Bookkeeping and payroll in Connecticut
Bookkeeping and payroll for Connecticut businesses.
Visory provides bookkeeping and payroll services for growing Connecticut businesses, from consulting firms and agencies to nonprofits. A dedicated team you know by name works 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 Connecticut’s sales tax on services, withholding, and paid leave rules. One flat monthly fee covers the agreed scope.
- A dedicated team you know by name
- Connecticut rules in every pay run and close
- One flat monthly fee for the agreed scope
Who we work with in Connecticut
Growing businesses across Connecticut.
Health care and social assistance is Connecticut’s largest private industry, with about 300,000 jobs, and finance and insurance employs about 96,000 people at average annual pay of $244,633, 1.4 times its share of jobs nationally (BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2025 annual averages). Across the state, private employers averaged about 1.47 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.
- Professional services Professional, scientific, and technical services employ about 102,000 people in Connecticut in almost 23,000 establishments, at average annual pay of $145,598 (BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2025).
- Consulting firms Management, scientific, and technical consulting firms employ about 17,000 people in Connecticut at average annual pay of $166,124 (BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2025), and management consulting services are taxable under Connecticut sales tax.
- Marketing and creative agencies Advertising, public relations, and related services employ about 6,100 people in Connecticut, 1.17 times the industry’s share of jobs nationally (BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2025), and Connecticut taxes some advertising and public relations services.
- Nonprofits Religious, grantmaking, civic, and professional organizations employ about 16,000 people in Connecticut, and grantmaking and giving services hold 1.13 times their national share of jobs (BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2025).
Connecticut rules
The Connecticut rules your finance function runs on.
Eight rules set by Connecticut, 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.
Last year’s payroll sets this year’s calendar.
DRS looks back to the year ending June 30 to set weekly, monthly, or quarterly payments, so a business that grows past $10,000 of withholding pays every week the following year, and each payment has to agree with its payroll.
Employers withhold Connecticut income tax using the tables in IP 2026(1), Circular CT, and each employee’s Form CT-W4 code. Rates run from 2.00% to 6.99%, and an employee who gives no Form CT-W4 is withheld at 6.99%. DRS sets each employer’s payments from the 12 months to June 30, 2025: more than $10,000 of withholding means paying weekly, $2,000 to $10,000 monthly by the 15th, and less quarterly. Form CT-941 is due April 30, July 31, October 31, and January 31.
Conn. Gen. Stat. § 12-705; IP 2026(1), Connecticut Employer’s Tax Guide; withholding requirements and tables effective January 1, 2026.Source CT Department of Revenue Services: IP 2026(1), Connecticut Employer’s Tax Guide, Circular CT
The cost lands early in the year.
Contributions stop once an employee’s wages pass $27,000, so for well-paid staff most of the year’s cost falls in the first quarter, and a budget that spreads it evenly understates January to March.
Employers pay unemployment contributions on the first $27,000 of each employee’s wages in 2026, up from $26,100 in 2025, as the wage base is now indexed each year. New employers pay 1.9%, and 2026 contribution rates run from 1.1% to 9.9%, including the 1.0% fund solvency rate. Tax and wage reports and payments are due April 30, July 31, October 31, and January 31.
Connecticut Unemployment Compensation Law; taxable wage base and rates effective January 1, 2026.Sources CT Department of Labor: Information on unemployment tax rate for calendar year 2026 CT Department of Labor: What are the tax rates and taxable wage base? CT Department of Labor: Employer’s Guide to Unemployment Compensation (April 2026)
The floor rises every January.
Because the rate is indexed each year, pay rates near the minimum need a review before the first pay run of 2027, when every hour paid at $16.94 has to move to $17.48.
Connecticut’s minimum wage is $16.94 an hour from January 1, 2026, and rises to $17.48 on January 1, 2027, under the 2019 law that adjusts it each year by the federal employment cost index. In 2026, tipped waitstaff may be paid $6.38 an hour and bartenders $8.23, when their tips make up the rest of the minimum wage.
Public Act 19-4, An Act Increasing the Minimum Fair Wage; $16.94 from January 1, 2026; $17.48 from January 1, 2027.Sources Office of the Governor of Connecticut: Minimum wage will increase to $17.48 on January 1, 2027 CT Department of Labor: Tip statement, effective January 1, 2026 CT Department of Labor: Wage and hour, minimum wage and overtime
Consulting fees can carry sales tax.
A Connecticut firm selling management consulting or design work collects 6.35% on the invoice and holds it for the state, so the books keep tax collected apart from fee income until each period’s return is paid.
Connecticut taxes the services listed in Conn. Gen. Stat. § 12-407, including business management, management consulting, and public relations services; advertising work such as layout, art direction, and graphic design not related to media advertising; interior design; and computer and data processing services, taxed at 1%. The general rate is 6.35%, with no local sales taxes. Form OS-114 is due by the last day of the month after each monthly, quarterly, or annual filing period DRS assigns.
Conn. Gen. Stat. § 12-407 (Sales and Use Taxes).Sources CT Department of Revenue Services: Services subject to sales and use taxes CT Department of Revenue Services: Sales and use tax information
Small employers join in 2027.
A business with fewer than 11 employees starts accruing sick leave on January 1, 2027, so hours need tracking in the payroll file from that day, and the week containing January 1 sets each year’s headcount.
Employers with 11 or more employees in Connecticut provide paid sick leave from January 1, 2026, and the law reaches employers with 1 or more employees on January 1, 2027. Employees accrue one hour for every 30 hours worked, up to 40 hours a year, from their first day, may use it 120 calendar days after hire, and may carry over up to 40 unused hours. Headcount is set by the payroll for the week containing January 1.
