Enhanced Service Offers Accountants a Better Way to Offer Payroll to Small Business Clients

Chicago - June 2, 2003 - SurePayroll, a national leader in the online payroll marketplace, today announced the next-generation version of its Custom Payroll Service for Accountants™, which lets accountants offer sophisticated Web-based payroll services, branded with the accountant’s brand name, to their small businesses clients.

In the newest version of Custom Payroll Service for Accountants, accountants have access to a host of new features that will take their payroll offering to a higher level of service and profitability. New features include Quickbooks support; streamlined electronic setup for new accounts; support for additional pay types and sick days; extended support for manual/ad-hoc checks and direct deposits; and improved payroll calendar management.

Enhanced compatibility with popular software program Quickbooks eliminates the need to re-key payroll data into small business accounting records, thereby saving time and reducing data input errors. The integration is specifically designed for smaller businesses; it requires no training, and no significant installation or administration. As such, accountants can continue to reap the benefits of Quickbooks while experiencing the many advantages of SurePayroll’s payroll service.

Another notable enhancement concerns generating manual and ad-hoc payments – such as a separate check or direct deposit for an employee bonus, commission, or award. New features let small businesses or their accountants easily modify the withholding rates on such supplemental wages. An entire ad-hoc payroll can be run as well, without having to conform to a pre-defined payroll schedule.

"Custom Payroll Service for Accountants has been widely embraced by accountants nationwide," said Michael Alter, senior vice president of marketing and business development at SurePayroll. “By taking our offering to the next level, we have made the offering even more attractive to accountants who want to provide a great ‘anytime, anywhere’ payroll service that lets small businesses, or the accountants who serve them, process payroll in minutes via the Web.”

The first version of Custom Payroll Service for Accountants debuted in May 2002. Accounting firms, signing up for the service, have proven that online payroll attracts new clients, retains existing clients, drives incremental revenues streams, and enhances cross-selling capabilities.

In contrast to traditional payroll providers, which predominantly process payroll via phone and fax and focus on larger companies, SurePayroll’s service was designed exclusively for small business payroll processing via the Web. SurePayroll and its accounting partners currently process over $2 billion in small business payroll annually for over 7,500 small businesses nationwide, making it the sixth largest payroll service in the country and the largest online payroll service in the world.

By leveraging the Internet, SurePayroll takes many of the costs out of payroll processing, thereby allowing accountants to offer outsourced payroll processing at prices that are 30% to 50% less than the industry average.

SurePayroll also assumes all liability for payroll errors, thereby eliminating payroll penalties, which currently average $845 annually and are incurred by 40% of America’s small business. Direct deposit, highly desired by small business employers, is offered at no additional fee and with 24-hour activation notice for new employee; many traditional payroll services charge extra for direct deposit and can take as long as three weeks to activate a new employee’s direct deposit.

The Custom Payroll Service for Accountants is attractively priced – there is a $249 annual licensing fee. This includes full integration into the accountant’s web site and extensive sales, marketing, and customer service support.

Accountants can sign up for the service simply by visiting www.surepayroll.com/custompayroll. The basic Custom Payroll Service for Accountants is fully operational now. The newest version of Custom Payroll Service for Accountants – including Quickbooks compatibility and other new features -- will be available in July 2003.

"At SurePayroll, our goal is simple: help accountants to help their small business clients," said Alter. "We listen to what our accounting partners want, and that’s what we give them."

About SurePayroll:
SurePayroll provides a simple, reliable and economical way for small businesses to process and distribute payroll and taxes in minutes via the Internet. The Company's Internet-based payroll service automates the entire payroll process, completely eliminating the traditional processing steps that conventional payroll services providers use. Using SurePayroll, small businesses and their employees can initiate and access their payroll from anywhere, at any time. By leveraging the Internet, payroll is completed in a fraction of the time, at a fraction of the cost.

SurePayroll is a privately held company based in Skokie, IL. SurePayroll’s customer base number in the thousands and includes payroll customers in all 50 states. In addition to providing payroll services directly to small business, SurePayroll also provides a private label payroll service that is used by numerous accounting firms and community banks. SurePayroll’s business partners include Wells Fargo and ABN AMRO. For more information, visit www.surepayroll.com.

For More Information About SurePayroll:
Michael Alter
Senior Vice President
SurePayroll
847-676-8420, ext 7229
michael.alter@surepayroll.com

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