Rules
Software, bureaus or a CPA: choosing a payroll tax service that fits
Buying payroll help is a question about responsibility. What software, bureaus and CPAs each cover, the five questions to ask, and what to do before switching.
What to take away
Buying payroll help for software, bureaus or a CPA is mostly a question about responsibility, not features. Every provider will calculate correctly. What differs is who notices when something is late, who fixes it, and whose name is on the filing when an agency asks.
- The legal obligation stays with the business whatever you buy. A provider can carry the work. It cannot carry the duty. Gusto, ADP and Paychex can file, but the EIN is yours.
- Ask what happens when the provider is wrong, in writing, before you compare prices.
- Judgment calls, meaning worker classification, location and owner compensation, are not part of a processing service.
- Nobody can quote your employment cost before knowing your state and your situation. A quote that arrives first is a sales tactic.
What is actually on the market
The market has three broad shelves: payroll software, a payroll bureau, and a CPA or enrolled agent. Software examples include Gusto, QuickBooks Payroll, Square Payroll, OnPay and Rippling. Bureau examples include ADP RUN and Paychex Flex. PEOs such as Justworks, TriNet and Insperity bundle payroll with benefits and HR.
What it does
- Payroll software (Gusto, QuickBooks Payroll, Square Payroll, OnPay)
- Calculates, produces pay stubs, files what you tell it to file
- A payroll bureau or full service (ADP RUN, Paychex Flex)
- The above, plus deposits, filings and calendar management
- A bookkeeper (Bench, a local bookkeeping firm)
- Keeps the ledger, reconciles what payroll produced
- A CPA or enrolled agent (a local CPA firm, Padgett Business Services)
- Judgment, planning, representation, and signing
What it does not do
- Payroll software (Gusto, QuickBooks Payroll, Square Payroll, OnPay)
- Decide who is an employee, or which state applies
- A payroll bureau or full service (ADP RUN, Paychex Flex)
- Take a position on your return
- A bookkeeper (Bench, a local bookkeeping firm)
- Sign anything, or represent you
- A CPA or enrolled agent (a local CPA firm, Padgett Business Services)
- Run your weekly pay run cheaply
Most disappointment comes from buying row one and expecting row four.
| Provider | Type | Deposits and filings | Public price signal (as of 2026) | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gusto | Software with full-service tax filing | Makes federal and state deposits and filings on Simple, Plus and Premium plans | Simple typically $40 per month plus $6 per employee; Plus typically $80 plus $12 per employee | Small teams that want modern software and state tax filing |
| QuickBooks Payroll | Software tied to QuickBooks | Handles pay runs, tax payments and filings on Core, Premium and Elite | Core typically $50 per month plus $6 per employee; Premium $85 plus $8; Elite $125 plus $10 | Businesses already using QuickBooks for books |
| Square Payroll | Software with full-service filing | Runs payroll, files taxes, offers contractor-only option | Payroll typically $35 per month plus $5 to $6 per employee; contractor-only typically $6 per contractor per month | Retail, restaurants and Square sellers |
| OnPay | Software with full-service filing | Runs payroll, files federal and state taxes, handles W-2 and 1099 | Typically $40 per month plus $6 per employee | Small farms, nonprofits and simple teams |
| ADP RUN | Bureau | Makes deposits, files taxes, handles new-hire reporting and garnishments | Quotes commonly start near $79 per month plus $4 to $6 per employee; setup and year-end fees can apply | Businesses that want an assigned payroll rep |
| Paychex Flex | Bureau | Makes deposits, files taxes, offers HR, retirement and insurance add-ons | Custom quote; commonly $50 to $100 per month plus $4 to $8 per employee | Companies that want payroll and HR in one account |
| CPA or enrolled agent | Professional advice | Signs returns, represents you before agencies, files if engaged | Advice often $100 to $400 per hour; payroll runs often $50 to $150 per run | Classification, owner pay, entity questions and agency letters |
The five questions that separate them
- Who makes the deposits, you or us?The answer changes everything downstream, and it is often less clear in the contract than in the sales call.
- Which filings do you make, and which stay with me?Get a list. State-level filings are where the gaps usually sit. Gusto and QuickBooks Payroll list federal and state filing in their plans; ADP RUN and Paychex Flex put it in a bureau agreement.
