Bookkeeping in New York
Bookkeeping services for New York businesses.
Visory provides bookkeeping services for growing New York 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 to New York’s sales tax, withholding, and unemployment insurance rules. Visory has an office in New York. One flat monthly fee covers the agreed scope.
- A dedicated team you know by name
- New York rules in every pay run and close
- One flat monthly fee for the agreed scope
Who we work with in New York State
Growing businesses across New York State.
Health care and social assistance is New York’s largest private industry, with about 1.88 million jobs, and professional, scientific, and technical services employ about 716,000 people in almost 90,000 establishments (BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2025 annual averages). Across the state, private employers averaged 8.4 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 716,000 people in New York, at average annual pay of $163,752 (BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2025).
- Marketing and creative agencies Advertising, public relations, and related services employ about 74,000 people in New York, nearly two and a half times the industry’s share of jobs nationally (BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2025).
- Architecture and design firms Architectural and engineering firms employ about 81,000 people in New York and specialized design firms about 13,000 more (BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2025), and interior design services are taxable under New York sales tax.
- Nonprofits Religious, grantmaking, civic, and professional organizations employ about 144,000 people in New York, 1.6 times their share of jobs nationally (BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2025).
New York rules
The New York rules your finance function runs on.
Four rules set by New York State, 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 leaves the account days after payday.
The $700 trigger means most employers pay over the tax after every payroll, and the quarterly return has to agree with every payment made, so payroll and the books are reconciled each pay run, not each quarter.
Employers withhold New York State income tax using the 2026 tables in Publication NYS-50-T-NYS, revised for rate cuts of 0.2 percentage points on taxable income up to $215,400 ($323,200 for joint filers), phased in over 2026 and 2027. Rates rise with income to 10.90% above $25 million, and supplemental wages such as bonuses may be withheld at 11.70%. Once withholding reaches $700, it is paid with Form NYS-1 within 3 or 5 business days of the payroll.
New York Tax Law, Article 22; Publication NYS-50-T-NYS (1/26); withholding tables for payrolls made on or after January 1, 2026.Sources NYS Tax Department: Withholding tax rate changes for 2026 NYS Tax Department: Publication NYS-50-T-NYS (1/26), New York State Withholding Tax Tables and Methods NYS Tax Department: Personal income tax expenditure estimates, tax rate structure NYS Tax Department: Publication NYS-50, Employer’s Guide to Unemployment Insurance, Wage Reporting, and Withholding Tax
The cost lands early in the year.
Contributions stop once an employee’s wages pass $17,600, so the first quarter carries most of the year’s cost, and a budget that spreads it evenly understates January to March.
Employers pay unemployment insurance contributions on the first $17,600 of each employee’s wages in 2026, up from $12,800 in 2025; from 2026 the wage base resets each January 1 to 18% of the state average annual wage. Total 2026 rates run from 1.7% to 9.5%, including the 0.075% Re-employment Services Fund, and new employers pay 4.1%. Form NYS-45 is due April 30, July 31, October 31, and January 31.
New York Labor Law, Article 18 (Unemployment Insurance Law); 2026 wage base and contribution rates, from January 1, 2026.Sources NYS Department of Labor: NYS-45 quarterly reporting and the UI wage base NYS Department of Labor: Unemployment insurance rate information, 2026
The rate follows the work location.
A business with staff in Manhattan and in Albany pays two different floors, so each employee’s work location in the payroll file decides which one applies.
The minimum wage is $17.00 an hour in New York City, on Long Island, and in Westchester County, and $16.00 in the rest of the state. The Department of Labor has confirmed the rates stay the same on January 1, 2027, because one of the law’s off-ramps was met. Only hospitality employers may take a tip credit: tipped food service workers in New York City are paid a cash wage of at least $11.35.
New York Labor Law, § 652; current rates, unchanged on January 1, 2027.Sales tax quarters are not calendar quarters.
Tax collected is held for the state until the return for March to May, June to August, September to November, or December to February is due, so the books show it by filing period, and $300,000 of taxable receipts in a quarter moves you to monthly returns.
