pro sports games
and other events in particular regions. For
example, in some Costco locations in the
Northeast, New York Knicks tickets are
offered at a 40 percent savings. These events
include professional baseball and basketball
games, wine tastings, hotel packages, movies
and more. In December, when you purchase
AMC Gold Experience™ movie tickets you’ll
receive a voucher for a free large Coca-Cola®
fountain drink (while supplies last).
Ski vacation packages to top resorts
across the country and discounted lift tickets
are being offered for the ski season.
“We’re expanding the entire program
whenever we can to save our members
money on these exciting events and merchandise,” says Claudia.
More savings on Broadway plays, professional sporting events and other attractions
are available exclusively online at costco.
com. Enter “event tickets” in the search box.
