Register
One employee is still a payroll.
Payroll for a business with one employee: setting it up, paying yourself as the owner, the tax obligations, and how Gusto, ADP and others compare.
Start here
The core of the site
One Employee, Full Obligations: What the Law Requires (2026)
What payroll taxes am I responsible for as an employer?
Read the guide ExplainerHow Do You Pay Yourself From an LLC?
How do I pay myself from my LLC, payroll or an owner's draw?
Read the explainer ShortlistBest Payroll Service for One Employee (2026)
What's the best payroll service for a small business with one employee?
Read it How-toHow to Set Up Payroll for Your First Employee (2026)
How do I set up payroll for my first employee?
Follow the steps ShortlistPayroll for an S-Corp Owner Paying Themselves (2026)
What's the best payroll option for an S-corp owner paying themselves a salary?
Read it Head to headGusto vs QuickBooks Payroll for One Employee (2026)
What's the best payroll service for a small business with one employee?
Read itEntries
What the year actually contains
- 0001
Register the business as an employer
Federal EIN, then state withholding and unemployment accounts. Both are per-state and both come before the first payment.
- 0002
Set the pay basis
Salary or hourly, pay frequency, and whether the single employee is also the owner - which changes what gets withheld.
- 0003
Withhold and remit
Income tax, Social Security and Medicare, plus the employer share. Deposit schedules are set by the size of the liability.
- 0004
File on schedule
Quarterly and annual returns still apply with one employee on the books. So does the year-end statement.
Registration and setup in How to Set Up Payroll for Your First Employee and Services That Handle State Tax Registration for You; the owner-employee case in How Do You Pay Yourself From an LLC? and Payroll for an S-Corp Owner Paying Themselves; withholding, deposits and filings in One Employee, Full Obligations: What the Law Requires.
Endorsements
What this site is
Payroll where the headcount is exactly one - including the owner-employee case.
Nothing here is rated, ranked by number, or sorted into tiers. A view is argued in words.
Head-to-head comparisons, shortlists, a review, an explainer, a guide and a how-to, with a FAQ and a glossary of payroll terms.
Providers compared in words, listed alphabetically rather than ranked, in Best Payroll Service for One Employee; the terms the pages use in Single-Employee Payroll Terms, Explained.
Common questions
The questions behind the pages
- What's the best payroll software that handles state tax registration too?Shortlist
- How do I set up payroll for my first employee?Shortlist
- What's the cheapest payroll software for a tiny business?Alternatives
- Which payroll providers have the best support for first-time employers?Head to head
- How much do payroll services cost for very small businesses?Head to head
- How often should I run payroll, and what schedule is standard?FAQ
The full list
Everything on the site
Where to read on
The write-ups behind this
Read on
- ADP vs Gusto for a Single Employee (2026)
- Alternatives to a Full Payroll Service for One Person (2026)
- Best Payroll Service for One Employee (2026)
- Gusto Payroll Review (2026)
- Gusto vs QuickBooks Payroll for One Employee (2026)
- How Do You Pay Yourself From an LLC?
- How to Set Up Payroll for Your First Employee (2026)
- One Employee, Full Obligations: What the Law Requires (2026)
- Patriot Software vs SurePayroll (2026)
- Payroll for an S-Corp Owner Paying Themselves (2026)
- Services That Handle State Tax Registration for You (2026)
- Setting Up Payroll for Your First Hire (2026)
- Square Payroll vs Gusto (2026)