Money
Payroll done right, pay as you go workers' comp, missed deductions, tax strategy, the 8 leaks.
Profit First Payroll
Payroll services • Lake Forest and South Orange County
We buy back your time and your money, and take the stress off your plate.
Your revenue is up, so why does it still feel tight? We're a payroll firm and a tech and AI team working as one. We find the leaks, run the back office, and build the engine that lets you grow without doing it all yourself.
30 minutes • No payroll quote • You leave knowing where to look
What we buy back
Time
AI automations, RideAlong trains your team on real calls, executive assistants (human or AI), appointment setters.
Daedelix
Less stress
One team that owns it: monthly business consulting, a fractional CTO, COO, or CMO, the full engine built behind your company and owned by you.
Both
Most owners need all three. That's why we're one team.
The eight leaks
Nobody sends you a bill for these.
That is exactly what makes them expensive. Every one is legal, ordinary, and invisible on a P&L. Read them and see how many you can answer with certainty.
What is your workers' comp actually costing you this month?
If the honest answer is "I find out at the audit", you are paying on an estimate somebody made a year ago. Sometimes that lands in your favour. Usually it does not.
Profit leak / the big oneHow many deductions did you leave on the table last April?
Not the obvious ones. The sixty small ones most owners have never had read out to them, which is a strange way to find out you have been overpaying for years.
Profit leakIs everyone on your crew classified the way an auditor would classify them?
A 1099 that should have been a W-2 stays quiet right up until it does not. The bill arrives with back taxes, penalties and interest attached.
Profit leak / complianceWhat does one payroll mistake actually cost you?
Count the correction, the notice, the penalty, the hour on hold, and the conversation with the person who got paid wrong. Then multiply by how often it happens.
Time leak / profit leakHow many hours a week disappear into payroll and paperwork?
Yours or somebody's. Put your own hourly value on them and it stops being an admin question and starts being a profit one.
Time leakCould you say, right now, what you made last month?
Not revenue. Kept. If that number takes more than a few seconds to find, decisions are being made on a feeling rather than a figure.
Time leak / visibilityWhich expenses never made it into the books at all?
The card you used once. The subscription nobody cancelled. The receipt in the truck. Individually trivial, annually not.
Profit leakWhat are you still doing yourself that you meant to hand off years ago?
Most owners can name it instantly. That speed is the tell. It has been costing you the whole time you have known about it.
Time leakThe Leak Check
Eight questions, all yes or no. Nothing is sent anywhere and nothing is stored. It will not tell you what anything costs, because that genuinely depends on your business. It will tell you how many places to look.
Eight questions, no wrong answers
Work down the list. The count is the only thing this gives you, and it is the only thing worth having before a conversation.
Since we started doing this
The leaks are small. The total is not.
- 3,247+
- Business owners we have worked through this with.
- $84.3M+
- Profit we estimate those owners have protected as a result.
- 5.0
- Average rating across 13 Google reviews, from Lake Forest and South Orange County owners and beyond.
How that is counted, because a number without a method is just a number: documented savings, corrected expenses, recovered funds, penalties avoided, and the dollar value of time given back. It spans payroll errors and processing costs, missed deductions and credits, workers' comp overcharges, classification and overtime exposure, bookkeeping errors, HR and compliance risk, and administrative time.
One we can tell
A construction company doing $2.5 million a year. Roughly $20,000 leaking out annually, before the owner had any idea it was happening.
What we do
Payroll first, and four things done properly.
Most payroll companies process payroll. That is the easy part. We run it correctly, then cover the parts around it that cost owners money.
Payroll
Run, filed and paid on time. Federal and California, direct deposit, wage statements that meet the state's requirements, quarterly and annual filings.
Bookkeeping
Books kept current so you can answer what you made last month without going and looking. Clean records at tax time rather than a scramble in March.
Workers' comp
Pay-as-you-go premiums calculated from each payroll, on what you actually paid. No year-end estimate, no surprise bill, and support through the audit when it comes around.
Tax strategy
Our CPA team looks at what you could be deducting before the return is filed, not after. Planning, not just preparation.
The other half of the team: Daedelix
Daedelix is a team of engineers, marketers, and business operators.
Payroll keeps the money in. Daedelix builds what brings more of it in.
Monthly business consulting.
Your tech, AI, operations, and marketing team on tap, across 11 departments.
Fractional C suite.
A part-time CTO, COO, or CMO who owns the result, without the full-time salary.
Launch your app.
From idea to live in the app stores, built right the first time.
The full engine, owned by you.
