Role family
Payroll and Timekeeping Recruiters
No postings. No stacks of resumes. No chasing. You interview a short list.
Financial Headhunters: Hire payroll staff who process multi-state taxes and benefit deductions without needing basic task training.
This is what we do all day: recruit accounting, finance, banking and insurance professionals.
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire.
Need someone now? Call 305-306-4829.
We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement.
- Controller
- CFO
- VP Finance
- FP&A Director
- Accounting Manager
- Director of Accounting
- Assistant Controller
- Tax Director
- Treasury Manager
- Internal Audit Director
- Senior Accountant
- Financial Analyst
- Head of Financial Reporting
- Commercial Lender
- Chief Credit Officer
- Business Systems Finance Lead
- No upfront fee
- Pay only if you hire
- Accounting, finance, banking and insurance
- We reach people who aren’t on job boards
- Replacement terms on standard searches
How long did your last search take?
How much did the empty seat cost while you waited?
Every week a finance seat stays empty costs you in overtime, late closes and work that waits. We go straight to people already doing the job.
01
What does this hire really come down to?
Payroll requires constant processing of time data and tax calculations. You need someone who performs reconciliations, creates garnishment files, and submits multi-jurisdictional tax filings without step-by-step guidance. If a candidate asks how to read a tax table or identify state-level labor requirements, they will cause errors during their training period.
System history is more important than total years of service. A worker who managed union fringe remittances or prevailing wage reporting follows specific audit steps for every entry. We ask whether your workflow requires a practitioner who submits data to a third-party vendor or an analyst who runs the entire calculation stack inside your internal software.
We look for evidence of self-directed audit habits. A candidate must explain how they identify a missing paycheck entry or a benefit deduction discrepancy before they finalize a pay period. When you ask if they know your software, you are determining if they can resolve common calculation breaks that happen during your specific pay cycles.
02
What do we check before you see anyone?
- 01We ask for examples of how they handled a specific federal or state payroll tax audit notice.
- 02We evaluate their work calculating prevailing wage or union fringe rates to confirm they align with your payroll reporting requirements.
- 03We confirm they have logged into your specific payroll software to perform data entry and generate reports.
- 04We check if they have managed multi-state tax withholding and business nexus registration for the states you operate in.
- 05We review how they respond to employee questions regarding benefit deductions to see if they explain calculations clearly.
- 06We assess their specific actions taken during W-2 filing and annual tax reporting to verify compliance with government deadlines.
03
Where do we find them?
We identify payroll specialists in firms with high-volume, repetitive transaction cycles and strict labor law mandates. These professionals change jobs when their current software prevents them from fixing recurring system errors or when they reach a ceiling in technical system usage. We verify if they are currently responsible for the full lifecycle of payroll preparation.
We contact individuals who manage payroll data daily rather than those on job sites. We ask them to describe the specific tax calculation issues they currently resolve. We then match these tasks to the requirements of your payroll environment.
A primary move driver occurs when a specialist wants to shift from high-volume transaction processing to more complex union fringe or prevailing wage reporting. We identify individuals who currently handle repetitive, low-variance payroll but are seeking to apply their existing tax logic to the non-standard deductions and varying labor rates unique to your firm. We ask candidates how they reconcile a deduction error when their current system logs are hidden from view. If they explain a process that matches your internal software workflow, they possess the practical logic to manage your specific tax environment. We ask if your team can offer this increased complexity, which serves as the primary incentive for a qualified hire to consider your opening.
04
Which hiring mistakes should you watch for?
- 01Hiring someone with general accounting software background who cannot handle payroll-specific tax logic, leading to calculation errors.
- 02Assuming a manager who has worked in high-level oversight for years still possesses the speed and technical skill to perform daily data entry or reconciliation.
- 03Selecting a candidate based on industry experience while ignoring that your specific union agreements or state payroll burdens are more complex than their previous work.
05
The search in three steps
- 01We record your exact software version and payroll reporting structure to isolate candidates who have performed these tasks previously.
- 02We contact employed specialists whose work history demonstrates direct experience with your tax and deduction requirements, discarding those who lack specific technical history.
- 03We test prospects on their ability to create audit logs and reconciliation reports, sharing only those who can perform these tasks without supervision.
How your search runs
How does The Six-Step Search work?
One sequence, from a well-defined seat to a shortlist you can judge.
Search Calibration
We start with a call about the seat, the books, the owners and the people the hire will work with. We learn what the role must fix in the first year and what would make a candidate wrong even if the resume looks right.
You get: A written search brief: scope, must-haves, deal-breakers and the pay range, agreed with you.
Market Mapping
We map the companies and institutions where the right people already work: similar size, similar ownership, similar complexity, in your market and in others.
You get: The target list of companies and institutions we will search, reviewed with you before outreach.
Professional Contact Intelligence
We find direct ways to reach the people on the map. Most are employed and not reading job boards, so reaching them takes real research.
You get: Direct routes to people who are not on job boards, researched for your search.
Persistent Personalized Outreach
We call and write to people individually and follow up. Interest varies, so we discuss the actual opportunity rather than promising a particular response.
You get: One-to-one conversations about your actual role, followed up, never a mass email blast.
Live Candidate Qualification
We speak with every candidate before you do. We check scope, systems, reporting lines, compensation expectations, location and why they would move.
You get: Only candidates we have spoken with, checked on scope, systems, pay, location and motive.
Candidate Intelligence and Process Support
You receive a short written brief on each finalist covering what they have done, where they are thin and what they want. Then we help with interviews, references and the offer.
You get: A short written brief on each finalist, plus help with interviews, references, counteroffer risk and the offer.
Questions people ask
How soon will you provide a shortlist?
We start contacting potential hires on the first day. The timing depends on how many people in your local area possess your exact software and tax compliance experience.
How do you evaluate candidates if we do not use your preferred system?
We evaluate their logic when they manage payroll taxes and reconciliations in their current system. We look for proof that they can apply that same logic to your specific software environment.
What happens if a candidate receives a counteroffer?
We ask the candidate why they are currently looking to leave their job. By resolving these specific dissatisfactions during our interviews, we help candidates decide if they want to stay or move to your firm.
Can we manage this search confidentially?
We never name your company to a candidate until they confirm they are interested in your specific role. We protect your privacy while we talk to them about their technical experience.
How are fees handled for these roles?
You pay a fee only after a candidate you hire starts working at your company. All costs are detailed in a written contract before we contact anyone for your search.
What is your guarantee?
We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement.
What don't you do?
We do not post your finance job and forward whoever applies. We do not send stacks of unscreened resumes, and we do not recruit outside accounting, finance, banking and insurance.
Start a search
Tell us about the seat.
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire.
We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement.