Visory
US
Book a discovery call Book a call

Bookkeeping and payroll in Arizona

Bookkeeping and payroll for Arizona businesses.

Visory provides bookkeeping and payroll services for growing Arizona businesses, from professional firms and consultancies to agencies and architecture practices. A dedicated team you know by name works remotely inside your own QuickBooks or Xero file, with Delphi AI taking the repetitive parts under that team’s oversight, and keeps your books and pay runs to Arizona’s withholding, paid sick time, and transaction privilege tax rules. One flat monthly fee covers the agreed scope.

  • A dedicated team you know by name
  • Arizona rules in every pay run and close
  • One flat monthly fee for the agreed scope
Book a discovery call
The Arizona State Capitol in Phoenix, its copper dome topped by a winged figure, with flags flying over the palm-lined plaza in front.
Photo: Nils Huenerfuerst, Unsplash License

Who we work with in Arizona

Growing businesses across Arizona.

Health care and social assistance is Arizona’s largest private industry, with about 476,000 jobs, and professional, scientific, and technical services employ about 178,000 people in about 39,700 establishments (BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2025 annual averages). Across the state, private employers averaged 2.83 million jobs in 2025.

  • Services businesses with revenue of roughly $750k to $20m, led by a CEO, president, or founder.
  • Nonprofits with grants, programs, and a board to report to.
  • Franchise networks and payroll-heavy operations, with many sites and many pay runs.

All the industries we work with

Arizona rules

The Arizona rules your finance function runs on.

Seven rules set by Arizona, each with the law that sets it and what it does to your month. Your team works to them every pay run and every close.

The employee picks the rate.

Withholding follows each employee’s Form A-4 rather than a tax table, so a missing form means 2.0% by default, and the payroll file keeps every election on record before the first pay run.

Set by A.R.S. § 43-401; Laws 2021, Chapter 412

Arizona taxes the taxable income of all filers at a single 2.5% rate. Employers withhold the percentage of gross taxable wages each employee elects on Form A-4 within five days of starting: 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5%, 2.0%, 2.5%, 3.0%, or 3.5%, with 2.0% by default. Employers averaging $1,500 or less a quarter pay quarterly; above that, payments follow the federal deposit schedule, with quarterly reconciliation by April 30, July 31, October 31, and January 31.

A.R.S. § 43-401; Laws 2021, Chapter 412; single 2.5% rate from tax year 2023; withholding percentages from January 1, 2023.

Sources Arizona Legislature: A.R.S. § 43-401, withholding tax, rates, and election by employee Arizona Joint Legislative Budget Committee: State of Arizona 2025 Tax Handbook

The cost lands early in the year.

Contributions stop once an employee’s wages pass $8,000, so most of the year’s cost falls in the first quarter, and a budget that spreads it evenly understates January to March.

Set by A.R.S. §§ 23-622, 23-728, 23-729, and 23-736

Employers pay unemployment contributions on the first $8,000 of each employee’s wages in a calendar year, the base since 2023. An employer whose account has not been chargeable with benefits through the 12 months ending June 30 of the previous year pays 2.0%; other base rates run from 0.02% to 5.40% with the employer’s reserve, and are adjusted each year for the fund’s solvency. Contributions are due each quarter on dates the department sets, and late payments bear interest of 1% a month.

A.R.S. §§ 23-622, 23-728, 23-729, and 23-736; $8,000 wage base for calendar year 2023 and each year after.

Sources Arizona Joint Legislative Budget Committee: State of Arizona 2025 Tax Handbook Arizona Legislature: A.R.S. § 23-622, wages Arizona Legislature: A.R.S. § 23-729, change from the standard contribution rate Arizona Legislature: A.R.S. § 23-736, interest on past due contributions Arizona Department of Economic Security: Reporting Wages and Paying Taxes, Schedule Arizona Department of Economic Security: Payment of Taxes, Overview

A new rate every January.

The state rate moves with inflation each January 1 and Flagstaff’s moves on its own, so the payroll file records each employee’s work location and both rates are reset before the year’s first pay run.

Set by A.R.S. § 23-363

Arizona’s minimum wage is $15.15 an hour, raised each January 1 by the August-to-August change in the consumer price index, rounded to the nearest five cents. Employers may pay tipped employees up to $3.00 an hour less, a cash wage of $12.15, if their records show tips bring each week’s pay up to the minimum. Flagstaff sets its own minimum wage, $18.35 for 2026, with no tip credit.

A.R.S. § 23-363; 2026 rates, after the January 1 cost-of-living increase.

Sources Arizona Legislature: A.R.S. § 23-363, minimum wage US Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division: State minimum wage laws US Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division: Minimum wages for tipped employees City of Flagstaff: Minimum wage

Services usually sit outside the tax.

A services business owes tax only where a sale falls in a taxable classification, so invoices that mix goods or rentals with services show them apart, and tax collected is held for the 20th of the next month.

Set by A.R.S. Title 42, Chapter 5 (transaction privilege tax); A.R.S. § 42-5014

Arizona’s transaction privilege tax is levied on the gross receipts of businesses in its 16 taxable classifications, such as retail, prime contracting, and transient lodging; services outside those classifications are not taxed, so service providers are the main type of business exempt. The general state rate is 5.6%, and counties and cities add taxes of their own. Returns are due monthly by the 20th, or quarterly or annually for smaller liabilities.

A.R.S. Title 42, Chapter 5 (transaction privilege tax); A.R.S. § 42-5014; general state rate of 5.6% since June 2001.

Source Arizona Joint Legislative Budget Committee: State of Arizona 2025 Tax Handbook

The balance rides on every paycheck.

Sick time available, used, and paid has to appear with each regular paycheck, so accrual runs inside payroll, and growing to 15 employees lifts the cap from 24 to 40 hours.

Set by A.R.S. §§ 23-372 and 23-375

Employees accrue at least one hour of earned paid sick time for every 30 hours worked. With 15 or more employees, an employer must allow up to 40 hours a year to be accrued and used; with fewer than 15, up to 24 hours, counting full-time, part-time, and temporary staff. Each paycheck, or an attachment to it, shows the sick time available, the time taken this year, and the sick pay received, and new employees get a written notice.

A.R.S. §§ 23-372 and 23-375; accrual from July 1, 2017, or the start of employment if later.

Sources Arizona Legislature: A.R.S. § 23-372, accrual of earned paid sick time Arizona Legislature: A.R.S. § 23-375, notice

A dismissal can bring payday forward.

Final pay for a discharged employee can fall before the next scheduled run, so an off-cycle payment is prepared when the termination is entered, while someone who resigns is paid on the usual cycle.

Set by A.R.S. §§ 23-351 and 23-353

Employers designate two or more fixed paydays each month, not more than 16 days apart; an employer based outside Arizona with a centralized payroll may pay professional, administrative, executive, outside sales, and supervisory staff on as few as one payday a month. A discharged employee is paid within seven working days or by the end of the next regular pay period, whichever is sooner, and an employee who quits by the regular payday for the period in which they left.

A.R.S. §§ 23-351 and 23-353.

Sources Arizona Legislature: A.R.S. § 23-351, designation of paydays for employees Arizona Legislature: A.R.S. § 23-353, payment of wages of discharged employee

Onboarding sets the withholding.

The Form A-4 election decides the state withholding on every paycheck, so it is collected before the first pay run, and the new-hire report is prepared from the same setup.

Set by A.R.S. § 23-722.01; A.R.S. § 43-401

Employers report each employee hired, rehired, or returning to work who lives or works in Arizona to the Department of Economic Security within 20 days, on a W-4 or equivalent form giving the employee’s name, address, and Social Security number, the employer’s name, address, and federal tax ID, and the date work began. Each new employee also elects an Arizona withholding percentage on Form A-4 within five days of employment.

A.R.S. § 23-722.01; A.R.S. § 43-401.

Sources Arizona Legislature: A.R.S. § 43-401, withholding tax, rates, and election by employee Arizona Legislature: A.R.S. § 23-722.01, employer reporting and new hire directory

Rules last checked October 9, 2026 against the sources at the foot of this page. General information only. It does not take your circumstances into account.

Local rules

Where the rules change across Arizona.

Your team applies the local rules as well as the Arizona ones. These are the places where a local tax, a wage rate, or a leave law differs from the rest of the state.

The Flagstaff welcome sign under ponderosa pines, with the snow-capped San Francisco Peaks behind.
Photo: Dakman111, CC0

Flagstaff

Flagstaff sets its own minimum wage, above the state rate, and allows no reduced wage for employees who earn tips.

  • Flagstaff’s minimum wage is $18.35 an hour from January 1, 2026, and the city has set it at $18.95 from January 1, 2027, against the statewide $15.15.
  • Every employee earns the full minimum wage whether or not they regularly earn tips, so the $3.00 tipped wage reduction allowed under state law does not apply in the city.
  • Title 15 of the Flagstaff City Code, passed by voters as Proposition 414 in 2016, covers anyone who works or is expected to work 25 hours or more in a calendar year within the city limits.

How it works from anywhere

Can a team outside Arizona run an Arizona business?

Yes. Visory’s US leadership team is in New York, and its teams work with businesses across the United States remotely, inside your own accounting file, so nothing about the work depends on where your office is.

Your own file

Your books stay in your own QuickBooks or Xero file. Your team works inside it, so you see the same numbers they do, whenever you look.

A team you know by name

A dedicated team runs the work, led by a Business Performance Partner. You meet them by video call, and you always know who to ask.

Arizona rules, built in

Visory runs the finance function for growing businesses across the United States, with its US leadership team in New York. Your books stay in your own QuickBooks or Xero file, and your team works inside it with you. Every pay run and every close is checked against the rules on this page.

Business hours, and the platform after them

Your team works 9am to 5pm Eastern Time on business days, all year round, and the Visory platform is open to you around the clock for documents, approvals, and your numbers.

What we run for Arizona businesses

The whole finance function, actually handled.

Bookkeeping, payroll, accounts payable, and accounts receivable, run end to end by a dedicated team with Delphi AI working under their oversight. Flat monthly fee. No hourly billing.

Bookkeeping

Every transaction coded and reconciled, month-end closed on schedule.

Explore bookkeeping

Payroll

Pay runs prepared, checked, and paid on time, every cycle.

See how payroll runs

Accounts payable

Bills captured, checked against what's already paid, and paid when you say so.

See accounts payable

Accounts receivable

Invoices out on schedule, overdue accounts followed up in your name.

See accounts receivable

Visory Insights

Once a month: what changed, what it means, and what to do next.

See how Insights works

Business Performance Partner

A named partner who walks you through the numbers and the next move.

How your partner works

Visory Insights

What your numbers should show in Arizona.

Clean books are the start. Every month, Insights turns them into a plain-English report, and a named Business Performance Partner walks your leadership team through what they mean for the year ahead.

Unemployment costs, front-loaded

At the 2.0% rate for new employers on the first $8,000 of wages, each employee costs up to $160 a year, and anyone paid more than $32,000 a year reaches the cap within the first quarter. Insights accrues that cost on January to March wages and puts the payment on April 30, when the first-quarter tax is due.

Payroll growth moves the withholding calendar

Arizona withholding is paid quarterly while it averages $1,500 a quarter or less; above that, it follows your federal deposit schedule. At the 2.0% default rate, that line is $75,000 of quarterly payroll. Insights shows the quarter your hiring plan moves the payments forward.

Flagstaff’s next step is already set

Flagstaff’s minimum wage rises from $18.35 to $18.95 on January 1, 2027: 60 cents an hour, or $1,248 a year for each full-time employee on the minimum, before payroll taxes. Insights puts the step into the 2027 budget now, not after the first pay run.

Looking for a fractional CFO in Arizona? Visory has no standalone CFO offer. That work sits inside Visory Insights and your sessions with a Business Performance Partner. See Visory Insights

What customers say

In a customer’s words.

“Visory applies a commercial lens to how we manage client revenue, always ensuring we balance serving our clients with our business' best interests.”

Rachelle Harper Co-founder and COO, BrandBossHQ

Common questions

Questions Arizona businesses ask.

Straight answers about bookkeeping and payroll for an Arizona business, from a team that works remotely.

Does Visory have an office in Arizona?

