Payroll provider OnPay has deepened its partnership with accounting software company Xero, and plans to bring a suite of back-office services to Xero’s agricultural industry customers and their accountants.
The partnership gives U.S.-based farms and ranches that use Xero access to payroll, HR and benefits, including automated filing of Form 943 and payroll processing for H-2A visa workers. The integration also aims to simplify bookkeeping for Xero customers in the agriculture industry by giving them the ability to combine all of their finances in Xero, plus the ability to track payroll expenses by department, pay type or categories.
“Niching up” of services, as in this partnership, is a smart play for software providers that want to distinguish their products.
OnPay and Xero have an existing relationship through the Magnify agriculture management software offered by Farm Credit Services of America, so the new effort is an expansion of the market penetration they’ve already been able to secure. The Magnify arrangement helps farms and ranches improve profitability and decision-making through a real-time view of their operation’s overall financial health. OnPay and Xero’s effort allows agribusinesses and their accountants to automatically sync financial information, and OnPay also offers a guarantee that payroll taxes will be processed, filed and paid accurately.
“It’s our mission to make payroll easy for every small business,” said Mark McKee, president and chief operating officer of OnPay, in a statement. “Certain types of businesses — like farms, restaurants and nonprofits — face unique payroll and HR challenges that many other providers can’t really accommodate. We’re excited to help more businesses and their accountants finally take advantage of everything Xero and OnPay can do together.”
“We believe OnPay provides the flexible payroll functionality farms and ranches, and their accountants, need,” added Tanner Hoffman, general manager, verticals for Xero Americas. “Collaboration with OnPay is aimed at creating seamless payroll, HR and benefits services, along with providing custom solutions and personal service from OnPay when customers need it. This gives them access to solutions unique to the needs of their agriculture business so they can operate more efficiently, plan ahead and thrive.”
