How to pay bills

Hello everyone,
I am a new CPA in Los Angeles and I am planning on focusing my practice on business management. I already have one client interested, but I don't know how to start. They want me to pay their bills by writing checks and paying their expenses on their behalf. How do I go about doing this? I use Quickbooks Online for my bookkeeping needs (I wish there was a cheaper alternative to this too).

Thank you,
JL

If paying bills means paying trust fund taxes to the IRS or a state agency, make sure you have a cast-iron engagement letter. My former employer got into trouble for this. I don't know what the outcome was as we parted company before the matter was resolved. However, I do know the IRS was pursuing him for Trust Fund Recovery Penalty. I believe the debt was in six figures.

I am not a CPA so I will leave others to comment on responsibilities that a CPA has in this regard.

Look into Bill.com. It facilitates bill payment while allowing for an approval process (so you can set up the bills to pay and the client can approve them).

Bill.com is probably best bet for paying bills. They can mail checks or do an ACH (eCheck) on your behalf. Works pretty efficiently when connected to your accounting software.

Yes, beware of Trust Fund liability exposure. I sign for companies that given me full control of financial information and I know are very sound; I will NOT become a check signer for a company that has a history of being untimely, though I have no problem scheduling payments via EFTPS or state payment methods. But, simple check signatory rights are not the only means of being exposed to the Trust Fund liability.

Thank you everyone. I was not aware of the Trust Fund liability. I'll have to look into that. I will also explore bill.com to see about pricing. Thanks again!

johnny, to start your reading on TFRP, I suggest https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/is ... 38025.html. In particular, see Erwin.