If you do payroll, bookkeeping, or HR work for California employers, you're already sitting on the exact data a break audit needs. Packaging that into a recurring service is one of the cleanest add-ons available: it reuses work you already do, reopens conversations with dormant clients, and carries genuine perceived value because the downside it prevents — wage-and-hour claims and PAGA exposure — is large.
What the service actually is
A California break audit turns a client's timecard export into three deliverables:
- A branded exposure report — plain-English findings on missed, late, and short meal and rest periods, with an estimated unpaid-premium range.
- A payroll correction list — the specific rows to fix, each traced back to a source record.
- Optional monthly monitoring — a before-payroll-close check that turns the one-off into a retainer.
The value is that it's defensible: a good report separates detected issues from record gaps and states its assumptions, so it holds up when a knowledgeable reviewer reads it.
How consultants price it
Firms running break audits as a service typically charge $750 to $2,500 per audit, scaled to headcount and scope. The bigger prize is recurring revenue: clients who see their first report often convert to monthly monitoring ahead of each payroll close. One-off spot audits at a lower price are a low-friction way to open the conversation.
The delivery workflow
- Get the export. Ask the client for a timecard export covering the period. See the provider how-tos for Homebase, ADP, Gusto, and Paychex.
- Run the rules. Apply California meal and rest period rules to every shift. (Background: the law and how premium pay works.)
- Review. Confirm waiver coverage, separate detected violations from missing records, and sanity-check the exposure range.
- Deliver. Send the branded report and correction list — under your firm's name.
What you need to start
- The data — a timecard/payroll export, which your clients already produce.
- The rules — the meal/rest timing and premium-pay logic, applied consistently.
- A tool — so you're not rebuilding the audit by hand each time. BreakAuditor handles the import, rule engine, exposure math, and a white-labeled report carrying your firm's brand.
See it under your own firm's name
Send one anonymized client export and we'll return a branded sample report — your firm name and color, your service.
Get a branded sampleFrequently asked questions
Do I need to be a lawyer to offer break audits?
No. A break audit is operational compliance support based on the client's own timecard and payroll data — not legal advice. A defensible report states its assumptions, separates detected issues from record gaps, and recommends review by counsel before action. HR consultants, payroll providers, and bookkeepers offer it without being a law firm.
How do consultants price a break audit?
Typically $750 to $2,500 per audit depending on headcount and scope, with many clients converting to monthly before-payroll-close monitoring retainers afterward.
What do I need from the client to run one?
A timecard or payroll export for the period — from Homebase, ADP, Gusto, Paychex, or similar — plus pay rates. That's usually enough to flag missed, late, and short meal and rest periods and estimate exposure.
How does white-labeling work?
Reports carry your firm's name and brand color throughout, so the client sees your firm, not the tool. You set your pricing and own the relationship.