Prepared for ARKS Legacy Holdings · October 27, 2026
We went through every Paychex invoice since January 2025 and every paycheck in the last twelve months, and tied each run back to Paychex's own totals to the penny. Paychex is billing what its contract says. The cost problem is how the account is set up and run, and that is the part Bespoke gets to fix.
The account is priced per payroll run, not per employee. Every extra run costs as much as a full week's payroll.
Up 47% for the same service and headcount
Two price increases (5% in May 2025, 8% in April 2026), and a new-client discount that stepped from 22.7% to 17% to zero on June 22, 2026.
| Period | Payroll runs | Total paid to Paychex |
|---|---|---|
| Calendar 2025 | 53 | $44,899 |
| 2026 through October 16 | 49 | $51,971 |
| Last 12 monthsOctober 17, 2025 to October 16, 2026 | 61 | $61,904 |
| Going forward at today's paceAbout $62,000 a year with no extra runs | ~$75,000 / yr |
These sit with the seller, but Bespoke inherits the team and the habits. Each is marked by when it needs attention.
One crew member was paid twice for the same September week: $1,917 gross, about $2,075 with employer taxes. If the seller wants it back through payroll, New York requires written notice, and recovery has to start by about November 10.
The crew is paid, then management and the office are paid in a second run a business day later. Twelve weeks since January 2025 had a second run, $11,421 in fees. It's a cut-off and approval habit, not a Paychex problem.
47% of payroll is coded clerical, and two shop roles are coded clerical. If an insurance auditor reclassifies them, that's roughly $10,000 a year more premium. The seller's exposure today; Bespoke should code correctly from the start.
Hours missing from timecards get paid on a separate check at the regular rate. Overtime on the main check is always right; the most these second checks could have shorted is about $1,380. It happened again on the October 23 payroll.
9 of 30 runs from May to October 2026 went out 8 or 9 days after the week ended. Six of them included the crew, about 115 crew paychecks paid past New York's 7-day limit for hourly shop workers; the rest were office and management checks. In 2025 some weeks were paid two to three weeks late.
NY unemployment rate: 9.225% in 2025, 7.425% in 2026. A few one-off pay items we'll walk through with you directly rather than in writing.
We've asked for per-pay-period pricing, extra-run fees, setup and year-end fees, contract length and termination terms, plus Scenic's service agreement and fee history.
In an asset purchase Bespoke is a new employer with a new tax ID, and the current policy belongs to Scenic, so either path is a new group for Bespoke. The good news: New York prices small groups by coverage tier only, so the same plan costs the same no matter which broker writes it.
The current carrier and plan written for Bespoke, plus two or three alternatives to compare.
Payroll, health, disability and leave filings under Paychex's large plan. Proposal due Thursday or Friday.