What are the DE 9 and DE 9C, and when are they due?

They are California's quarterly payroll tax returns. The DE 9 reports total wages and the tax due; the DE 9C lists each employee's wages and withholding. Both are due the first day of the month after the quarter ends and become delinquent after the last day of that month, and California requires employers to file and pay electronically.

What triggers an EDD payroll tax audit?

Most often, one worker. A former contractor files for unemployment, the EDD finds no wages reported under your account, and the review spreads to everyone else you paid the same way. Mismatches between your DE 9 and DE 9C, between state and federal filings, or between wages reported and 1099s issued also trigger audits. Our EDD page has the detail.

My payroll tax quarters are unfiled and the notices have started. Can this be fixed?

Usually, and it gets cheaper the earlier it starts. We rebuild the payroll for the open quarters from bank records and pay history, file the missing 941s, DE 9s and DE 9Cs, and bring the accounts current. The penalties are then fought as their own argument on their own facts. What does not work is filing forward while leaving the old quarters open.

Can you run payroll if I have employees in more than one state?

Yes - we register and file payroll in all 50 states. One employee working in another state generally creates a registration, a withholding account and an unemployment account there, and which state taxes the wages usually turns on where the work is performed, not where your office is. Tell us where someone actually sits before the first paycheck, not after.

Payroll Services for Inland Empire Employers

We run your payroll, file the federal and California payroll tax returns - Form 941 to the IRS, DE 9 to the EDD - issue the W-2s and 1099s, and prepare weekly certified payroll when the job is public works. When the EDD questions any of it, the same firm answers.

Schedule a 20-minute consultation

CPA + EA

AJ Singh, CPA and Enrolled Agent - federally authorized to represent taxpayers before the IRS

One firm

The people who file your DE 9 are the people who answer the EDD auditor

Weekly

Certified payroll filed through the DIR portal on public works jobs

All 50 states

Payroll registration and filings wherever your employees work

What's the difference between a payroll company and a CPA doing my payroll?

A payroll company runs paychecks and files your returns. A CPA firm does that and stands in front of the agency for you when a filing is challenged. If the EDD audits your payroll, disputes whether a worker should have been on a W-2, or bills you for back payroll taxes, a payroll processor can only send you copies of what it filed - it cannot appear for you. G&S Accountancy does both.

Is this you?

What Inland Empire employers call us about

An EDD letter about workers you paid on a 1099

One former contractor filing for unemployment can put your whole vendor list under review. The auditor wants the 1099s, the contracts, the invoices, and proof of who directed the work. We take the audit - our California EDD payroll tax audit page covers it in depth.

Quarters are unfiled and the penalty notices have started

A 941 or DE 9 that never went in does not go quiet - it becomes a notice, then a bill, then collection. We rebuild the missing quarters from your bank records, file them, and fight the penalties as a separate argument.

Certified payroll is behind on a public works job

Falling behind on certified payroll can hold up your next progress payment. The awarding body wants weekly reports through the DIR portal, and the trade classifications and fringe benefit credits have to match what you actually paid. We catch them up and keep them current.

You are about to hire your first employee and want it done once

Hiring your first employee is a sequence, and the order matters. Employer accounts, workers' comp, new-hire reporting - and first, whether this person is legally a W-2 employee at all. Doing it before the first paycheck costs less than fixing it after.

Your payroll processor files the returns but nobody reads them

Payroll filings that disagree with each other are how audits start. Wages on the DE 9 that don't match the DE 9C. Officer pay that doesn't match the S corporation return. Nobody sees it until an agency compares the two filings.

Send us your last two quarters and we'll tell you where you stand

Who actually does what

Payroll processor, bookkeeper, or a CPA firm that also represents you

Most of this list can be bought from a payroll processor. The bottom half cannot. Find the row that describes the problem you are trying to avoid.

