Less Pain. More Peace of Mind.
HIRE | MANAGE | TRACK
We help make your business better for you and your employees - one solution at a time.
Based in Durango, CO - Serving Local, Mountain West, Small Business Communities for over 33 Years!
What Makes Us Unique:
Your Peace of Mind is Our Priority
Discover what makes our locally based service the trusted partner for payroll and HR solutions.
Deep Industry Expertise
Our team has "go to" experience in payroll and HR, ensuring that you receive expert guidance (one of our employees has twenty five years!). When you call, we answer without phone trees, and your problem gets resolved.
People First Service
Technology is a great, but people helping people is where human potential is unleashed. In a world racing towards AI, we are doubling down on the human connection to serve you. Call us, or come into our office.
We Understand Your Pain
We understand local small business needs because we are one! Payroll and HR are complex and mistakes are costly. Partner with us to find greater peace of mind.
Serving the Local Small Business Community
Our purpose is to help local small business communities thrive by providing expert payroll and HR solutions that help make businesses better for owners and employees.
Our passion is building lasting partnerships with local small business communities, delivering people first service, person to person, that provides peace of mind. We are committed to helping local small businesses communities thrive across the Mountain West and beyond.
Our Core Values
Our Core Values light the way for our team to be better tomorrow than we are today through accountability, ownership, positive mindset, and exceptional service. We strive to live out our core values daily.
- Serve
- Commit
- Give
- Grow
- Right
- Own
- Adapt
We serve our clients with care and concern
We aim to exceed expectations and serve our clients in unexpected ways.
We’ll take on only what we can do right. Our business may be payroll, tax and HR tools, but our success is all about service - exceptional human led service. When you call us, we answer and talk to you. With The Payroll Department, you are a person not a number and you matter!
We commit to solutions
We share ideas openly, and encourage healthy debate that focuses on solving the root cause of the problem, not treating symptoms. We question respectfully, but once a solution is identified we COMMIT fully.
We give back
We Give back to our community, we donate to local non-profits, volunteer at their organizations, and shop locally wherever we can. Our staff serves on non-profit boards, we offer 1 day off a year to volunteer, and match employee non-profit donations up to $500. As a company, we consistently give back over 5 - 10% of our profits to our community
We grow our people and our business
We’ve evolved greatly since we started in 1993, expanding ourselves and our business purpose.
We want to embrace change and ensure every person has the opportunity to grow and contribute. We want our people to soar.
We do the right thing for our team and our clients
We strive to do things right and recognize that we are a business of humans: mistakes will happen.
Therefore, our promise is to do the right thing: act with integrity, own our actions, correct mistakes, and learn from experience. Everyone on the team makes a difference and their contribution is valued.
We own the problem
At The Payroll Department, it’s not enough to do our own jobs well.
Making sure our clients are satisfied is everyone’s job. So if something needs fixing, we step up to the plate: “OWN” the problem and make things right.
We adapt to change
We operate in an environment of TRUST and encourage transparency and flexibility.
We hire positive people who are forward-thinking. Our goal is to ”manage towards yes.”
Our Expert Services
We offer a range of services designed to streamline payroll processing, ensure compliance, and support employee management. Our solutions are tailored to meet the unique needs of businesses across various industries, all on one platform.
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Our Pay & Manage Employees services provide comprehensive solutions to streamline payroll processing, ensure tax compliance, and manage employee benefits. By automating these critical functions, businesses can focus on growth while ensuring their employees are paid accurately and on time.
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Simplify onboarding and HR tasks with an intuitive, cloud-based system. Empower employees, streamline reporting, and maintain compliance—all in one place.
Electronic Onboarding (no paper)
Why hassle with employee W2 reprint requests or deciphering handwritten new hire paperwork when you can seamlessly guide an employee through the application, new hire onboarding, and benefits enrollment processes electronically?Integrated, paperless Employee Onboarding that carries data automatically to payroll and the timeclock.
Attract & Hire (job postings and candidate hiring)
Attract & Hire is a powerful tool that enables you to effortlessly create and post job openings across various platforms. It streamlines the review process for applications, allowing you to efficiently assess candidates. Additionally, this module automatically transitions successful applicants into the Employee Onboarding process, ensuring a smooth and organized start for new hires.
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Reduce your cost of labor, admin time and compliance risk. Increase productivity, accountability and employee satisfaction.
Time Keeping & Labor Managmenet
Reduce your cost of labor, admin time and compliance risk. Increase productivity, accountability and employee satisfaction.
Scheduling
A simpler way to oversee and gain visibility into worker schedules is a must have for any employer. From staying compliant with legal staffing regulations to the shift toward hybrid work environments, staffing managers face more challenges than ever. Empower workers and managers to improve operational efficiencies with Scheduling—an adaptive, feature rich solution that makes creating, updating, and communicating employee schedules a strategic asset.
Workforce Scheduling
Effective workforce scheduling is vital to an organization’s success. But incorporating a solution that keeps a business running smoothly does not just impact your bottom line—it impacts your people. As an enhancement to Scheduling, Workforce Scheduling allows employers to quickly schedule employees as large groups or an entire organization. Quickly categorize employees, set schedules, communicate shift shortages and requirements, and predict future workforce needs.
Expense Management
With employment laws and expense regulations constantly evolving, employers need to ensure alignment with company budget goals and policies while gaining visibility into what funds are moving in and out of the business. With Expense Management, automate processes, comply with regulations, and maximize employee participation in expense reporting without the need for additional software.
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Empower employees to engage and share to perform at their best, while learning and growing their career
Performance Management (performance reviews and engagement)
Recognizing employees beyond the context of work serves as a valuable post-pandemic opportunity—one that can boost employee engagement and customer experience. With Share & Perform, enable multi-directional employee communication that drives toward a transformative company culture. Built-in employee recognition and performance management tools allow both employees and managers to engage in maximum business success.
Learn & Grow (online learning)
Nurture employees' desires for higher education with tailored course content and career growth opportunities through Learn & Grow, an end-to-end learning management system.
Compensation Management
Attract and retain top talent with a comprehensive compensation program that helps your team stay up-to-date on industry trends with the functionality of an intelligently connected platform that lets them manage the entire process from start to finish.
Giving & Volunteering
Giving & Volunteering provides both employees and employers what they are asking for—alignment with charitable causes plus simple, seamless methods for managing giving programs, processing contributions, and reporting social responsibility. Now, even as a small employer, you can compete for top talent while fostering employee loyalty and retention
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Reduce the administrative burden on your team with our partner tools and services for Workers Comp, Background Investigations, Labor Posters, HR Support, Handbooks, Expense Management, and more.
HR Services (fractional HR support)
We offer scalable HR solutions to meet the needs of organizations of all sizes and across all industries. Our services scale from startups and small businesses to comprehensive enterprise HR solutions. These solutions are great for companies that do not have a dedicated HR resource, in situations where the HR person wears multiple hats, or the HR team is stretched thin and needs some extra support.
Background Screening
Embed background screening inside the Attract & Hire tool, or manage background screens individually with our partner National Crime Search.
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Our Pay & Manage Employees services provide comprehensive solutions to streamline payroll processing, ensure tax compliance, and manage employee benefits. By automating these critical functions, businesses can focus on growth while ensuring their employees are paid accurately and on time.
People Analytics
Get access to robust data across industries and locations to benchmark your business and track metrics.
Artificial Intelligence Tools
Automate payroll tasks in your payroll and HR workflow - we have experience implementing several tools to save your team time. Ask us about our AI payroll audit.
Conversational Assistance
Provide your team a chat bot to address basic questions like PTO balances, company holidays, etc
Intelligent Reporting
Access over 500 reports and customize reports for data driven decision making.
Industries We Support
We specialize in providing tailored payroll and HR solutions for a variety of industries, ensuring each client receives expert support tailored to their unique needs.

