Payroll tax remediation for startups

We're who your accountant calls about payroll.

IRS notices, amended filings, R&D credits, equity messes: the payroll tax problems your platform can't fix. Run by Gusto Employee #15.

Free intro callTransparent hourly billingYou talk to the person doing the work

When to call Matcha

Move fast, break things? We fix them.

If any of these landed on your desk this week, you're in the right place.

Notices

An IRS or state notice showed up

Penalties, mystery balances, letters your payroll platform says are "out of scope."

R&D credits

You never claimed your R&D credit

Eligible quarters came and went. The refund is still claimable with amended filings.

Equity

An equity event broke your payroll

Option exercises, RSAs, 83(b) elections, or vesting that never hit a W-2 correctly.

Migrations

You're leaving a PEO

Mid-year exits from a PEO (a professional employer organization like TriNet or Justworks) where tax accounts, wage bases, and filings have to line up perfectly.

State accounts

Your state tax accounts are a mess

Wrong registrations, entity name mismatches, accounts that should've been closed years ago.

Benefits

Your 401(k) doesn't reconcile

Deferrals, matches, and payroll records that don't agree, and an auditor who wants answers.

Settlements

You have to pay a lawsuit settlement

Wage vs non-wage damages, W-2 vs 1099, withholding math, and opposing counsel wants checks by Friday.

New states

You hired someone in a new state

Remote hires mean withholding and unemployment registrations before the first paycheck, not after the first notice.

Lost history

Your old payroll provider is gone

Locked out, shut down, or switched away, and your filing history is stranded on the other side.

What we do

Deep fixes, not data entry.

Matcha isn't a bookkeeper or a payroll processor. We handle the technical payroll tax work that sits outside what platforms and generalist accountants take on.

Notice Remediation & Penalty Abatement

We take over IRS and state notices end-to-end: research, agency calls, abatement requests, resolution.

Amended Filings

941-X, state amended returns, W-2c. Filed correctly, tracked to completion.

R&D Payroll Tax Credits

Materialize credits your CPA calculated but payroll never applied, including retroactively.

Equity & Comp Tax

RSAs, RSUs, option exercises, 83(b)s, and the withholding and reporting they require.

All services →

Partner

Partner IRS Practitioner
Forms 8821 / 2848

Millions in R&D payroll tax credits claimed for clients. Trusted since 2016 by venture-backed startups and the accounting firms that advise them.

How it works

Three steps to fixed.

STEP 1

Free intro call

Tell us what happened. We'll tell you honestly whether it's a Matcha problem, and if it isn't, who to call instead.

STEP 2

Scoped, transparent work

You get a clear plan and an hourly estimate before we start. We only bill hands-on execution, not emails and check-ins.

STEP 3

We deal with the agencies

With your authorization (IRS Form 8821/2848), we work directly with the IRS and state agencies so you don't sit on hold.

One rate · No retainers

Get the tax notice off your desk.

Worried? You shouldn't be, we've seen it before… and fixed it. $495/hour, billed only for hands-on work. Most intro calls take 20 minutes.

Services

What we fix.

Specialized payroll tax work for startups and growth-stage companies. If your payroll platform said "we can't help with that," this is the page for you.

Tax Notice Remediation & Penalty Abatement

When an IRS or state notice arrives, we take it end-to-end: decode what the agency is actually asking, pull transcripts, get authorized on your account (Form 8821/2848), work the practitioner line, and pursue penalty abatement where the facts support it. You forward the letter; we handle the rest.

Typical work: IRS CP/941 notices, state payroll tax notices, penalty abatement requests, balance research and resolution.

941-X

Amended Filings

Payroll history wrong? We prepare and file corrections at every level: federal Form 941-X, state amended returns (CA DE9/DE9C and equivalents), and W-2c for employee-level fixes. We track each one until the agency confirms it's processed.

Typical work: 941-X, state amended payroll returns, W-2c/W-3c, prior-year wage corrections.

8974

R&D Payroll Tax Credits

Your CPA calculated an R&D credit (Form 6765). But if payroll never applied it against employer taxes (Form 8974), the money never arrived. We materialize the credit through your payroll platform, including retroactively via amended filings, and chase the refund until it lands.

Typical work: Form 8974 application, retroactive credit claims via 941-X, refund tracking with the IRS.

83(b)

Equity & Compensation Tax

Equity events create payroll obligations most platforms handle badly. We manage the withholding, reporting, and corrections around stock option exercises, RSAs and RSUs, 83(b) elections, and non-employee equity (1099-NEC), so W-2s come out right the first time, or get fixed when they didn't.

