Payroll year-end has deadlines nobody can move. W-2s go to US employees by January 31 and T4 slips to Canadian employees by the last day of February, and whatever is wrong in your tenant by then goes out on the form. A difference found in October is a configuration fix; the same difference found in late January is a corrected filing, an employee question and an audit trail.
Most payroll teams can run a normal period without help. Year-end is different because it concentrates a year of retro pay, off-cycle runs, address changes and tax updates into a few weeks, at the same time as the regular payrolls keep running. The figures below come from vetted Payroll consultants on Turbin who list US or Canadian payroll, and from the hourly rates they set on their own profiles.
When should you book Payroll year-end support?
Book in October or November. A November start leaves time for reconciliation and data cleanup before the final payrolls of the year, rather than during them. Payroll demand peaks ahead of year-end, so a request in the autumn finds more of the pool free than one in December, and a consultant who starts early learns your pay groups before the pressure arrives, not during the final run.
On Turbin, you describe the project: country, pay frequencies, pay groups, and whether this is your first year-end on Workday. The matching engine returns a ranked shortlist in about two minutes, usually three names, and each matched consultant approves or rejects the match, which confirms they are free for your dates. You interview for fit and payroll depth, then sign one MSA with Turbin and a rate confirmation. If you have worked with Turbin before, only the rate confirmation is new.
The median is 48 hours from request to hire on Turbin; through a staffing agency, expect 3–6 weeks, which turns a November request into a December start. Rates for the module, and what to check in an interview, are in the Payroll rates guide.
What does the year-end timeline look like?
Payroll year-end runs from October to February. October is for booking the consultant, agreeing the scope and pulling last year's issues list, then starting the year-to-date reconciliation: earnings, deductions and taxes by pay group, against the general ledger and what was remitted. November is for data: validating worker addresses and tax IDs, confirming imputed income is set up and posting, and cleaning up retro and off-cycle leftovers. Open enrollment closes, and next year's benefit deduction changes are prepared for the first January payroll.
December brings the year-end tax updates, which the consultant reviews against your own pay groups, and the final payrolls of the year, including bonuses and manual adjustments. The W-2 and T4 audit reports run before the last payroll and again after it, and every exception is worked before the year closes.
January opens with the riskiest run of the year. New tax rates start, annual wage bases and contribution limits reset (the Social Security wage base in the US, CPP and EI maximums in Canada), and open-enrollment deduction changes take effect. Check it before it pays. In the US, W-2s go to employees and to the Social Security Administration by January 31. In Canada, T4 slips, and RL-1 slips for Québec employees, go out and are filed by the last day of February. Any US corrections after filing go out as W-2c forms.
UK payroll year-end is a different engagement on a different calendar: the tax year ends on April 5 and P60s are due to employees by May 31. The UK pool on Turbin is one of the smallest we report, with a median of $80, so book it well before the tax year closes.
What belongs in a year-end scope checklist?
A complete year-end scope has seven items, and the first five belong in October and November. Agree them in writing at the start, with the hours you expect each to take, so the engagement is measured against a list rather than a feeling.
- Reconcile year-to-date earnings, deductions and taxes by pay group and tax jurisdiction, tied to the general ledger and to what was remitted.
- Confirm imputed income, such as US group-term life coverage over $50,000, is in wages before the last payroll of the year and lands on the right W-2 or T4 boxes.
- Validate addresses and tax IDs: missing or invalid SSNs and SINs, incomplete addresses, and workers whose work or home location changed mid-year.
- Review terminated workers, who still get a W-2 or T4: their addresses go stale first, and severance and final payouts are a common source of year-to-date drift.
- Clean up retro pay that crossed periods, manual payments and off-cycle runs, confirming each landed in the right tax year and quarter.
- Build and run W-2 and T4 audit reports that compare form data with payroll results and flag negative amounts, missing tax IDs and boxes that do not tie, in early December and again after the final payroll.
- Run a parallel check of the first January payroll: recalculate a sample outside Workday and compare before it pays.
The last item is the one teams skip and regret. An error in the first January run (a tax rate, a reset wage base, a new benefit deduction) repeats every period until someone finds it, so checking a sample before it pays is the cheapest hour in the engagement.
Who does what: your team or the consultant?
Your payroll lead owns the data and the sign-off: pay results, employee questions, and final approval of every run and filing. The consultant owns the Workday side: configuration fixes, testing tax updates against your pay groups, building and reading audit reports, and tracing reconciliation differences to their cause. Neither role replaces the other, and the split below is the one to agree on the first day.
| Task | In-house payroll lead | Consultant |
|---|---|---|
| Year-to-date reconciliation | Supplies ledger and remittance figures, signs off differences | Traces each difference to pay results or configuration |
| Imputed income | Confirms benefit values with HR and vendors | Sets up and tests the earnings and calculations |
| Addresses and tax IDs | Contacts workers, corrects records | Builds the validation reports |
| Tax updates | Reviews the impact on pay | Tests against your pay groups, explains the changes |
| Audit reports | Works exceptions with workers | Builds, runs and interprets the reports |
| First January payroll | Approves the run | Runs the parallel check |
| Forms and corrections | Approves and distributes | Prepares corrected data, fixes the cause |
Without an in-house payroll lead, scope more consultant hours, but keep the approvals with someone on your side: sign-off on pay and filings stays with the employer. A consultant can prepare everything up to the approval; they should not be the person who releases a payroll or files a return on your behalf.
How much does year-end support cost?
A standard three-month year-end at 15 hours a week costs about $21k at the $90 Payroll median, Turbin's flat 20% included, for a bill rate of $108. That covers the full seven-item scope alongside an in-house payroll lead, from November to January. With a certified consultant at $120 (a $144 bill rate), the same shape is about $28k: certified Payroll consultants cost about a third more.
A lighter audit-and-check engagement, 2 months at 10 hours a week across December and January, covers the audit reports, their exceptions and the parallel check of the first January run. It comes to about $9k at the median, or $12k certified. A first year-end on Workday is the heavy shape: balances converted from the previous system and form setup that has never run. Budget 4 months from October at 25 hours a week, about $47k at the median or $62k certified, and add February if you have Canadian employees.
The consultant's rate is on their profile before you talk, and Turbin's fee is its own line on the invoice; the consultant receives their full rate. There is no minimum engagement, 30 days' notice ends it, and a free replacement within 72 hours applies if the first week is not billing-quality. Weekly timesheets are approved by your payroll lead and rolled into one monthly invoice on Net-30 terms. 68% of Payroll consultants on Turbin take part-time work, which is the usual shape here. If you would rather pay one number for a defined deliverable, the engagement models guide compares hourly and fixed-scope.
Questions we get asked.
It is the year that most needs it. A first year-end on Workday reconciles balances carried over from the previous payroll system, exercises tax and form setup that has never produced a W-2 or T4, and often lands after the implementation team has rolled off. Budget the larger shape: 4 months at about 25 hours a week, roughly $47k at the $90 Payroll median, fee included.
Yes, though it costs more than catching them in December. US corrections go out as W-2c forms, with the matching filing to the Social Security Administration; Canadian corrections are amended T4 slips filed with the CRA. The consultant traces each error to its cause in Workday, fixes the configuration so it does not repeat, and prepares the corrected data. Your payroll lead approves and issues the corrections.
Part time, in most cases: 10 to 25 hours a week across the shapes in this guide. Across engagements run through Turbin to date, the median is 15 hours a week. Year-end hours are uneven: steady in November, a peak around the final December payroll and the first January run, then a taper once forms are out. 68% of Payroll consultants on Turbin take part-time work.