- What happens when a filing is late because of your error?Ask what the commitment covers, who decides whether it applies, and what it excludes. Gusto and QuickBooks Payroll advertise tax penalty guarantees on some plans. Read the exclusions before you rely on one.
- Which states are included, and what does adding one cost?One remote hire can put you in a new state with a new agency and a new calendar. Multi-state fees commonly add $20 to $50 per month per state in bureau quotes.
- Who answers when an agency writes to me?Ask who answers, how fast, and with what authority. ADP and Paychex assign a payroll specialist on many accounts. Gusto and QuickBooks Payroll route support by plan tier. A CPA or enrolled agent can represent you.
Question three is the only one that distinguishes a processor from a service. It is also the one most likely to be answered vaguely.
Five questions to ask providers
- Who makes the deposits, you or us?
- Which filings do you make, which stay with me?
- What happens when a filing is late because of your error?
- Which states are included, and what does adding one cost?
- Who answers when an agency writes to me?
What a good provider refuses to do
- It refuses to classify a worker for you off a description. That question follows the working relationship, and the IRS sets out the factors for independent contractor or employee status. Gusto and OnPay ask you to choose a classification; they do not choose for you.
- It refuses to decide whether an owner should be on payroll, because that follows from how the business is treated for tax purposes.
- It refuses to guess which state a worker's pay belongs to without knowing where the work is done.
- It refuses to quote a total employment cost before knowing the state.
- It refuses to advise on a benefit's tax treatment without seeing what the benefit actually is.
Each refusal is a place where a licensed professional belongs. A provider that answers all five confidently is telling you something about the quality of its confidence.
Credentials, and how to check them
Payroll processing needs no license, which is fine, because processing is not the risky part. The risky part is advice, and advice is where credentials matter.
- A CPA is licensed by a state board of accountancy. The board will confirm the license and any discipline on record.
- An enrolled agent is credentialed federally, and the IRS explains how to confirm an enrolled agent's standing.
- Anyone offering to represent you before the IRS should be able to name the credential that carries that right.
Checking takes a few minutes and is entirely normal. A person who is offended by the question has told you something useful.
Before you switch providers
- Get copies of every filing made on your behalf, for every year, in a form you can keep.
- Confirm which registrations exist in which states, and in whose name.
- Agree the exact date responsibility transfers, and who covers the period either side of it.
- Reconcile the final run against the reports before the old provider loses interest.
Switching in the middle of a year is where filings get dropped, because each side assumes the other made them. If you leave Gusto, ADP, Paychex or a local CPA, allow two to four weeks before the first new run. Confirm who files the quarter that spans the change.
Before you switch providers
- Get copies of every filing, every year, keepable form
- Confirm which registrations exist, in whose name
- Agree the exact date responsibility transfers
- Reconcile the final run against the reports
The payroll tax overview covers the work being outsourced here. Why the state layer drives so much of the cost is in state business tax, the calendar risk is in tax deadlines, and whether owners belong on payroll at all starts with entity tax treatment.
Common questions
Is a big-name provider safer than a small one?
Not automatically. Size buys reliability of process and often costs you access to a person. ADP and Paychex bring scale and assigned reps on many accounts. Gusto and QuickBooks Payroll bring lower list prices and self-service. Ask question five and judge on the answer, not the logo.
Can my accountant just do payroll?
Many do, and it works well for small headcounts because judgment and processing sit with the same person. A local CPA or a franchise such as Padgett Business Services can run it. It usually costs more per run.
Do I still need a CPA if I use a full-service provider?
For classification, owner compensation, entity questions and anything unusual, yes. Those are not processing questions. ADP, Gusto and Paychex can file forms. They cannot sign as your representative before the IRS.
We are still going to run it ourselves. What is the minimum discipline?
One named person owns the calendar, reads every agency letter within a week, and reconciles what left the bank against what the reports say was due. That is most of the value of a service, done by hand.
QuickBooks Payroll, Square Payroll and OnPay can handle calculations and filings at roughly $35 to $50 per month plus per-employee fees if you supply correct state and classification data.
