What payroll services cost in Las Vegas — and what you actually get
Most Las Vegas payroll providers quote a base fee plus a per-employee, per-run charge, so a shop that runs weekly pays roughly twice what a semi-monthly shop pays for the same work. We price flat per month regardless of how often you run payroll: 5–15 employees usually lands between $189 and $349 all-in.
That flat fee covers unlimited payroll runs and off-cycle checks, direct deposit, quarterly Nevada Modified Business Tax, DETR unemployment filings, federal 941 and 940, year-end W-2s and 1099s, new-hire reporting, and workers' comp audit defense. There is no separate charge for a bonus run in December or a correction after a job wraps.
If you're currently on Gusto, ADP, or Paychex, bring your last invoice to the call. We'll line-item what you're paying for versus what you use — a lot of Vegas owners are paying for HR modules and time clocks they've never opened.
Nevada Modified Business Tax, filed right the first time
Nevada has no state income tax, which lulls new Las Vegas employers into thinking payroll tax is simple. It isn't. General-business employers owe MBT at 1.378% on gross wages above $50,000 per calendar quarter, after the allowable health-insurance deduction — and that deduction is where most self-filed returns go wrong.
We calculate MBT from your actual quarterly wage base, apply the health-premium offset, file with the Nevada Department of Taxation, and pay on time. If prior quarters were filed wrong, we amend them before the state finds it.
Workers' comp audits: the single biggest hidden cost for Vegas trades
Workers' compensation is mandatory in Nevada from your first employee, and your annual premium is settled by an NCCI audit — not by your quote. Class codes get applied too broadly, subcontractor certificates go missing, and overtime premium gets included in payroll when it should be excluded. Each mistake inflates your premium for the next twelve months.
Audit defense is included on every account. We assemble payroll by class code, produce certificates of insurance for every sub, strip the excess overtime portion, and argue misclassifications directly with the auditor. Most Las Vegas clients land 15–30% under their prior-year premium.
Restaurants, bars, and tipped employees
Vegas kitchens live and die on tip handling. We reconcile credit-card tips and tip pools against your POS — Toast, Square, Clover, or SpotOn — allocate service charges correctly, claim the FICA tip credit on your return, and file Form 8027 when your headcount requires it.
Nevada also runs a two-tier minimum wage tied to whether you offer qualifying health benefits. We set the correct tier per employee so you're not underpaying — or overpaying — your front of house.