Scroll the table sideways to compare all three

Payroll processor, bookkeeper, or a CPA firm that also represents you. Most of this list can be bought from a payroll processor. The bottom half cannot. Find the row that describes the problem you are trying to avoid.
What you need done	Payroll processorSoftware-first national provider running the pay cycle	Where most small employers startBookkeeperIn-house or outsourced, running payroll inside your accounting software	CPA firmG&S Accountancy - payroll, filings and agency representation in one place
Runs the pay cycle and direct deposit	Yes	Yes	Yes
Files federal Form 941 quarterly and Form 940 annually	Yes	Depends on the bookkeeper	Yes
Files California DE 9 and DE 9C with the EDD	Yes	Depends on the bookkeeper	Yes
Issues W-2s to employees and 1099-NECs to contractors	Yes	Yes	Yes
Opens the employer accounts and files new-hire reports (DE 34, DE 542)	Usually at setup only	Sometimes	Yes
Registers you with the DIR and files weekly certified payroll	Rarely, and rarely in the right format	No	Yes
Tells you before you hire whether the person is a W-2 employee	No	No	Yes
Represents you when the EDD opens a payroll tax audit	No	No	Yes
Fights the bill after an audit and carries the appeal	No	No	Yes
Matches payroll to your books and to the business tax return	No	Books yes, tax return no	Yes

Onboarding through year-end

How we take payroll on, and what happens every quarter after that

1
Registration and account setup
EIN with the IRS, an employer account with the EDD, and withholding and unemployment accounts in every state where someone actually works. If accounts already exist, we confirm the legal name, the address and the federal deposit schedule - how often the IRS expects your payroll tax money - before running anything. A wrong deposit schedule is one of the most common penalties we see.
2
Classification review before the first run
Everyone you pay is either a W-2 employee or a 1099 contractor, and California presumes employee - the ABC test at Labor Code section 2775 puts the burden of proof on you. We settle this before the first payroll rather than after an EDD auditor settles it for you. Our California EDD payroll tax audit page explains the test, the exemptions and the audit in full.
3
Pay schedule, wage rates and the first run
Pay period, pay dates, overtime rules, sick leave, wage garnishments, benefit and retirement deductions, and the fringe benefit rates on any prevailing wage work. We run the first cycle in parallel against your current provider's numbers, so the first live payroll is a check rather than a surprise.
4
New-hire and contractor reporting
Every new employee goes to California's New Employee Registry on Form DE 34 within 20 days of their start date. Independent contractors go on Form DE 542 within 20 days of paying $600 or more - or signing a contract for $600 or more, whichever comes first. Both are easy to skip and easy for an agency to check.
5
Certified payroll where the job is public works
If you bid or work public works in California, you register with the Department of Industrial Relations under Labor Code section 1725.5 and file certified payroll records under section 1776 - weekly, electronically, through the DIR portal. Federally funded work uses Form WH-347 to the contracting agency instead. Trade classifications, fringe benefit credits and apprentice ratios have to match what you actually paid, and the report has to match your books.
6
Quarterly returns
Form 941 to the IRS, and the DE 9 and DE 9C to the EDD, every quarter - the DE 9 reports the totals, the DE 9C lists each employee's wages and withholding, and California requires both to be filed and paid electronically. Unemployment insurance applies to the first $7,000 of each employee's wages per year; new employers start at 3.4 percent, and after that the EDD sets your rate annually from your claims history - between 1.5 and 6.2 percent for 2026. We check the two returns against each other before filing, because the EDD does the same after.
7
Year-end - W-2s, 1099s and the 940
W-2s to employees and the Social Security Administration by January 31. 1099-NECs to contractors and the IRS by January 31. Form 940 - the annual federal unemployment return - by January 31. We prepare 1099 filings in volume every January, which is why the vendor list gets cleaned and the W-9s get chased in December rather than on the thirtieth.
8
Making the payroll, the books and the tax return agree
The four 941s and the four DE 9s have to match the wages in your books and the wage lines on the business tax return. For an S corporation, the officer pay on the payroll filings is the same number the IRS reads on the Form 1120-S, the S corporation's tax return. We check all of it against each other once a year so every filing tells the same story. Our bookkeeping and tax preparation pages cover the rest.
9
When a notice arrives, we answer it
Send it over the day it lands. AJ Singh, CPA and Enrolled Agent - federally authorized to represent taxpayers before the IRS - reads it, tells you what it is and what the deadline is, and deals with the agency directly. That includes an EDD audit, the bill that can follow one, and the appeal after that.