Website, CRM, automations, and the systems behind them. You own every piece. No lock-in.
Executive assistants and appointment setters.
Real help, human or AI. Setters on salary plus commission, or commission only.
RideAlong.
A mini manager in your pocket. See below.
RideAlong
A mini manager in your pocket.
RideAlong records your sales and customer calls, scores each one against the way you want calls run, and trains your team on the real thing.
One manager can grow a team of 100 without sitting in on a single call.
We use it on our own team.
Call score
Opening
Discovery
Next step
California is unique
The rules that catch people out.
If you have run payroll in another state, or your provider does, most of what follows will be unfamiliar. Every one of these is somewhere an out-of-state processor gets a California employer in trouble.
State income tax
California withholds it. Several neighbouring states do not, which is where the assumption usually comes from.
Form DE 4
California has its own withholding certificate, alongside the federal W-4. Both are needed.
EDD
Payroll tax runs through the Employment Development Department: unemployment insurance, employment training tax, state disability and income tax withholding.
SDI
State disability insurance is withheld from employees. There is no equivalent in a lot of other states.
Daily overtime
Overtime past 8 hours in a day and double time past 12, plus seventh consecutive day rules. Federal law counts by the week only.
Break premiums
A missed meal or rest break is owed as an hour of pay, and it counts as wages, so it belongs on the wage statement.
Wage statements
Itemised and specific, under Labor Code 226. The formatting itself is a compliance question.
Workers' comp
Mandatory from your first employee. Not a threshold you grow into.
Switching
Three steps, and we do most of them.
People put this off because they assume it is disruptive mid-year. It is not, and the reviews below are mostly from people saying so.
A call
Thirty minutes. We look at what you are running now, what it costs you, and where the exposure is. No quote at the end of it.
We move it
We handle the transfer, the prior quarters, the filings and the account setup. You approve; we do the paperwork.
It runs
Payroll goes out, taxes get filed, and workers' comp updates with each run. You get a named person when you need one.
In their words
Ask them what changed.
Every review here is real, pulled from our Google profile. We do not choose which ones show, which is the only thing that makes a review page worth reading.
Nick BurkeJune 12, 2026
…the entire team at Profit First Payroll are fantastic! They process our payroll on time, make sure all the necessary taxes (employee / employer) are allocated properly, submit payroll to my bookkeeper and my work compensation policy. They are readily available and support through...
Dave HanlonJune 15, 2026
10 out of 5 stars if I could give them! Matt has gone above and beyond to make sure not only my payroll is perfect, but he has also shared some IRS rules that have allowed me to reduce my tax liability. At this point he has paid for himself!
David GlendenningJune 17, 2026
…at Profit First Payroll , payroll week was a massive headache. Now, it's completely seamless. Switching our payroll to Profit First was one of the best operational decisions we've made. They have made the entire transition seamless, and the ongoing support saves...
Meineke #2432August 19, 2026
I have been with Profit first payroll for about 8 years, they have excellent service. Very professional, on top with all what our company requires by law. Very friendly staff…
Katheryne LaureanoJune 26, 2026
As someone who works in the staffing industry, I have the opportunity to work with a lot of businesses that are growing and hiring. When a client is ready to bring employees on permanently and needs payroll support, Matt is the first person I recommend. His knowledge of payroll and compliance is...
Kimberly NygardAugust 24, 2026
The information and guidance Matt and his team provided us was absolutely priceless. They genuinely set us up for success. What stood out most was how thorough they were throughout the entire process. Every step was clearly explained in a way that was easy to understand, and when we came in with...
Janice TomalkaJuly 24, 2026
It's been an amazing experience working with Matt. You're ever looking for a payroll company to work this is the best company to work with.
Ryan R.July 7, 2026
Profit First Payroll made the whole process simple and stress free. Their online portal is incredibly intuitive and userfriendly, everything is laid out clearly and I can run payroll in minutes. The team is efficient and the whole system feels very streamlined, which saved me a lot of time. As a...
Jared NortonJuly 6, 2026
I have been using Profit First Payroll for my small business and I love how intuitive and user-friendly the platform is. Top 3 things I loved: 1) Easy to navigate dashboard that makes payroll processing simple 2) Fast and accurate payroll service with clear reporting 3) Friendly and helpful support...
Rebecca Prime-MooreJune 29, 2026
When it comes to payroll, Matt is my only go-to. He's friendly, answers any questions, and really looks out for the best of myself, my employees, and just my company as a whole. Definitely recommend, if I could have given more stars I would have.
