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Bookkeeping and payroll in Missouri

Bookkeeping and payroll for Missouri businesses.

Visory provides bookkeeping and payroll services for growing Missouri businesses, from professional 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 Missouri’s withholding, unemployment insurance, and city earnings tax rules. One flat monthly fee covers the agreed scope.

  • A dedicated team you know by name
  • Missouri rules in every pay run and close
  • One flat monthly fee for the agreed scope
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The Old Courthouse in downtown St. Louis, with the Gateway Arch rising behind its dome under a clear blue sky.
Photo: James L, Pexels License

Who we work with in Missouri

Growing businesses across Missouri.

Health care and social assistance is Missouri’s largest private industry, with about 458,000 jobs, and professional, scientific, and technical services employ about 163,000 people in almost 30,000 establishments (BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2025 annual averages). Across the state, private employers averaged about 2.48 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

Missouri rules

The Missouri rules your finance function runs on.

Six rules set by Missouri, 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.

Withholding can be due four times a month.

A growing payroll moves from quarterly to monthly to quarter-monthly payment as withholding rises, so payroll and the books are reconciled to each payment period, and the change is planned before the department assigns it.

Set by Revised Statutes of Missouri, Chapter 143; 2026 Missouri Withholding Tax Formula

Employers withhold Missouri income tax using the 2026 formula: after a standard deduction of $16,100 for a single employee, the first $1,348 of annual taxable income is taxed at 0%, and rates rise in steps from 2% to 4.7% above $9,436. Supplemental wages paid separately may be withheld at a flat 4.7%. Employers withholding $500 a month in at least two of the prior 12 months file Form MO-941 monthly, and those withholding $9,000 in two months pay quarter-monthly.

Revised Statutes of Missouri, Chapter 143; 2026 Missouri Withholding Tax Formula; 2026 withholding tax formula and tables, for wages paid in 2026.

Sources Missouri Department of Revenue: 2026 Missouri Withholding Tax Formula Missouri Department of Revenue: Employer’s Tax Guide, Form 4282 (revised March 2026)

The cost lands early in the year.

At $9,000 a head, contributions stop within months for most salaried staff, so the first quarter carries most of the year’s cost, and a budget that spreads it evenly overstates the rest of the year.

Set by Missouri Employment Security Law, Chapter 288 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri

Employers pay unemployment insurance tax on the first $9,000 of each employee’s wages in 2026, down from $9,500 in 2025. New employers pay 2.376%, and nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations 1.00%. Rates range from 0.0% to 6.0%, before any maximum rate surcharge or contribution rate adjustment. Quarterly contribution and wage reports are due by the last day of the month after each quarter: April 30, July 31, October 31, and January 31.

Missouri Employment Security Law, Chapter 288 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri; 2026 taxable wage base and new employer rates, for calendar year 2026.

Sources Missouri Division of Employment Security: Tax rates Missouri Division of Employment Security: Employers’ rights and responsibilities under the Missouri Employment Security Law

Every rate below $15.00 has to move.

Staff paid between the old $13.75 and the new floor need a raise, and those just above it often expect one, so the 2026 payroll budget is rebuilt from each employee’s rate, not last year’s total.

Set by Revised Statutes of Missouri § 290.502

The Missouri minimum wage is $15.00 an hour from January 1, 2026, up from $13.75 in 2025, and the statute, as amended in 2025, schedules no further increase. Tipped employees are paid at least 50% of the minimum wage, $7.50 an hour, plus whatever brings their total pay to $15.00. Retail or service businesses with annual gross income under $500,000 are not required to pay the state rate.

Revised Statutes of Missouri § 290.502; $15.00 rate effective January 1, 2026.

Sources Missouri Revisor of Statutes: RSMo § 290.502, minimum wage rate Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations: Minimum wage

The statute’s list decides the invoice.

A services business charges sales tax only on what section 144.020 names, such as rentals of equipment, so each invoice line is coded taxable or not, and the books show the tax collected in each period.

Set by Revised Statutes of Missouri, Chapter 144 (§ 144.020)

Missouri’s 4.225% state sales tax applies to tangible goods and to the services listed in section 144.020, such as admissions, utilities, telecommunications, hotel rooms and meals, and rentals of tangible property. Cities, counties, and special taxing districts add local tax, so combined rates for October to December 2026 run from 5.225% to 13.238%. Sellers collecting $500 or more a month in state tax file monthly, by the last day of the following month; smaller sellers file quarterly or annually.

Revised Statutes of Missouri, Chapter 144 (§ 144.020); combined local rates in the rate table for October to December 2026.

Sources Missouri Department of Revenue: Sales and use tax Missouri Department of Revenue: Sales tax filing FAQs Missouri Department of Revenue: Sales and use tax rate tables, October to December 2026 Missouri Revisor of Statutes: RSMo § 144.020, rate of tax

A discharge is paid the same day.

Final wages for someone let go are due on the day they leave, not on the next payday, so the Payroll Specialist prepares the final pay before the conversation happens.

Set by Revised Statutes of Missouri §§ 290.080 and 290.110

Corporations doing business in Missouri pay wages at least semimonthly, within 16 days of the close of each payroll period, though executive, administrative, and professional employees and those paid partly or wholly by commission may be paid monthly. A statement of deductions is due at least monthly. When an employee is discharged, unpaid wages are due on the day of discharge; if requested pay does not arrive within seven days, wages continue as a penalty for up to 60 days.