Sales of services are exempt from New York sales tax unless they are specifically taxable. Taxable services include interior decorating and design, protective and detective services, certain information services, and maintaining, servicing, and repairing real property. The state rate is 4%; with local tax, the combined rate is 8.875% in New York City and Yonkers and from 7% to 8.75% elsewhere. Most vendors file quarterly, for quarters ending in May, August, November, and February.
New York Tax Law, Article 28; combined rates in Publication 718, effective March 1, 2025.Sources NYS Tax Department: Quick reference guide for taxable and exempt property and services NYS Tax Department: Publication 718, Sales and Use Tax Rates by Jurisdiction NYS Tax Department: Filing requirements for sales and use tax returns
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
A leadership team in New York. Businesses across the United States.
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 in the state 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.
New York 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 New York 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 New York State.
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 commuter tax is a cliff, not a bracket
In New York City the rate applies to the whole quarter’s payroll there, so passing $437,500 moves it from 0.115% to 0.60%: about $503 on $437,500 of payroll, and $2,700 on $450,000. Insights shows the quarter your hiring plan crosses the line.
Unemployment costs, front-loaded
With the wage base up from $12,800 to $17,600, each employee costs up to $721.60 in contributions in 2026 at the 4.1% new-employer rate, and for anyone paid more than $70,400 a year, all of it falls in the first quarter. Insights puts that into the cash flow forecast.
Sales tax is held, not earned
Tax collected on taxable services sits in your account until the return is due, and New York’s sales tax quarters end in May, August, November, and February. Insights keeps it apart from operating cash, so the cash you plan from is the business’s own.
Looking for a fractional CFO in New York? 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 New York businesses ask.
Straight answers about bookkeeping for a New York business, from a team that works remotely.
Is Visory based in New York?
Visory’s US leadership team is in New York, and its teams work with businesses across the United States remotely. A dedicated team you know by name looks after your business, meets you by video call when you want to talk things through, and keeps your books in your own QuickBooks or Xero file, which you own and 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 New York business?
Yes. What matters is that the team knows New York’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 New York?
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 New York businesses charge sales tax on services?
Only on services New York specifically taxes. Most services are exempt, but interior decorating and design, protective and detective services, certain information services, and maintaining or repairing real property are taxable. The combined rate is 8.875% in New York City. This is general information; the Department of Taxation and Finance sets the rules for your business.
Who has New York City income tax withheld?
Employees who live in New York City have city income tax withheld from all their wages, even when they work outside the city, using the city’s own withholding tables. So your payroll file needs a current home address for everyone, and Yonkers residents have a surcharge of their own. This is general information; the Department of Taxation and Finance sets the rules.
When do New York businesses file sales tax returns?
Most vendors file quarterly when they first register, for periods ending May 31, August 31, November 30, and February 28 or 29, with each return due within 20 days of the period’s end. Once taxable sales and purchases subject to use tax reach $300,000 in a quarter, returns are filed monthly from the first month after that quarter, and a business owing $3,000 or less a year may be reclassified as an annual filer, due by March 20. This is general information; the Department of Taxation and Finance 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 New York withholds income tax from nonresidents for the work they do 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 New York?
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.
Obligation-free -
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 -
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.
Sources (23) · rules last checked October 9, 2026
State income tax
- NYS Tax Department: Withholding tax rate changes for 2026
- NYS Tax Department: Publication NYS-50-T-NYS (1/26), New York State Withholding Tax Tables and Methods
- NYS Tax Department: Personal income tax expenditure estimates, tax rate structure
- NYS Tax Department: Publication NYS-50, Employer’s Guide to Unemployment Insurance, Wage Reporting, and Withholding Tax
Unemployment insurance
Minimum wage
Sales tax
Paid sick leave
Family leave and disability
Local rules
- NYS Tax Department: Publication NYS-50-T-NYC (1/26), New York City Withholding Tax Tables and Methods
- NYS Tax Department: Publication NYS-50-T-Y (1/26), Yonkers Withholding Tax Tables and Methods
- NYS Tax Department: Metropolitan commuter transportation mobility tax for employers
- NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection: Protected Time Off Law