Typical work: exercise/vesting withholding, W-2 and W-2c for equity events, 83(b) coordination, 1099-NEC issuance.

W-2/1099

Lawsuit Settlements & Worker Classification

When an employment lawsuit settles, someone still has to pay it correctly: split wage from non-wage damages, run the W-2 side through payroll, issue the 1099 side, get the withholding right, and hit the attorneys' deadline. We've stood up a parallel payroll account, registered a new state, and delivered settlement checks to opposing counsel inside two weeks, without disturbing the company's PEO. We also help sort out who should be a contractor and who belongs on payroll before it becomes a lawsuit.

Typical work: settlement payment structuring (W-2 vs 1099), withholding calculations, pay statements for opposing counsel, new state registrations, worker classification reviews.

Old→New

Migrations & Cleanup

The unglamorous work that prevents next year's notices: PEO exits, payroll platform migrations, state tax account registrations and closures, entity name mismatch fixes, and 401(k)-to-payroll reconciliations that actually tie out.

Typical work: PEO transition management, platform migrations (Gusto, Rippling, and others), state account cleanup, 401(k) reconciliation projects.

Not sure which bucket your problem fits?

Book a free intro call. We'll tell you in 20 minutes.

Results

Real fixes, real refunds.

Millions in R&D payroll tax credits claimed for clients. Client names withheld. The numbers and situations are real.

$750,000R&D credits, 3 years

Clinical-stage biotech

$250,000 of R&D payroll tax credit per year for three straight years, the statutory maximum each time, materialized against employer taxes through payroll.

Multi-quarter401(k) reconciliation

Autonomous-tech company

Months of payroll and plan records that didn't agree, spanning a provider transition. We rebuilt the reconciliation, corrected the filings, and closed out IRS and state (EDD) remediation alongside it.

$385,909R&D refunds, 2 years

Software company

Back-to-back annual R&D credits ($186,314 and $199,695) captured across two tax years and applied through the payroll platform.

$58,425settlement paid right

Medical-education company

An employee-lawsuit settlement with wage and non-wage components. We structured the W-2 vs 1099 split, calculated the withholding, registered a new state, and got checks to opposing counsel on the attorneys' deadline, without touching their PEO.

$35,398R&D credit refunds

AI startup

Their CPA had calculated R&D credits, but the payroll platform never applied them. We filed amended 941-Xs and tracked the refunds through the IRS until every dollar arrived.

1 clean year-endPEO exit managed

Developer-tools startup

Mid-transition off a PEO with tax filings split across providers. We managed the migration and filed the amendments so the year ended with one clean set of records.

$28,559refund + IRS interest

Occupancy-analytics startup

A retroactive R&D credit claim on an amended quarter, including $545 in interest the IRS had to pay on top of the refund.

Account currentNY registration fixed

Logistics-tech startup

A New York payroll tax registration under the wrong entity name was blocking filings. We fixed the registration, amended the affected returns, and got the account current.

W-2c + 1099-NECequity events reported

Biotech company

Stock grants to employees and non-employees needed W-2c corrections and 1099-NEC issuance. We handled the withholding math and the corrected forms.

Bill resolvedlegacy Form 941

Research startup

A years-old Form 941 balance nobody could explain. We pulled transcripts, got authorized, worked the practitioner line, and resolved the bill.

Your situation won't match these exactly.

They never do. Book a call and we'll tell you what your version of "fixed" looks like.

Pricing

One rate. Billed honestly.

$495/ hour · one-hour minimum

How billing works

You're billed for hands-on execution: research, filings, agency calls, reconciliation work.
You're not billed for routine correspondence, status updates, or quick follow-up questions. If it takes five minutes, it's free.
Estimates up front. Before work starts you'll know the expected scope in hours. If something changes it, you hear about it before the bill does.
Flat-fee projects. Larger defined scopes, like a PEO migration or a multi-quarter cleanup, can be quoted as a flat project fee instead.

What things tend to cost

Illustrative. Every case differs.

Single IRS/state notice resolution: often 1–3 hours
Amended filing (941-X or state): scoped per quarter affected
R&D credit materialization: scoped per quarters amended
Migrations, reconciliations, multi-issue cleanups: scoped as projects

No retainers. No subscriptions.

You pay for the fix, not for standing around.

For accounting firms

Your client's payroll mess, off your plate.

