Payroll Switch Planner: Your Step-by-Step Plan to Gusto

Getting set up before January 1 means your first Gusto payday can land in the new year, so each year’s payroll records stay in one place. No rush, though. The plan below works for any start date.

Tell Dad about your payroll

✓ Rules checked Oct 31, 2026

Who runs payroll now?

Where do your people work?

Add every state where someone works.

W-2 employees

1099 contractors paid this year

When do you want Gusto to take over?

Next payrollMid-quarter, Q4 2026Jan 1, 2027New quarter, new year. Dad's favorite.Feb or Mar 2027Mid-quarter, Q1 2027Apr 1, 2027Start of Q2 2027

How often do you pay people?

Business type

Runs in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

Step-by-step move guides: switch before January 1 · QuickBooks · ADP · Paychex · Square · Patriot · S-corp owners

Ready? Your plan starts with one account.

Open Gusto through our link, follow your plan, approve your first payroll. That’s the whole job.

See what happens next →#ad, we earn a referral reward

Uses our Gusto referral link. Gusto’s referral terms say the $100 Visa gift card arrives within 30 days of your first paid payroll.

$100 Visa gift card from Gusto when you switch or sign up through our link (by Jan 31, 2027)

The fine print, in plain words: sign up for Gusto payroll through our link by Jan 31, 2027 and run at least one paid payroll. Gusto sends the card within 30 days of your first paid payroll invoice, and your account has to be open when it goes out. The gift card comes from Gusto, not from us, and we don’t add a bonus of our own. Read Gusto’s terms.

Ask Dad

Stuck on a step? Ask Dad.

Why does Dad answer payroll questions for free? Because hiring people is one of the best things you can do, and fear of payroll shouldn’t stop anyone.

Why listen to us? Dad’s a cartoon, but the people behind him are real business owners: a small family business that does a little of everything, from real estate and investments to options and consulting. We learn by doing, not theorizing. We run a small team on payroll and switched payroll providers ourselves after years of slow support, a clunky dashboard and chasing year-end tax forms. Every guide here links to the IRS or Gusto source behind it.

Scared you’ll miss a payroll if you switch? You won’t be doing it alone, and we’ll help you get every step right.

Ask Dad: [email protected]Real answers from real small-business owners. Not CPAs or advisors, and not tax or investment advice. Prefer X? DM @PayrollDadHQ.

How Dad built this plan

Every line in your plan comes from a help page or the IRS. Here’s the short version, with the sources at the bottom.

Who files what. Only one provider can file a quarterly return for a quarter. Gusto files from the quarter of your first Gusto check date, and after a mid-year switch Gusto files the year-end forms for the whole year.¹
Year-to-date numbers. With a first check date in Q1, Gusto needs that quarter's pay stubs. Later in the year it needs quarter-to-date totals for each finished quarter, plus this quarter's stubs.²
Report uploads. Gusto can read reports from QuickBooks Online and Desktop, ADP Run and Paychex during onboarding.³
Report names. Only where the provider's own help pages name them: Patriot⁴⁵, Square⁶, OnPay⁷ and Paycor⁸. Everyone else gets plain-English names.
Gusto setup steps. From Gusto's onboarding guide⁹, its add-employees page¹⁰, the employee setup page¹¹ and its direct deposit page¹².
Contractors. Payments made outside Gusto this year get recorded in Gusto so the 1099-NECs are right¹³¹⁴. For payments in 2026 the 1099-NEC line is $2,000, up from $600¹⁵¹⁶.
State accounts. Gusto's state unemployment page: rates, effective dates and the state quirks¹⁷.
Deadlines. Form 941 is due the last day of the month after each quarter, moved to the next business day on a weekend or holiday¹⁸. 2026 W-2s are due Feb 1, 2027¹⁹. You stay responsible for deposits, so check them in EFTPS²⁰.
S-corp owners. Pay yourself a reasonable salary through payroll before distributions²¹. Owner-only payroll fits Gusto's Solo plan²²; more than one state needs Plus or higher²³.
The $100 gift card. Gusto's referral terms²⁴.

Prefer a list to tick off? The switching checklist saves your progress. Want the long read? How to switch payroll providers.

S-corp owner? Check your pay with the S-corp salary calculator. Family business? See the hire-your-kids calculator.

Questions

Is the switch planner free?

Yes. No sign-up, no email, nothing stored. Your answers stay in your browser tab, and the plan disappears when you close it unless you print, copy or email it to yourself.

Why does Dad keep saying January 1?

Because a first Gusto check date in January means your old provider finishes 2026 (the Q4 941 and the W-2s) and Gusto only needs January’s pay stubs, which usually means none.²

Can I switch in the middle of a quarter?

Yes. Gusto files that whole quarter and asks for the pay stubs you already ran in it, plus totals for earlier quarters.¹ The planner lists exactly which ones.

What if I get stuck?

Email [email protected] or DM @PayrollDadHQ on X with the step you’re on. Dad writes back with a specific answer.

Sources, checked Oct 31, 2026

Every number on this page comes from one of these pages. Prices change; if a vendor updates its page, theirs wins.

Your payroll switch plan, made for you

Tell Dad about your payroll

Ready? Your plan starts with one account.

How Dad built this plan

Questions

Sources, checked Oct 31, 2026