Coastal Payroll
Coastal Payroll is a private U.S. HR and payroll management provider founded in 2007 in San Diego, serving 3,500+ small to mid-sized businesses across all U.S. states with a cloud-based platform covering payroll, benefits, time tracking, talent, and HR services, distributed via regional offices and a 300+ broker/advisor partner network.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2007
- HeadquartersSan Diego, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Coastal Payroll does
Coastal Payroll is a private, U.S.-domiciled human capital management provider founded in 2007 in San Diego, California, serving 3,500+ clients across all U.S. states and territories through three regional offices (San Diego HQ, Orange County, and Bay Area). The company delivers a cloud-based HR and payroll management platform with modular offerings spanning core payroll processing, time and attendance tracking, talent acquisition, employee benefits administration, fractional and fully managed HR services, HR Elite (customized support), an LMS (Learning Grow) with 150+ training videos, people analytics, and expense management. The platform and career site are powered by iSolved as the underlying technology partner, and Coastal Payroll layers on a 300+ integration ecosystem covering retirement/401(k), workers' compensation, time tracking, and thousands of job boards.
The business operates on a subscription-based, recurring-revenue model with custom quote-based pricing per client, complemented by professional services revenue from HR Elite engagements. Distribution is omnichannel: direct sales via regional offices and a website-based "Request a Conversation" intake, combined with a substantial broker/advisor referral channel (benefits brokers, CPAs, insurance agents, bankers), client referrals, content marketing through webinars and blog, and active social media presence. The company serves primarily small to mid-sized businesses with industry-agnostic coverage, while extending upward into larger enterprises through HR Elite and multi-state compliance capabilities. Customer differentiation is anchored on a "human touch" service model (no auto-attendant, dedicated implementation and account teams, "switch anytime" messaging) rather than price or feature parity alone.
Operationally, Coastal Payroll is founder-led (Craig Coleman, President) with industry-tenured leadership (CEO Jonathan Gallagher; COO Dinora Sanchez with 33 years at ADP across sales, implementation, service, and operations; VP of Sales Kathleen Mugrage, formerly VP Regional Sales for Business Payroll at Wells Fargo). The company has been recognized for nine consecutive years on the Inc. 5000, ten consecutive years on the San Diego Business Journal Best Places to Work list (2014-2023), and has received Torch Awards for Ethics and Fortune 50 Best Small Workplaces recognition. It completed the acquisition of Paystar Payroll on March 5, 2020. There are no disclosed funding rounds, no parent company, and no public listing.
Coastal Payroll firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Coastal Payroll
- Legal name
- Coastal Payroll Services
- Website
- https://coastalpayroll.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2007
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Coastal Payroll is a private U.S. HR and payroll management provider founded in 2007 in San Diego, serving 3,500+ small to mid-sized businesses across all U.S. states with a cloud-based platform covering payroll, benefits, time tracking, talent, and HR services, distributed via regional offices and a 300+ broker/advisor partner network.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Coastal Payroll industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Payroll and HR Management Services
- NAICS
- Payroll Services (541214), Accounting, Tax Preparation, Bookkeeping, and Payroll Services (54121)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Processing & Data Preparation (7374)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Human Capital Management (HCM) & Payroll Platforms (HDAEAEAJ)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Payroll Software & Payroll-as-a-Service (SaaS) (BPACAIAB), Managed Payroll Services (Full-Service Payroll Outsourcing) (BPAAAHAA), Payroll Outsourcing & Pay Administration (Multi-country/Managed Payroll) (BPACAKAD), Full-Service Payroll Processing (BPACAIAA)
Keywords
Where Coastal Payroll is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Diego
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices3 records
Markets served
Coastal Payroll business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Payroll Processing Services: Recurring payroll processing fees based on business size and complexity. Includes payroll reporting, tax management, garnishment management, and general ledger integration.
- HR Services: Fractional and fully managed HR services including talent acquisition, benefits management, workers comp, HR compliance, performance tracking, and employee training.
