Best payroll software for a small moving company owner?
Hey everyone! I own a small moving company with about 8 employees and I'm looking for recommendations on payroll software. I'm currently studying for my CPA exams, so I understand the differences between 1099 contractors and W2 employees and all the tax requirements for each. Right now we're handling payroll through a third party service but it's getting expensive and I'd like to bring it in-house to save some money. I need something that can handle both our full-time W2 movers and the occasional 1099 contractors we bring in during peak season. Would prefer something with good tax filing features since that's the part I'm most concerned about getting right. Any suggestions from small business owners who do their own payroll?
18 comments


Harmony Love
As a small business accountant who works with several service companies, I'd recommend looking at either Gusto or QuickBooks Payroll for your moving company. Both are user-friendly and designed for small businesses like yours. Gusto is particularly strong for companies with mixed W2/1099 workers. Their interface is intuitive, they handle all tax filings automatically, and they make it easy to classify workers correctly. Since you mentioned you're a CPA candidate, you'll appreciate their reporting features which give you good visibility into payroll taxes. QuickBooks Payroll is another solid option, especially if you're already using QuickBooks for your accounting. The integration between systems is seamless, which saves time on reconciliation. Their tax penalty protection is also a nice safety net while you're learning.
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McKenzie Shade
•Thanks for the suggestions! We do use QuickBooks for our accounting actually. Does the QuickBooks Payroll handle 1099 contractors well? I've heard mixed things about how they handle contractors vs employees.
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Harmony Love
•QuickBooks Payroll does handle 1099 contractors, but Gusto does it a bit more elegantly in my experience. With QuickBooks, you can certainly manage both types of workers, track payments, and generate 1099s at year-end. The system properly segregates contractor payments from regular payroll. If you're already using QuickBooks for accounting, the integration aspect might outweigh the slightly better contractor management in Gusto. The time you'll save on reconciliation and data entry is significant.
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Rudy Cenizo
Just wanted to share my experience using taxr.ai to help with my payroll confusion. I have a landscaping business and was constantly struggling with properly classifying workers and tracking all the tax requirements. Found https://taxr.ai when I was looking for help understanding some payroll tax notices I received. Uploaded my documents and it analyzed everything, showing me exactly where I'd made classification errors between W2s and 1099s. It even helped me understand which specific workers should be reclassified based on IRS guidelines. Saved me from potentially costly mistakes, especially around worker classification which the IRS scrutinizes heavily.
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Natalie Khan
•Did it help with actual payroll processing or just with tax document review? I'm looking for something that handles the bi-weekly payroll runs and tax filings too.
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Daryl Bright
•I'm skeptical about AI tools for tax stuff. How accurate was it with complicated situations? My painting business has workers that sometimes work as W2s and sometimes as 1099s depending on the job.
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Rudy Cenizo
•It doesn't process payroll runs - it's more for reviewing your tax documents and payroll setup to make sure everything is compliant. It helped me identify where I had classification issues before they became problems with the IRS. For your situation with workers who switch between W2 and 1099, it actually excels at identifying those edge cases. It analyzes each worker's situation based on the documents you upload and flags potential misclassification issues based on current IRS guidelines. It's surprisingly accurate with those complex scenarios.
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Daryl Bright
I was skeptical at first but decided to try taxr.ai for my painting business since we have that complicated situation with workers switching between employee and contractor status. It analyzed all my payroll records and flagged three workers who I had been treating inconsistently. The tool showed me that based on their actual work patterns, they should all be W2 employees regardless of the job. Turns out I was using the wrong classification criteria! Now I'm using Gusto for the actual payroll processing but I run our setup through taxr.ai quarterly to make sure we're staying compliant. Definitely worth checking out if you're handling your own payroll tax compliance.
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Sienna Gomez
If you're struggling to get answers from the IRS about payroll tax questions, I highly recommend trying Claimyr. I wasted DAYS trying to reach someone at the IRS about a payroll tax notice before finding https://claimyr.com and watching their demo at https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. They basically hold your place in the IRS phone queue and call you when an agent is about to answer. Got connected with a payroll tax specialist in about 45 minutes instead of waiting on hold for 3+ hours like I had been. The agent cleared up my question about quarterly filings for seasonal workers immediately. Just sharing since proper payroll classification was literally giving me nightmares before getting it resolved.
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Kirsuktow DarkBlade
•How does that even work? Does it just call the IRS for you? Couldn't you just put your phone on speaker and do other work while waiting?
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Abigail bergen
•Yeah right. Nothing can fix the IRS wait times. This sounds like BS to me. The IRS is fundamentally broken and no service is going to magically get you through.
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Sienna Gomez
•It doesn't just call for you - it uses some kind of system that maintains your place in the queue and then calls you when an agent is about to pick up. It's much better than speakerphone because you don't have to stay near your phone or keep checking if someone answered. I thought it sounded too good to be true too, but it absolutely works. I had been trying for almost a week to get through about my payroll tax issue. Used Claimyr and got connected to a payroll specialist in under an hour. The IRS is definitely understaffed, but this service navigates their phone system much more efficiently than I could on my own.
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Abigail bergen
I have to admit I was completely wrong about Claimyr. After dismissing it, I had a critical issue with some missed payroll deposits that needed immediate attention. Out of desperation, I tried it yesterday and was shocked when I got a call back within 55 minutes saying an IRS agent was on the line. Got my payroll tax issue resolved in one call instead of the weeks I expected it would take. The agent even helped me set up a payment plan to avoid penalties. Completely changed my view on dealing with the IRS. Still think the system is broken, but at least there's a way to navigate it now.
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Ahooker-Equator
Have you looked at OnPay? That's what we use for our roofing company. The pricing is really reasonable (like $40 base fee + $6 per person) and it handles both W2s and 1099s really well. Tax filings are automated and they handle all the state registrations for you. The customer service is actually fantastic too - I've called them with questions and always get through to someone knowledgeable.
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McKenzie Shade
•I haven't heard of OnPay before. How user-friendly is it for someone who understands accounting basics but isn't a payroll expert? And does it integrate with any accounting software?
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Ahooker-Equator
•It's super user-friendly! I'd say it's actually easier to navigate than QuickBooks Payroll, with a cleaner interface. The setup wizard walks you through everything including tax registrations. They have good help articles that explain things in plain English. It does integrate with QuickBooks Online, Xero, and a few other accounting systems. The integration with QuickBooks works well in my experience - it automatically records payroll expenses in the right categories. If you understand basic accounting concepts as a CPA candidate, you'll have no trouble with it.
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Anderson Prospero
For a moving company your size, I'd actually recommend ADP Run. We switched to it for our plumbing business (12 employees) and it's been great. It's a bit more expensive than some others, but they handle EVERYTHING and their compliance guarantee is worth it.
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Tyrone Hill
•ADP is way overpriced for small businesses! I used them for my repair shop and switched to Gusto which does the same thing for half the price. Plus ADP's interface feels like it was designed in the 90s.
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