Payroll Vault – Payroll Re-Defined

March 5, 2021

Payroll Vault

Payroll Re-Defined

Business View Magazine interviews Sean Manning, CEO of Payroll Vault, for our focus on Best Franchise Opportunities

Today’s businesses need more than just basic paychecks and reports when it comes to their payroll service. And that’s where Payroll Vault, the boutique-style payroll service provider comes in. “Many states are passing laws that require clients be well educated with regards to payroll-related items, like workforce management,” says Sean Manning, CEO of Payroll Vault. “We offer resources like human resource tools, a time clock tool, scheduling tools, poster compliance resources and things that actually save the employer time and money.”

Payroll Vault Paula Johnson, South Dakota Payroll Vault designs payroll solutions for small and mid-size businesses across the country. Businesses work with a dedicated payroll specialist that knows the ins-and-outs of each business and supports them by identifying improvements in workforce and time management. Manning relates, “Ten years ago our primary service was all payroll service-related, now, about 90 percent of our clients require additional workforce management resources. Businesses today need quite a bit more than your basic paychecks and reports.”

Payroll Vault’s workforce management tools include help with payroll solutions, HR solutions, time and attendance, worker’s compensation, background checks, labor law poster services and payroll financing.

These aids have become even more necessary this past year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and all the payroll loans, credits, and workforce changes that came along with it. “The payroll protection loans were instrumental in getting businesses through those first couple of months, and now there has been a second round of those loans,” Manning explains. “We help prepare the reports that business owners need to get those loans and then also evaluate the forgiveness part of it when it comes time for that.”

Payroll Vault has also helped clients defer federal tax payments and take advantage of payroll credits available for small business owners who need to pay employees for time off needed for COVID-19-related health concerns or managing children who are being schooled at home. “There’s been a tremendous amount of education and support that these business owners need,” says Manning. “So we’ve been focused on creating content (through our blog) and then creating systems that help small business owners manage all these resources that are available to them.”

For human resources tools, Payroll Vault relies on the expertise of Mammoth HR, an organization that provides human resources consulting. “They are helping support the education quite a bit,” Manning says. “They have been critical this last year in educating business owners on how to manage their workforce. A good example would be: A year ago, you couldn’t take an employee’s temperature when they walked into the office. Now it could be a requirement. So, there’s a lot of human resources aspects of business today that almost didn’t even exist a year ago, and I think having a good human resource tool is really, really important right now to help you guide through the daily changes.”

Not only is a payroll service that offers workforce management key for helping businesses run more effectively, it also saves them money in the long run. As Manning notes, “There is data out there that says companies that use a payroll service actually save 18 percent in payroll processing costs over companies that do payroll themselves.”

Payroll Vault currently has 61 franchise locations across the country and processes payroll in all 50 states. They are continuously growing with franchise opportunities readily available. “We seem to be an attractive business model to business owners that are looking for diversification in their business portfolio,” Manning explains. “They might be in a space where they are working with small businesses and they know the struggle they’re having with payroll, so they are adding to their business portfolio. We also have found a terrific fit for our franchise opportunity with business owners that own multiple businesses and they are looking for a payroll solution that is better, so rather than outsource, they just become their own payroll company and then they can service their other businesses.”

Payroll Vault franchises aren’t just a good choice for businesses that already exist, they are also a great way to start a new business. “We are attractive to current business owners, but we’re also attractive to new entrepreneurs that might be out of work now and are looking for a business opportunity that is a low-cost, remote, scalable business model where they can start from home and leverage their current contacts and grow their business,” Manning adds.

Payroll Vault attendees at an event, sitting at tables

All things considered, Payroll Vault is a low-cost franchise and is worth the investment to grow a scalable business with recurring revenue in an industry that transcends all businesses that have employees, it is recession resilient, an essential service, and has fully remote operating systems. Also, with a franchise you have monthly royalties and fees for resources like payroll and CRM software, website, and marketing. Prospective franchisees go through a franchise development process to determine if Payroll Vault will be a good fit for them and vice versa. Once approved, franchisees can have their business off the ground within 90 days. Manning shares, “Some ideal characteristics that define a Payroll Vault franchisee are someone that understands operations and technologies, is comfortable being active in their business community doing business development, networking, and marketing and has good attention to detail. You can start the business as an owner/operator, or semi-absentee, and then as the business grows you can hire employees.”

Franchisees are trained remotely by Payroll Vault and given access to the American Payroll Association’s basic training. A franchise can run with minimal staff due to efficiencies with the payroll software. “It’s typically owner-operated until they get 40 to 50 clients,” says, Manning. “Then the franchisee can start to hire their first employee. You can operate a Payroll Vault franchise successfully with anywhere from one to five employees.”

Manning founded Payroll Vault in 2008 while he was running his own accounting firm and noticed a need from his clients for payroll services. To fully tap into the payroll industry, he separated payroll from his firm and founded Payroll Vault. Manning franchised his business model in 2012. Since then, Payroll Vault has continued to grow, helping more and more small businesses with their payroll. He recalls, “We grew 25 percent in 2020, even during the pandemic, during a time when businesses are struggling. So it’s kind of ironic, but I think it’s because we were really here to support the infrastructure of all the resources business owners needed to basically survive. We are certainly on a strong growth trajectory for our entire system. We take great pride to support small businesses.”

And Manning doesn’t plan on stopping there. Payroll Vault is constantly implementing new ideas and improvements to enhance the training and technology they provide. “What I’m most excited about over the next couple of years is that you’re going to see a greater user experience,” says Manning. “Until now, most of the experiences have been at the payroll processor level in dealing with the software, but in the future, what you’re going to see is a much better user experience for the business owner themselves, and then for their employees. They will have easier access to information.”

Payroll Vault currently has an option to view payroll stubs and forms online, all managed by increased online security. According to Manning, “Online security is improving at a dramatic pace, so we will see increased security with the whole payroll process in the near future, as all of these systems become more and more important from a security standpoint.” His main goal for the future of Payroll Vault has stayed consistent since day one. “We want to be the number one payroll solution for small business owners with the highest level of customer satisfaction,” he explains. “That’s the main goal, because that aspect of payroll services is lacking with our competition, so we have fulfilled this need.”