Switching payroll fails in the files, not in the demo. Gather the registrations, the year-to-date balances, and a written answer on who files what. This is organizational planning by the editorial team. It is not tax, legal, or accounting advice, and we have not processed a payroll for this article.
One list of legal entities
Write every employer identification number, every state where you are registered to withhold or pay unemployment tax, and every pay schedule. If a second entity or a second state is "almost" live, it still goes on the list. Ask the new provider which of those it will support. Do not assume from a feature grid.
Worker types are separate rows
| Worker | Question for the provider | File you should already have |
|---|---|---|
| Employee | Will year-to-date wages and taxes move, and who signs off? | A payroll register through the last check |
| Contractor | Are they paid in the same product, and in which months? | W-9 or the equivalent you already collected |
| Someone outside the country | Is that a supported worker type for your entity? | The country and the contract status, not a guess |
A parallel cycle is a calendar item
Ask whether you can run the old and new systems for one full pay cycle. If the answer is no, the first cycle on the new system is also the test. That is a different risk. Put the bank cutoff for direct deposit in writing before that cycle. A verbal "it's fine" is not a cutoff time.
Deductions and the filing split
- Health, retirement, and garnishments, each with the code you use today
- Who approves hours, and who approves the final payroll
- Which federal and state returns the provider will submit, and which you still submit
- How employees will reach paystubs and withholding forms on day one
- How long the old provider will let you open wage history after you leave
About published prices
Gusto's list prices on this site are the October 2026 figures: Simple $49 plus $6 a person, Plus $80 plus $12, Premium $180 plus $22. On 6 November 2026 the pricing page blocked a recheck, so those dollars are not a 7 November quote. Rippling's public FAQ that day said plans start at $8 per employee per month plus a monthly base fee, and that the total depends on the products. That is not a price for your company. Neither button on this page is an affiliate link.
Gusto: gusto.com/product/pricing. Rippling: rippling.com/pricing.
Take the payroll switching checklist to the call. The product comparison is Gusto vs Rippling. A sequence for the move itself is how to switch payroll providers. Scoring on this site is explained in the methodology, and it is not a filing test.
Open Gusto's site →Official site, not an affiliate link
Open Rippling's site →Official site, not an affiliate link
How this page was made: from each provider's official product and pricing pages and its public documentation, read on the date named in the page. We have not run a hands-on test, lab benchmark, or paid user study for this page. A step-by-step section describes the vendor's published flow. It is not a test we performed.