Regional Hospitals and Medical Centers
Expert payroll and HR solutions for healthcare providers, focusing on accuracy and compliance.

In-Home Care
Simplify payroll and HR processes for in-home care services, supporting caregivers and clients alike.
About The Payroll Department
The Payroll Department is a leading provider of payroll and HR solutions, dedicated to helping businesses streamline their operations and focus on growth. With expertise in industries like breweries, healthcare, in-home care, and non-profits, we offer tailored services that ensure compliance, efficiency, and employee satisfaction.

Our Impact
We pride ourselves on delivering comprehensive payroll and HR solutions that empower businesses to thrive. With a legacy spanning decades, we have helped over 2300 businesses streamline their operations, ensuring compliance, efficiency, and employee satisfaction.
1993
The year we processed our first payroll, marking the beginning of our legacy
2300+
Businesses we've helped by streamlining their operations
100+
Combined years of payroll experience among our team members
NPS 71
Clients refer us all the time

Real Success Stories
Discover how our payroll and HR solutions have helped businesses like yours thrive.

We assisted local regional hospital, Animas Surgical Hospital, in implementing new payroll software and workforce scheduling to address staffing challenges and improve operational efficiency. By leveraging data-driven insights, the hospital was able to optimize staffing levels, reduce costs, and enhance patient care quality.

We helped local Ska Brewing streamline their payroll processes, reducing administrative time by implementing onboarding, and ensuring compliance with labor laws. This allowed them to focus more on brewing and less on paperwork, resulting in increased efficiency and productivity across their operations.

Our payroll and HR solutions helped San Juan Mountains Association, a leading nonprofit organization streamline their administrative processes, allowing them to allocate more resources to their mission. By automating payroll and enhancing HR management, they were able to improve employee satisfaction and reduce administrative burdens.
What Our Clients Say
Hear from our satisfied clients about their experiences with our payroll and HR services
You guys are worth your weight in gold! I have paid more in penalties to the IRS before using you than three years worth of your services. As long as I have a business I will use you.
Gary Peach
Pura Vida Cafe
The Payroll Department has taken the worry out of payroll processing. They are current on regulations and rules and we feel confident when submitting reports, taxes, etc. They are very responsive to all of our needs in a timely manner. The web based time clock makes it easy for employees to clock in and out and for us to keep tabs on staffing.
Christie Crager
Integrated Physical Therapy
We have a unique business model and The Payroll Department came up with quick innovative solutions to meet our needs! It's been a pleasure to work with them--- their customer service is phenomenal!
Joelle Riddle
Medical Horticultural Services
The Payroll Department has taken the worry out of payroll processing. They are current on regulations and rules and we feel confident when submitting reports, taxes, etc. They are very responsive to all of our needs in a timely manner. The web based time clock makes it easy for employees to clock in and out and for us to keep tabs on staffing.
Christie Crager
Integrated Physical Therapy
We have a unique business model and The Payroll Department came up with quick innovative solutions to meet our needs! It's been a pleasure to work with them--- their customer service is phenomenal!
Joelle Riddle
Medical Horticultural Services
Latest Insights from Our Blog
Stay updated with the latest payroll and HR insights, trends, and best practices from our experts.
Discover how to simplify your payroll processes and reduce errors.
Learn about the critical role compliance plays in maintaining a healthy HR environment.
Explore the advantages of outsourcing payroll to improve efficiency and reduce costs.
Discover how to simplify your payroll processes and reduce errors.
Learn about the critical role compliance plays in maintaining a healthy HR environment.
Get Started with The Payroll Department
Take the first step towards simplifying your payroll and HR processes. Reach out to our team for more information or to discuss your needs.