Ken WolffJune 15, 2026
I've been using Matt and Profit first for a few years now. They make my life simple and easy. They handle everything professionally and correctly, which is of utmost importance to any business person. Thanks guys for your hard work.
LINH LEJune 15, 2026
I've been working with Matt for seven years now, and I can honestly say he's one of the best decisions I made when I opened my business. From payroll to other essential business services, Matt and his team handle everything with professionalism and care that is hard to find. What sets him apart...
Ben CastilloJune 15, 2026
Matt & his entire team get the job done every single time! reliability is key in todays market. Can not recommend enough...
13 reviews, all five stars, none of them chosen by us
Who this tends to be for
Owners who build things, feed people, or fix them.
Not because we cannot help anyone else. Because these are the businesses where the leaks run deepest, and we have seen the same eight often enough to know where they hide.
Contractors and trades
Crews that change size, workers' comp that changes with them, and a classification question sitting under half the roster.
Restaurants
Tips, overtime, turnover and margins measured in single points. Nowhere for a payroll error to hide and nowhere for it to be affordable.
Owner operators
Anyone still doing paperwork at nine at night because handing it over never quite made it to the top of the list.
Free, no email required
Sixty deductions. How many are you taking?
This is the list we walk clients through. Most of it is unsurprising. It is the last page that tends to get a reaction, because almost nobody is claiming everything on it and almost everybody could be.
Ask us for the checklist
Who you will actually talk to
One team, not two vendors.
Matt Frechette
Chief Revenue Officer
Runs the Leak Review himself. Will not quote you on payroll during it, because that is not what the half hour is for.
The Profit First Payroll Team
Payroll, books and client service
The people who run it once you are on board. Small enough that you are not explaining your business to a stranger every time, and you get a named person who answers the same day.
Daedelix
Ash: engineering and AI
Veda: operations and growth
engineers, marketers, and operators.
Questions we get
Before you book.
What is pay-as-you-go workers' comp?
Your premium is calculated from each payroll, based on what you actually paid, instead of an annual estimate made at the start of the policy year.
The conventional way, you guess your payroll for the year, pay against that guess, and settle up at the audit. If you guessed low, or grew, or your job mix shifted toward higher class codes, the audit bill arrives as a lump. Pay-as-you-go removes the guess and removes the lump.
Do you do bookkeeping, or just payroll?
Both. Bookkeeping is a service we provide, not something we hand back to you.
If you already have a bookkeeper or a CPA you are happy with, that is fine too and we work alongside them. Plenty of our clients keep the accountant they trust and use us for payroll, workers' comp and the tax planning side.
Do you offer business consulting?
Yes. Daedelix is the tech, AI, operations, and marketing half of our team.
Monthly business consulting keeps that team on tap. A fractional CTO, COO, or CMO owns the result.
We launch apps and build the full engine you own. We provide executive assistants and appointment setters. RideAlong coaches your team on real calls.
Who is Daedelix?
Daedelix is a team of engineers, marketers, and business operators. Payroll keeps the money in. Daedelix builds what brings more of it in.
Do I have to come to an office?
No. We come to you, or we meet at a chamber office, or we do it over a call. Most of our Orange County clients we see on their own site, which is usually more useful anyway because we can see how the business actually runs.
How quickly do you respond?
Same day. Email reaches crew@profitfirstpayroll.com and a named person answers it, not a queue.
Can I switch in the middle of the year?
Yes, and most people do. We take on the prior quarters and the filing history as part of the move, so the year still reconciles correctly at the end of it.
The change is smaller than people expect. That is the single most common thing our clients say in their reviews.
Do you work with contractors who use 1099s?
Yes, and it is usually the first thing we look at. California's test for who can be an independent contractor is stricter than most owners realise, and a misclassification is quiet until it is not.
We would rather look at the roster with you now than have an auditor do it later.
Service area
South Orange County, on site.
Our Lake Forest office serves South Orange County. We are not a storefront and we do not expect you to drive to us: we meet clients at their own premises, on job sites, or at the chamber.
The mix here is construction and specialty trades, landscaping and pool service, restaurants, auto repair and staffing. That is who we have built this around.
Lake ForestFoothill RanchPortola HillsMission ViejoRancho Santa MargaritaLaguna HillsLaguna NiguelAliso ViejoIrvineTrabuco CanyonSan Juan CapistranoTustin
So how many did you tick?
Bring that number to a free 30 minute review. We'll show you how much time and money we can buy back, and how much stress we can take off your plate, whether that starts with payroll or with Daedelix.
Book a Leak Review Or book a free Daedelix consult