You keep the client relationship and the books. We take the notice, the amendment, and the agency phone tree, and hand it back fixed.

How firms work with Matcha

Refer it out

Send us the client

We scope directly with them and keep you cc'd at every step, so your client never wonders who's driving.

Stay the quarterback

We work under your direction

You run the engagement; we plug in as the payroll tax specialist for the piece your team shouldn't have to burn a week on.

On call

Quick answers

A weird payroll tax question mid-engagement? Ask. If it takes five minutes, it's free. That's the billing policy.

Why firms refer Matcha

We don't compete. No bookkeeping, no income tax returns, no CAS practice. Payroll tax only. Your client stays your client.
You stay in the loop. We default to keeping the referring firm cc'd on everything, and the client hears good news from you first if you want it that way.
Specialist depth. 941-X, R&D credits (6765/8974), equity comp, state account remediation, handled by someone who does only this.
Billing your clients won't resent. $495/hour, hands-on work only, estimates up front. No retainers to explain.

Have a client with a payroll problem?

Most of Matcha's work arrives exactly that way. Let's talk about how we'd handle yours.

About

The person your accountant calls about payroll.

I'm Travis, Gusto Employee #15. I spent the platform's earliest years inside payroll operations, close enough to see where automated payroll falls over: notices, amendments, equity events, migrations, the edge cases no platform is built to chase.

I left in 2016. Customers kept asking Gusto why their support had been so good, and the founders pointed at me. Referrals started landing in my inbox. Kruze Consulting started sending clients my way too. The rest is history. I've been fixing startup payroll ever since.

Accounting firms and payroll platforms still send clients my way when a problem needs a human who knows how the agencies, the platforms, and the forms actually work, and who will stay on it until it's fixed.

Who I work with: venture-backed startups and growth-stage companies (heavy on tech and biotech), plus the accounting firms that advise them.

Who I'm not: a bookkeeper, a payroll processor, or a tax return mill. If you need someone to run payroll every two weeks or file your 1120, I'll happily point you to great people who do that.

Credentials & partnerships

Gusto Partner (and Gusto Employee #15)
Rippling Partner, signed channel partner
IRS-Registered Tax Practitioner: PTIN holder; authorized client representation via IRS Forms 8821/2848

Let's get your payroll boring again.

Contact

Book a free intro call.

20 minutes, no charge, no pitch. Bring the notice (or the mess) and leave knowing what it means and what fixing it takes.

Pick a time that works, right here:

Calendar not loading? Open it in a new tab →

Email: travis@matchapayroll.com
Call/Text: 414-426-0299

Prefer email? Forward the notice directly; a PDF or photo of the letter is the fastest way to get a real answer.

Privacy

Privacy policy.

The short version: this site doesn't track you, and what you tell us stays between us.

What we collect. The site itself sets no tracking cookies and requires no account. We receive personal information only when you choose to share it: by email, by phone or text, or when you book a call. We use Cloudflare Web Analytics for anonymous, cookie-free visit counts; it doesn't identify you individually.

Booking. Scheduling runs on OneCal. The details you enter there (name, email, meeting time) are handled by OneCal under their own privacy policy and shared with us so we can hold your appointment.

How we use it. To respond to you and to do the work you engage us for. We don't sell your information, and we don't share it with anyone except as needed to perform the engagement (for example, filing something with a tax agency on your authorization) or as required by law.

Client records. Engagement records are kept confidential and retained as required for tax-practice recordkeeping.

Questions or deletion requests. Email travis@matchapayroll.com and we'll take care of it.

Last updated: August 2026

Terms

Terms of use.

This site is information, not advice. Nothing here is tax, legal, or accounting advice for your specific situation, and reading it doesn't make you a client. A client relationship begins only with a signed engagement.

Results shown are real, not promises. The outcomes on the Results page reflect actual engagements. Every situation is different; past results don't guarantee yours.

The site is provided as-is. We work to keep it accurate and current, but we make no warranties about the site itself, and to the extent permitted by law we aren't liable for how you use information from it.

Governing law. These terms are governed by the laws of the State of California.

Questions: travis@matchapayroll.com

Last updated: August 2026

Accessibility

Accessibility.

Everyone should be able to use this site.

We aim for WCAG 2.1 AA: semantic HTML, keyboard-navigable pages, meaningful alt text, and color contrast checked in both light and dark modes.

If anything here is hard to read or use with your setup, tell us and we'll fix it — and in the meantime we'll get you whatever information you need directly. Email travis@matchapayroll.com or call/text 414-426-0299.