AJ Singh, CPA and Enrolled Agent, reviewing quarterly payroll tax returns at the G&S Accountancy office in Rancho Cucamonga, California.

Weekly certified payroll records and California DE 9 and DE 9C returns on a desk at the G&S Accountancy office in Rancho Cucamonga, California.

The parts national providers handle badly

Certified payroll, worker classification and the California filings

A payroll platform is built to run paychecks in fifty states. These four are where a California employer actually gets hurt - and why a local CPA firm is worth more here than software.

Certified payroll and DIR registration for public works

Every contractor on a California public works job registers with the DIR and files certified payroll weekly through its portal: each worker, trade classification, prevailing wage rate and fringe benefits, signed under penalty of perjury. One late or wrong report can stall a progress payment. We file weekly, alongside the regular payroll - see our construction and contractors page.

Worker classification - the short version

California presumes every worker is an employee unless you prove otherwise - the ABC test at Labor Code section 2775. Some business-to-business relationships and occupations are carved out, and construction subcontracting is tested differently. Decide before the first payment, not after a claim. Our California EDD payroll tax audit page covers the test, the exemptions and the audit.

DE 9 and DE 9C, and what the EDD compares them to

The EDD compares your DE 9 to your DE 9C, to your W-2 totals, to your federal 941s and to the 1099s you issued. A mismatch is the cheapest audit lead there is - no complaint, no claim, nobody reporting you. We check every return against the others before it goes in.

W-2 versus 1099-NEC, and the January that follows

Both forms are due January 31, and they are not interchangeable - a 1099-NEC issued to somebody who worked like an employee is the exhibit an EDD auditor opens with. File 10 or more information returns in a year, all types combined, and the IRS requires you to e-file them. We chase W-9s and clean the vendor list in December.

Ask us about certified payroll for your next public works bid

Who does the work

The people who file your DE 9 are the people who answer the auditor

AJ Singh

Managing Partner, G&S Accountancy Inc

CPA and Enrolled Agent

AJ Singh, CPA and Enrolled Agent - federally authorized to represent taxpayers before the IRS. He also appears before the EDD, the FTB and the CDTFA. He handles EDD payroll tax audits that start with 1099 contractor classification, the bills and appeals that follow them, and federal payroll tax cases where returns went unfiled for multiple quarters. He reads the payroll notices that come into this office personally. He represents employers in EDD payroll tax and worker-classification audits — both for existing clients and for businesses that come to us with an examination already open.

Our payroll and 1099 team

Pay cycles, quarterly returns, certified payroll and year-end filings

Payroll is core work here, not a favor we do for tax clients. The team runs the pay cycles, files the quarterly returns, prepares certified payroll for public works contractors, and produces W-2 and 1099 filings in volume every January. Because the same firm keeps your books and prepares your tax return, the wage numbers on all three are checked against each other - not discovered to disagree in April.

Who we run payroll for

Industries where payroll is the hard part

Construction and public works contractors

Prevailing wage, fringe benefit credits, apprentice ratios, DIR registration and weekly certified payroll - plus a labor line that has to match your job costs. See our construction and contractors page.

Trucking and transportation

Driver pay, settlement statements, and the owner-operator question that decides whether a driver belongs on a W-2 at all. See our trucking and IFTA page for the industry filings.

