What payroll costs in Eastman - and what a late deposit costs
The advertised price of a payroll service in Eastman is the least interesting number attached to it. The base fee runs $20-$150 a month plus $4-$15 per employee, but the money that actually moves is in the deposit penalties, the Georgia unemployment rate assigned to your account, and the day your state requires a final paycheck to be in a departing employee's hands.
Two free marketplace paths: one form brings back multiple vetted payroll providers who know they are competing for the account.
Payroll services quoted to Eastman businesses in 2026 run $20-$150 a month in base fees plus $4-$15 per employee per month, which puts a ten-person Eastman payroll at roughly $70-$250 a month before year-end filing and add-on charges.
The federal penalty for depositing employment taxes late runs 2% up to 5 days late, 5% through 15 days and 10% beyond that, rising to 15% after an IRS notice goes unanswered - percentages applied to the deposit, not to the monthly fee an Eastman business is comparing.
Georgia assigns new employers a state unemployment tax rate of 2.7% on wages up to a taxable base of $9,500 per employee per year, which is the state-set portion of every Eastman payroll and moves with claims experience over time.
Every payroll provider sells the same three promises - run the checks, file the taxes, keep you compliant - and prices them differently enough that identical Eastman businesses pay double what their neighbors pay. The comparison that matters is not the base fee: it is the all-in monthly total at your headcount, the per-state filing surcharge if anyone works remotely, and what the contract says happens at renewal.
Payroll pricing is quoted per month and consumed per employee, which is why the same provider can look cheap to a three-person shop in Eastman and expensive to a thirty-person one. Multiply the base fee by twelve, add the per-employee fee times your headcount times twelve, add the year-end filing charge, and only then compare providers.
Get competing payroll quotes - one form, several providers
Two free marketplace paths: one form brings back multiple vetted payroll providers who know they are competing for the account. Competing quotes are the only reliable way to see what your headcount actually prices at.
External links go to the marketplaces' own sites and forms. This site may earn a referral fee at no cost to you - it never changes the data above, and no individual payroll provider pays to appear in our research.
What payroll services cost in 2026
| What you are buying | 2026 published range | The number that actually matters |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly base fee | $20-$150/month | Meaningless alone - always price it with your headcount attached |
| Per employee, per month | $4-$15/employee/month | At 10 employees this is most of the bill: $70-$250/month all in |
| Fully outsourced processing | $30-$100/person/month | Quoted per person rather than base plus fee - bundles compliance work |
| Year-end W-2 and 1099 filing | $4-$8/form | Included at some tiers, billed at others - ask before January |
| Additional state filings (remote staff) | $6-$20/state/month | One remote hire in a new state can change the plan you need |
| Off-cycle or bonus runs | $5-$50 each | Bonus season is when this line shows up on the invoice |
| Setup / implementation | $0-$200 | Commonly waived at small-business tiers - ask, it is negotiable |
| A late federal deposit | 2%-15% of the deposit | The reason the monthly fee is the second-most important number (IRS IRC 6656) |
What a payroll quote should include - and what the padded version sells
A complete quote includes
- The all-in monthly total at your real headcount, not just the base fee
- Full-service tax filing and deposits stated as included, with the returns named
- Year-end W-2 and 1099 filing priced, or explicitly included
- Every state you employ someone in, registered and filed for
- A written error policy: who pays penalties and interest on a provider-caused late deposit
- The renewal price and the cancellation notice window, in writing
Red flags in a payroll proposal
- A headline price that excludes tax filing, sold back as an add-on
- Per-employee billing that continues for terminated employees
- 'Compliance guaranteed' with no named returns and no penalty policy
- Refusal to show filing confirmations for a sample client month
- An introductory rate with an unstated renewal price
- Payroll history you cannot export in full if you leave
What Georgia adds to every payroll
| Question | Georgia answer |
|---|---|
| State unemployment tax - new employer rate | 2.7% (range 0.04% - 8.1%) |
| Taxable wage base per employee | $9,500 - PARTIALLY primary-confirmed |
| State minimum wage | $7.25 - Georgia's own statutory rate is $5.15, but the higher federal $7.25 applies to all FLSA-covered employers, which is nearly everyone |
| State income tax withholding | flat 5.19% for 2026 (Georgia is phasing its flat rate down annually) |
Georgia adds a separate 0.06% Administrative Assessment on top of the UI rate and publishes each employer's rate only inside the Employer Portal (Form DOL-626), so there is no public 2026 rate table to look up.
This page is independent research, not legal, tax or accounting advice. Federal deposit rules and state wage, unemployment and final-paycheck laws change - verify current requirements with the IRS and your state labor and revenue agencies, or with a licensed CPA or attorney, before acting.