Revised Statutes of Missouri §§ 290.080 and 290.110; § 290.080 in force since August 28, 1955; § 290.110 since August 28, 1972.

Sources Missouri Revisor of Statutes: RSMo § 290.080, employees paid semimonthly Missouri Revisor of Statutes: RSMo § 290.110, payment due discharged employee

The withholding certificate is the new-hire report.

The same Form MO W-4 that sets the employee’s withholding goes to the department within 20 days, so it is completed and sent the day someone is added to the payroll file.

Set by Revised Statutes of Missouri, Chapter 143; Missouri Employer’s Tax Guide, Form 4282

Within 20 days of hiring a new employee, employers send a copy of the completed Form MO W-4, the employee’s withholding certificate, to the Missouri Department of Revenue by email, fax, or mail; the form records the date the employee first performed services for pay. Employers withhold from each employee’s wages using that certificate, and an employee claiming exemption from withholding files a new Form MO W-4 each year to keep it.

Revised Statutes of Missouri, Chapter 143; Missouri Employer’s Tax Guide, Form 4282; Employer’s Tax Guide, Form 4282, revised March 2026.

Source Missouri Department of Revenue: Employer’s Tax Guide, Form 4282 (revised March 2026)

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 Missouri.

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

Kansas City’s skyline and Union Station from above on a bright summer day.
Photo: Far Chinberdiev, Unsplash License

Kansas City

Kansas City taxes its residents’ earnings wherever they work and nonresidents’ earnings for work in the city, and employers withhold it.

  • The earnings tax is 1% of salaries, wages, commissions, tips, and other compensation, paid by all Kansas City residents even when they work outside the city, and by nonresidents on income earned within city limits.
  • Businesses with employees in Kansas City, including staff working from home there, are subject to earnings tax withholding and the profits tax on net profits, and need a business license.
  • Withholding is reported on the quarterly return, Form RD-110, and reconciled each year on Form RD-113; filing the reconciliation late costs from $30 per employee.
The Nathan Frank Bandstand on its island in Forest Park, St. Louis, among red autumn trees reflected in the lake.
Photo: Tian Li, Unsplash License

St. Louis

The City of St. Louis adds a 1% earnings tax withheld from employees and a 0.5% payroll expense tax paid by employers.

  • Employers withhold the 1% earnings tax from the wages of employees who live in the City of St. Louis and of nonresidents who work there, and employers based in the city withhold it from all employees, wherever they work.
  • Businesses with employees working in the city also pay the 0.5% payroll expense tax on wages earned there; religious and charitable organizations and many nonprofits are exempt.
  • Both taxes are filed together each quarter on Forms W-10 and P-10, due April 30, July 31, October 31, and January 31, with the annual W-3 reconciliation and W-2s due January 31.

How it works from anywhere

Can a team outside Missouri run a Missouri 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.

Missouri 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 Missouri 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 Missouri.

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.

The $15.00 floor adds $2,600 a year

The move from $13.75 to $15.00 adds $2,600 a year for a full-time employee on 2,080 hours, before payroll taxes, and staff just above the old floor often expect a raise too. Insights shows the 2026 cost employee by employee, so the budget reflects it from January.

Unemployment costs, front-loaded

At the 2.376% new-employer rate, each employee costs up to $213.84 on the $9,000 wage base in 2026, and anyone paid more than $36,000 a year passes the base in the first quarter. Insights puts that into the cash flow forecast, so January to March is planned for.

St. Louis adds an employer cost

The City of St. Louis payroll expense tax is 0.5% of wages earned there, paid by the employer: $5,000 a year on $1 million of city payroll, on top of the 1% employees have withheld. Insights shows it in the cost of each city hire, so headcount plans carry the full price.

Looking for a fractional CFO in Missouri? 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 ensures we have a clear view of who we need to pay and how that impacts cash flow so that there are no surprises.”

Rachelle Harper Co-founder and COO, BrandBossHQ

Common questions

Questions Missouri businesses ask.

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

Does Visory have an office in Missouri?

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 Missouri as we do everywhere else. A Missouri 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 Missouri business?

Yes. What matters is that the team knows Missouri’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 Missouri?

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 Missouri businesses charge sales tax on services?

Only on the services Missouri’s sales tax law lists, such as admissions, utilities, telecommunications, hotel rooms and meals, and rentals of tangible property. The state rate is 4.225%, and local taxes bring combined rates to between 5.225% and 13.238% in late 2026. This is general information; the Missouri Department of Revenue sets the rules for your business.

Who pays the Kansas City and St. Louis earnings taxes?

Residents of each city pay a 1% earnings tax on their wages, and nonresidents pay it on wages for work done in the city, including staff working from home in Kansas City. Employers withhold it each pay run, and St. Louis employers also pay a 0.5% payroll expense tax. This is general information; each city’s revenue office 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 in Missouri, Kansas City and St. Louis tax nonresidents’ wages for work done in each city. 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 Missouri?

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.

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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.

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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.

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Sources (17) · rules last checked October 9, 2026

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