Convenience stores and fuel retail

Several sites, shift coverage, high turnover - and a new-hire report due on every single hire. Cash handling controls matter here as much as the pay run. See our convenience store franchisee page.

Nonprofit organizations

Staff split across programs, and payroll records that have to survive both a Form 990 - the annual IRS return for nonprofits - and a funder asking how a grant was spent. See our nonprofit organizations page.

Multi-state and remote employers

One person working in another state generally creates registration, withholding and unemployment obligations there. We register and file payroll in all 50 states - California is home base, and Arizona and New Jersey come up most for our clients.

Payroll questions employers actually ask

Payroll, certified payroll and California payroll tax questions

Schedule a 20-minute consultation

Representation. A payroll company processes pay runs and files your returns; a CPA firm does that and can appear for you when a filing is challenged. If the EDD audits your payroll or bills you for back payroll taxes, a processor can only send you copies of what it filed. AJ Singh, CPA and Enrolled Agent - federally authorized to represent taxpayers before the IRS - can stand in front of the agency for you.

Certified payroll is a weekly record of who worked on a public works job - classification, hours, prevailing wage rate and fringe benefits - signed under penalty of perjury. In California it is filed under Labor Code section 1776, electronically through the Department of Industrial Relations system; federally funded projects use Form WH-347 to the contracting agency instead. It is separate from your payroll tax returns and does not replace them.

Yes. Labor Code section 1725.5 requires registration with the Department of Industrial Relations before you can bid, be listed on a bid, or work on a California public works job. Registration costs $400 per fiscal year (July 1 through June 30), and you can register for up to three years at once. Awarding bodies check it, and an unregistered subcontractor is a problem for the prime contractor as well as for you.

Only when the facts genuinely support it - California presumes the worker is an employee under the ABC test at Labor Code section 2775, and the burden of proof is yours. Certain business-to-business relationships and occupations are carved out, and construction subcontracting is tested differently. What decides an audit is who directed the work and who supplied the tools, not which form you issued. Our California EDD payroll tax audit page covers this in full.

Before we start

What to have ready

To set up payroll

New employer, or moving payroll to us from a provider you already have.

Formation documents and the IRS letter assigning your EIN (CP 575)
Your EDD employer account number, if one has been issued
Withholding and unemployment account numbers for any other state
A signed Form W-4 and Form I-9 for every employee
A signed Form W-9 for every contractor you pay
Pay rates, pay frequency, and the pay dates you want to run
Benefit, retirement and garnishment deduction amounts, per employee
The declarations page of your workers' compensation policy, with the class codes
Year-to-date payroll registers from your current provider, if switching mid-year
For public works: your DIR registration number and the contract's certified payroll requirements

To fix a payroll problem or respond to a notice

Unfiled quarters, an EDD letter, or a bill with a deadline on it.

The notice itself - every page, including the date it was issued
Which agency sent it: IRS, EDD, FTB, or a city
The quarters or years the notice covers
Your last four filed 941s, DE 9s and DE 9Cs
W-2s and 1099-NECs issued for the years in question
Bank statements covering any period with no filings behind it
Contracts, invoices and 1099s for anyone paid off payroll
Any correspondence already sent to the agency, and who sent it
Whether a power of attorney is already on file for someone else
Any installment agreement, lien or levy already in place

Talk to the person who would answer the auditor

Running payroll, or holding a payroll tax notice?

Send it over. AJ Singh, CPA and Enrolled Agent - federally authorized to represent taxpayers before the IRS - reviews it and tells you what it is, what it is asking for, and what the real deadline is. Setting payroll up instead? We will tell you what has to happen before the first paycheck, and in what order. Call 909-217-7855, or use the form. G&S Accountancy Inc, Rancho Cucamonga, California - serving the Inland Empire, with payroll registered and filed in all 50 states.

Request a 20-minute consultation

Name, email, phone, headcount, and one sentence about the payroll or the notice. Nothing else.