Wagepoint launches WagePro+ for Canadian accountants

Wagepoint has launched WagePro+, a partner programme for Canadian accountants and bookkeepers. It is aimed at firms that want to add payroll services as a recurring revenue stream.

The programme uses a tiered structure that evolves as partner firms add sub-clients, with five levels ranging from Starter to Platinum. The model is intended to support firms from their first payroll client to much larger books of business.

Payroll has become a more prominent issue for Canadian small businesses as compliance demands and administrative work increase. Wagepoint cited data from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business showing that the cost of regulation in Canada has risen above $51 billion and that small business owners lose about 32 working days a year to administrative burdens.

Against that backdrop, accountants and bookkeepers are being asked to take on a broader advisory role. Wagepoint is positioning payroll as an area where firms can deepen client relationships while building a steadier income stream for their own practices.

Programme design

Unlike partner arrangements focused on referrals or standard discounts, WagePro+ centres on a broader package of marketing, lead generation and support. It includes access to a new Wagepoint Partner Directory, described as a national searchable database for small businesses looking for payroll help.

Partners listed in the directory will not pay to be included. Wagepoint says the feature is designed to give accounting and bookkeeping firms a direct route to potential new clients rather than relying solely on their own sales efforts.

The programme also offers co-marketing funds through matched investments, alongside certification schemes, Continuing Professional Development-eligible training and partner-only resources. Higher-tier members will receive priority and premium support, including faster service-level agreements and access to payroll experts.

Each participating firm will also receive a free Wagepoint payroll subscription for its own use. This is intended to help firms become familiar with the product before offering payroll services to clients on the platform.

Broader push

The launch is part of a wider effort by Wagepoint to strengthen its ties with accounting and bookkeeping practices. Earlier this year, the company introduced WagePAC, a Partner Advisory Council designed to bring practitioners into product discussions and influence how payroll tools are developed.

It has also released products including Timesheets and the My Wagepoint app. Those additions are part of a broader strategy to expand beyond basic payroll processing and make the platform more central to firms that manage payroll for small business clients.

Wagepoint, founded in 2012, says more than 30,000 businesses, accountants and bookkeepers use its platform. The company focuses on payroll software for Canadian small businesses and is seeking to expand its reach through professional intermediaries rather than selling only directly to employers.

That approach reflects a wider pattern in financial and back-office software, where vendors are putting more emphasis on the accountant and bookkeeper channel. For software providers, those firms can provide access to large numbers of small business customers, while practitioners can use the software relationship to broaden the services they offer.

In Canada, that opportunity has taken on added weight as business owners face cost pressures, compliance complexity and uneven economic conditions. Payroll, once seen by some firms as an administrative add-on, is increasingly being treated as a specialist service that can generate repeat monthly income and closer client contact.

WagePro+ and the Partner Directory are available immediately to accountants and bookkeepers in Canada. Wagepoint is betting that a more structured partner model will encourage firms to make payroll a larger part of their practice rather than a side service.

"The accounting profession in Canada is changing, and what firms expect from their payroll provider is changing with it. The launch of WagePro+ is the latest example of our commitment to lead that shift. We want to be the partner Canadian practices choose because we help them grow, not just because we process their payroll. That's how we build a solution worth betting on, and it's how we continue to earn the trust of the firms that power small businesses across the country," said Ben Richmond, Chief Executive Officer, Wagepoint.