What an Eastman quote should contain
- Employee count, split into salaried, hourly and contractors - contractors are usually priced separately or per 1099
- Every state where an employee physically works, including remote staff - each one commonly adds 6-20 dollars a month
- Pay frequency, and how many off-cycle or bonus runs you expect in a year at 5-50 dollars each
- Whether full-service tax filing and deposits are included at the quoted tier or sold as an add-on
- Year-end W-2 and 1099 filing: included, or 4-8 dollars per form
- Implementation or setup fee, and whether prior-year payroll history is migrated at no charge
- Benefits, garnishments, time tracking and workers' comp integration - each is commonly its own line
- The renewal price, in writing, alongside the first-year price
Why only these two paths
The most expensive payroll service is the one whose mistake you sign for. The IRS states plainly that outsourcing payroll does not transfer the employer's responsibility to deposit and report employment taxes - which means an Eastman business comparing a $20 dollar plan against a $150 dollar plan is comparing the wrong two numbers if either provider misses a deposit.
Hard bar, verifiable by anyone: free to the buyer, and structurally multi-vendor - one request produces several competing quotes, which is the check against over-quoting that no single sales relationship provides. Marketplaces that charge buyers or route to a single seller are not listed, and any listed path that drops below the bar gets removed. We list no individual payroll brand as a recommendation: this site does not rank providers it cannot audit filings for.
| Path | What it is | Why it made the bar |
|---|---|---|
| BuyerZone | B2B quote marketplace covering payroll services and other business categories | One form, multiple vetted providers respond with competing quotes - free to buyers |
| 360Connect | B2B quote marketplace with local service-area matching for payroll solutions | Matches up to five suppliers per request, 100% free to buyers |
The Eastman decision path
A late deposit costs 2% to 15% of the deposit; a full year of payroll processing for a small Eastman employer costs less than one such penalty on a modest payroll. Price the service second and the failure mode first.
This page is independent research, not legal, tax or accounting advice. Federal deposit rules and state wage, unemployment and final-paycheck laws change - verify current requirements with the IRS and your state labor and revenue agencies, or with a licensed CPA or attorney, before acting.
Get competing payroll quotes - one form, several providers
Two free marketplace paths: one form brings back multiple vetted payroll providers who know they are competing for the account. Competing quotes are the only reliable way to see what your headcount actually prices at.
External links go to the marketplaces' own sites and forms. This site may earn a referral fee at no cost to you - it never changes the data above, and no individual payroll provider pays to appear in our research.
Common questions
Can I do payroll myself instead?
Yes, and for a single-state business with a handful of salaried employees, software plus discipline is genuinely cheaper. The variables that change the answer are multi-state employees, hourly overtime, tipped wages, garnishments and turnover - each multiplies the number of deadlines. For scale, an in-house payroll specialist averages about $64,865 dollars a year in 2026 wage data, so the real comparison for most small employers is software plus your own hours versus a service.
What is the Trust Fund Recovery Penalty?
Withheld income tax and the employee share of Social Security and Medicare are held in trust for the government. When those amounts are not paid over, the IRS can assess a penalty equal to the full unpaid trust-fund amount personally against any responsible person who willfully failed to pay - an owner, officer or bookkeeper. It is one of the few business tax liabilities that reaches through a corporation or LLC to an individual.
How fast do I have to report a new hire?
The federal baseline is 20 days from the date of hire, reported to your state's new-hire directory, and a number of states set shorter deadlines. Rehires generally count, and some states also require reporting independent contractors. Confirm which filing your payroll provider makes for you - new-hire reporting is commonly included, but not universally.
Is it worth switching payroll providers?
Switching costs are lower than most owners assume - the practical constraints are having complete year-to-date wage data, timing the move at a quarter boundary where possible, and confirming the new provider registers you in every state. The savings case is rarely the base fee; it is usually the elimination of per-state, per-form and off-cycle charges that accumulated with a legacy plan.
Do I have to file W-2s and 1099s electronically?
Almost certainly yes. The threshold dropped to 10 returns: if you file 10 or more information returns of all types combined in a calendar year, they must be filed electronically. Articles still citing the old 250-return threshold are out of date. Any full-service payroll provider files electronically as standard - confirm it is included rather than billed per form.
When does a final paycheck have to be paid?
That is set by state law, and it differs for employees who are fired versus employees who quit. Several states require immediate payment on termination; others allow the next regular payday; a few add a penalty that accrues per day until the check is delivered. Unused vacation payout is likewise state-specific. The rule for Georgia is on this site's final-paycheck page with its source.
Get competing payroll quotes - one form, several providers
Two free marketplace paths: one form brings back multiple vetted payroll providers who know they are competing for the account. Competing quotes are the only reliable way to see what your headcount actually prices at.
External links go to the marketplaces' own sites and forms. This site may earn a referral fee at no cost to you - it never changes the data above, and no individual payroll provider pays to appear in our research.