- Labor Law Poster Update Service: Pay-as-you-go monthly subscription service for labor law poster compliance with optional laminated poster delivery.
- Technology and Integrations: Access to HR technology platform, time tracking, applicant tracking, and learning management system as part of integrated service offering.
- HR Elite Customized Services: Customized HR solutions aligned with client needs and growth, providing full-service support for more complex HR requirements.
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels6 records
Coastal Payroll product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Coastal Payroll provides a cloud-based HR and payroll management platform for U.S. employers, processing payroll, tax filings, direct deposit, garnishment calculations, and benefits accruals. The offering bundles time and attendance tracking, talent acquisition, benefits administration, HR compliance, and learning management into a single integrated system with dedicated human support. It also delivers customized HR outsourcing (HR Elite) and labor law compliance services for businesses across all U.S. states and territories.
Product overview
Coastal Payroll offers a unified HR and payroll management platform with modular architecture. The core product is Payroll Management Solutions, which provides seamless payroll processing, compliance coverage, and reporting. This core platform integrates with additional modules including Time & Attendance Tracking Software, Talent Acquisition Services, Employee Benefits Administration, Human Resources Solutions, and HR Elite Services for customized support. The platform also includes a Learning Management System (LMS) called Learning Grow with 150+ training videos, HR Technology Solutions, People Analytics, and Expense Management capabilities. The company maintains 300+ partner integrations across retirement/401(k), workers' comp, and time card tracking systems, enabling seamless data transfer from existing client solutions into the unified platform.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Payroll Management Solutions Comprehensive payroll processing platform that handles real-time number crunching, direct deposit, check signing, pay card distribution, tax management, garnishment calculations, benefits accrual tracking, and general ledger integration for U.S. employers.
- Time & Attendance Tracking Software Employee time and attendance tracking system that allows employees to clock in/out, view information, and make edits directly from the platform and mobile devices, with historical and real-time reports for employers.
- Talent Acquisition Services End-to-end talent acquisition platform connecting to thousands of job boards for posting jobs and filtering applicants from one central location, including screening and onboarding capabilities for hiring managers.
- Employee Benefits Administration Full-service employee benefits management from a central platform with complete customization for controlling views, adding users, and creating reports for benefits administrators.
- Human Resources Solutions Fractional and fully managed HR services including talent acquisition, benefits management, workers comp, HR compliance, performance tracking, and employee training for businesses needing HR support.
- HR Elite Services Customized HR solutions that align with specific business needs and grow along with the client, providing full-service customized support for HR needs of larger organizations.
- Learning Management System (LMS - Learning Grow) LMS Learning Grow platform with over 150 on-demand training videos for leadership skill training, front-line management, and anti-harassment training, with capability to create customized learning content.
- Labor Law Poster Services State and federal labor law poster update services including laminated All-In-One posters, automatic notifications of changes, and $25,000 We Pay The Fine Guarantee for U.S. employers.
- HR Technology Solutions HR technology platform including benefits administration, time tracking, and related tools with support from real people for businesses seeking unified workforce management technology.
Quantifiable outcome
- NPS of 71 (B2B world considers 30 as 'good')
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Coastal Payroll
Customer profileSegments4 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Coastal Payroll technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature4 records
Coastal Payroll partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Five partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- Benefits Brokers and AdvisorscoreCoastal Payroll partners with benefits brokers and advisors who refer their clients to Coastal for payroll and HR services. The partnership includes seamless client transitions, training, systems migration, and implementation support. With 300+ partnerships in the network, brokers can refer clients knowing they'll receive exceptional customer service.
- 401(k) and Retirement Plan ProviderscoreIntegration partnerships with retirement plan providers allowing seamless data transfer and unified platform experience for clients managing retirement benefits alongside payroll.
- Workers Compensation ProviderscoreIntegration with workers' compensation providers to streamline insurance management and compliance within the payroll platform.
- Time Card Tracking ProviderscoreIntegration partnerships with time tracking providers enabling unified time and attendance data within the payroll system.