Visory’s US leadership team is in New York, and its teams work with growing businesses across the United States remotely, so we support businesses in Arizona as we do everywhere else. An Arizona business gets a dedicated team you know by name, who keep the books and run payroll inside your own QuickBooks or Xero file and meet you by video call. Your records stay in your file, which you can open at any time.

What hours does my Visory team work?

Your team works 9am to 5pm Eastern Time on business days, all year round. Outside those hours, the Visory platform is your 24/7 access point, so your financial information is there whenever you need it.

Can a bookkeeper outside my office look after an Arizona business?

Yes. What matters is that the team knows Arizona’s rules and works inside your own accounting file. Visory connects to your bank feeds and software, codes and reconciles transactions through the month with Delphi AI working under an expert team, and meets you by video call. Nothing about the work depends on where your office is.

How much does a bookkeeper cost in Arizona?

Visory charges one flat monthly fee for the scope we agree, with no hourly billing and no timesheets. The fee reflects the services you take, from bookkeeping and payroll to accounts payable, accounts receivable, and Insights, and the volume of work in your business. After a discovery call, you get a clear proposal, so you know the monthly cost before you start.

See how pricing works

Do you work in QuickBooks and Xero?

Yes. Visory works inside the systems you already use: QuickBooks and Xero for the ledger, Gusto and Rippling for pay runs, and Bill, Ramp, and Stripe for payments, along with your bank feeds. Your books stay in your own accounting file, which you own and can open at any time. Any change to your setup is agreed with you first.

Do Arizona businesses charge sales tax on services?

Usually not. Arizona’s transaction privilege tax applies to gross receipts in 16 taxable classifications, such as retail, prime contracting, and transient lodging, and services outside them are not taxed. Where a sale is taxable, the state rate is 5.6%, plus county and city taxes, with returns due monthly by the 20th. This is general information; the Arizona Department of Revenue sets the rules.

How much Arizona income tax do I withhold from wages?

The percentage each employee elects on Form A-4 within five days of starting: 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5%, 2.0%, 2.5%, 3.0%, or 3.5% of gross taxable wages, or 2.0% if no form is completed. Arizona taxes income at a single 2.5% rate. Your Payroll Specialist keeps each election on file. This is general information; the Arizona Department of Revenue sets the rules.

How much paid sick time do Arizona employees get?

Employees earn at least one hour for every 30 hours worked: up to 24 hours a year with fewer than 15 employees, and up to 40 hours with 15 or more. Each paycheck shows the sick time available, used, and paid this year, and new employees get a written notice. This is general information; Arizona’s earned paid sick time law sets the rules.

Can you look after staff in more than one state?

Yes. Each state sets its own income tax withholding, unemployment insurance, minimum wage, and leave rules, and Arizona withholding applies to pay for services performed in Arizona. Visory keeps one set of books and runs payroll with each state’s rules applied to the staff who work there, so every state’s cost shows in one monthly report.

Do you offer a fractional CFO in Arizona?

A fractional CFO advises on numbers someone else produces. Visory runs the books, payroll, and payments, then delivers the insight from the same team: Visory Insights is a plain-English monthly report and a session with a named Business Performance Partner. There is no handover between the doing and the advising, and it comes on one flat monthly fee.

See how Visory Insights works
More questions, longer answers. Every question has its own link. See all common questions

Getting started

Start with clarity, not a contract.

Three steps, in whatever rhythm suits you. Each one is useful on its own.

  1. Two people shake hands across a desk beside a laptop

    Book a discovery call

    An obligation-free conversation about your goals and what you want the numbers to tell you.

    Obligation-free
  2. A woman takes notes beside a laptop showing a financial report

    Get your free financial health check

    A senior member of the Visory team analyzes your financials and shows you where your finance function can improve. It is free, and it is your own numbers.

    Free · your own numbers
  3. Top-down view of hands on a laptop showing the Visory accounts receivable workflow

    Receive a clear proposal

    A clear commercial proposal for the scope we agree, on one flat monthly fee. No hourly billing. You decide whether to go ahead.

    Flat monthly fee

Get started

The best is ahead for your business.

Start with a discovery call. We will listen first, then show you what your own numbers have been trying to tell you.

Book a discovery call
Sources (17) · rules last checked October 9, 2026

A different Visory region may suit you

You’re viewing Visory US. Would you like to visit Visory AU?