Connecticut General Statutes §§ 31-57r to 31-57w; employers with 11 or more employees from January 1, 2026; 1 or more from January 1, 2027.Sources CT Department of Labor: Paid sick leave notice, effective January 1, 2026 CT Department of Labor: Paid sick leave FAQs
A dismissal moves the payday.
Final pay for someone let go is due the next business day, not on the next pay run, so payroll has to be ready to pay outside the normal cycle, while a resignation waits for the regular payday.
Employers pay wages weekly or once every two weeks on a regular payday designated in advance, and the pay period may end no more than eight days before that payday. An employee who is discharged is paid in full by the next business day, and one who quits is paid in full by the next regular payday.
Connecticut General Statutes §§ 31-71b and 31-71c.Source Connecticut General Assembly: General Statutes, Chapter 558, wages (§§ 31-71b, 31-71c, 31-71f)
Onboarding is part of the pay run.
The new-hire report and the written pay terms draw on the same setup as the first pay, so both are done the day someone is added to the payroll file, well inside the 14 days.
Employers doing business in Connecticut report every new or rehired employee to the Department of Labor within 14 days of the date of hire, or within 20 days when reporting by fax or mail. At the time of hiring, each employee is also told in writing their rate of pay, hours of employment, and wage payment schedule.
Connecticut new hire reporting; Conn. Gen. Stat. § 31-71f.Sources CT Department of Labor: Employer’s Guide to Unemployment Compensation (April 2026) Connecticut General Assembly: General Statutes, Chapter 558, wages (§§ 31-71b, 31-71c, 31-71f)
A deduction with a ceiling.
Contributions stop once an employee’s earnings reach $184,500 for the year, so the deduction has to switch off at the cap, and each quarterly remittance has to agree with the deductions in every pay run.
Employees contribute 0.5% of their pay to CT Paid Leave in 2026, the rate the Paid Leave Authority’s board kept for the year and the most the law allows, on earnings up to the Social Security contribution and benefit base, $184,500 for 2026. There is no employer match, but the employer deducts the contributions each pay period and remits them to the authority every quarter.
Connecticut General Statutes § 31-49g (CT Paid Leave); contribution rate for 2026; Social Security wage base for 2026 earnings.Sources Connecticut General Assembly: General Statutes, Chapter 557, § 31-49g, paid family and medical leave CT Paid Leave Authority: Contributions CT Paid Leave Authority: I am an employer (register, deduct, remit) Social Security Administration: Contribution and benefit base
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.
How it works from anywhere
Can a team outside Connecticut run a Connecticut 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.
Connecticut 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 Connecticut 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 bookkeepingPayroll
Pay runs prepared, checked, and paid on time, every cycle.
See how payroll runsAccounts payable
Bills captured, checked against what's already paid, and paid when you say so.
See accounts payableAccounts receivable
Invoices out on schedule, overdue accounts followed up in your name.
See accounts receivableVisory Insights
Once a month: what changed, what it means, and what to do next.
See how Insights worksBusiness Performance Partner
A named partner who walks you through the numbers and the next move.
How your partner worksVisory Insights
What your numbers should show in Connecticut.
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 land in the first quarter
At the 1.9% new-employer rate on the $27,000 wage base, each employee costs up to $513 in unemployment contributions in 2026, and for anyone paid more than $108,000 a year, all of it falls in the first quarter. Insights puts that into the cash flow forecast.
Consulting invoices carry tax for the state
On a $20,000 management consulting engagement, Connecticut sales tax at 6.35% adds $1,270, and that money belongs to the state until the return for the period is filed. Insights keeps tax collected apart from fee income, so the cash you plan from is the business’s own.
Sick leave reaches every employer in 2027
From January 1, 2027, sick leave covers employers with even one employee, and at the new $17.48 minimum wage, a full 40 hours is worth $699.20 a year for each employee paid at the floor. Insights shows that cost in the 2027 budget before the first hour accrues.
Looking for a fractional CFO in Connecticut? 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 understands my business deeply and it's evident with the thoughtful questions they ask and changes they propose.”
Rachelle Harper Co-founder and COO, BrandBossHQ Common questions
Questions Connecticut businesses ask.
Straight answers about bookkeeping and payroll for a Connecticut business, from a team that works remotely.
Does Visory have an office in Connecticut?
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 Connecticut as we do everywhere else. A Connecticut 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 a Connecticut business?
Yes. What matters is that the team knows Connecticut’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 Connecticut?
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 Connecticut businesses charge sales tax on services?
It depends on the service. Connecticut taxes the services its sales tax law lists, including management consulting, business management, public relations, some advertising and graphic design work, interior design, and computer and data processing services, which are taxed at 1%. The general rate is 6.35%, with no local sales tax. This is general information; the Department of Revenue Services sets the rules.
How much is the CT Paid Leave deduction in 2026?
Employees contribute 0.5% of their pay in 2026, on earnings up to $184,500, the Social Security wage base, and there is no employer match. The employer deducts it each pay period and remits it to the CT Paid Leave Authority every quarter. Your Payroll Specialist stops the deduction at the cap and reconciles each remittance to the pay runs behind it.
Do small Connecticut employers have to offer paid sick leave?
From January 1, 2027, yes. The law covers employers with 11 or more employees in 2026 and reaches employers with 1 or more on January 1, 2027. Employees accrue one hour for every 30 hours worked, up to 40 hours a year, and can use it 120 calendar days after hire. This is general information; the Department of Labor 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 Connecticut does not tax a nonresident’s pay for 15 or fewer days of work in the state. 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 Connecticut?
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 worksGetting started
Start with clarity, not a contract.
Three steps, in whatever rhythm suits you. Each one is useful on its own.
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Book a discovery call
An obligation-free conversation about your goals and what you want the numbers to tell you.
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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.
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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.