- iSolvedcoreThe company's technology platform and career page are powered by iSolved, indicating a core technology partnership for their HR and payroll platform.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Coastal Payroll competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- ADP (Automatic Data Processing): ADP is the largest global payroll and HCM provider, serving SMB through enterprise. Coastal's COO Dinora Sanchez spent 33 years at ADP, and ADP competes head-on with Coastal in the SMB payroll segment while offering a much broader portfolio.
- Workday: Workday is a leading enterprise HCM and payroll cloud platform. While its core focus is larger enterprises, it increasingly competes for mid-market deals where Coastal's HR Elite offering is positioned, especially through Workday Payroll partners.
Direct peers
- Paychex: Paychex is one of the leading U.S. payroll and HR outsourcing providers for small and mid-sized businesses, offering very similar payroll processing, tax filing, benefits, and HR services as Coastal.
- Gusto: Gusto is a leading cloud-based payroll, benefits, and HR platform purpose-built for U.S. small businesses. It directly competes with Coastal in the SMB payroll segment with a similar integrated HCM value proposition.
- Paylocity: Paylocity provides cloud-based payroll and HCM software for SMB and mid-market employers, with comparable functionality across payroll, time, benefits, talent, and learning management.
- Justworks: Justworks is a PEO offering payroll, benefits, compliance, and HR support to small and mid-sized U.S. businesses, with a similar service-plus-technology model to Coastal, particularly overlapping on HR Elite-type managed services.
- TriNet: TriNet is a PEO providing full-service HR, payroll, benefits, and compliance solutions to small and mid-sized businesses - closely aligned with Coastal's HR Elite and full-service payroll offerings.
- Insperity: Insperity is a leading PEO delivering workforce solutions including payroll, benefits, HR technology, and compliance to SMB and mid-market clients across all 50 U.S. states, mirroring Coastal's national footprint ambition.
Emerging players
- iSolved: iSolved is both Coastal Payroll's core technology platform provider and a direct HCM competitor selling to similar SMB/mid-market employers via its own network. Any change in the white-label relationship directly affects Coastal's positioning.
- Rippling: Rippling unifies HR, IT, and finance including payroll, benefits, time, talent, and LMS in a single cloud platform. It targets the same SMB/mid-market segment as Coastal with a more modern, well-funded product and aggressive pricing.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Coastal Payroll social profiles
Digital presenceCoastal Payroll financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Coastal Payroll leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles5 records
Coastal Payroll funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Coastal Payroll M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A1 record
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Coastal Payroll
What does Coastal Payroll do?
Coastal Payroll provides a cloud-based HR and payroll management platform for U.S. employers, processing payroll, tax filings, direct deposit, garnishment calculations, and benefits accruals. The offering bundles time and attendance tracking, talent acquisition, benefits administration, HR compliance, and learning management into a single integrated system with dedicated human support. It also delivers customized HR outsourcing (HR Elite) and labor law compliance services for businesses across all U.S. states and territories.
Is Coastal Payroll a public or private company?
Coastal Payroll is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Coastal Payroll founded?
Coastal Payroll was founded in 2007. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Coastal Payroll based?
Coastal Payroll is headquartered in San Diego, United States, in the North America region.
How does Coastal Payroll make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Payroll Processing Services are the primary driver. The others are HR Services, labor Law Poster Update Service, technology and Integrations and HR Elite Customized Services.
Who are Coastal Payroll's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are ADP (Automatic Data Processing) and Workday. Direct peers are Paychex, Gusto, Paylocity, Justworks, TriNet and Insperity. Emerging players are iSolved and Rippling.
Does Coastal Payroll have an API?
No public API is recorded for Coastal Payroll.
What industry is Coastal Payroll in?
Coastal Payroll's product category is Payroll and HR Management Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAEAEAJ, Human Capital Management (HCM) & Payroll Platforms, with a secondary code of BPACAIAB, Payroll Software & Payroll-as-a-Service (SaaS). Its NAICS code is 541214 and its SIC code is 7374.