Challenge

In construction season, the payroll of  Campbell Construction* surges to 30+ employees, although the company employs just three people year-round to manage the administrative side of the business. Campbell enjoys high levels of customer satisfaction because it focuses on quality and detail in its construction projects, but with just three full-time employees, it did not have the time or attention to devote to bookkeeping. When Campbell received notice of a pending Employment Development Department (EDD) audit, it knew it needed serious help, and soon. Its books hadn’t been reconciled for more than a year, its payroll provider had changed, and 1099s hadn’t been issued to its contractors for the year. EDD audits look at the previous three years and the department can demand reimbursement for unpaid payroll taxes, unemployment insurance, disability insurance, workers’ compensation insurance, and assess penalties for California Labor Code violations.

“The EDD needed more information than we could provide, ” recalls the CEO. “We were in deep trouble. The business itself was in jeopardy. ” In extreme cases–if the EDD finds non compliance and substandard books–companies can face such heavy fines that they are forced to go out of business.

Solution

Maxwell Money assigned a three-person team to the huge and time-critical task of reconciling Campbell’s books and fixing its payroll issues. The team worked with the previous and current payroll providers, pulled together whatever records they could find, and interviewed project managers and employees to create an accurate accounting of all payroll-related details. Maxwell implemented software including QuickBooks Pro to enable job costing, bill.com to manage vendor payments, and ADP Workforce Now to streamline payroll, tax, HR, and time and attendance functionality.

Results

Within two and a half weeks of calling Maxwell, Campbell Construction had books for the auditors to review, and the company passed the audit, with no fines or penalties.

“Maxwell saved us at least $50,000 in fines, ” says the CEO of Campbell. “They may have saved us even more than that, because I’m not sure we could have survived an audit with our books the way they were. ”

Now Maxwell Money keeps Campbell’s books on an ongoing basis. The CEO checks in with Maxwell regularly to make sure that everything is being tracked and paid correctly.

“It’s a huge relief knowing that we’ll never have to go through that kind of panic again, ” says the CEO. “Plus, the reports we get from Maxwell give us new insight into what’s going on with the business, such as which projects have the best margins. First they made us compliant with the law and now they’re helping us be more competitive. ”