How to Pay Your First Cleaning Helper: Payroll for Two

Paying your first cleaning helper comes down to two decisions. The first, whether the person is an employee or a contractor, belongs to an accountant and the IRS rules, not to convenience. The second is which payroll service files the taxes for you, and as of October 23, 2026 that costs $41 to $55 a month for one helper on Square Payroll, Patriot, Homebase Payroll, or Gusto, $57 on QuickBooks Workforce Payroll on its own, and $94.50 for QuickBooks Payroll bundled with QuickBooks Online.

This guide is for a solo cleaner about to bring on a second person, usually after the Growth Calculator has shown the month a helper pays for themselves. It covers what the classification question means in practice, what payroll software does for a two-person crew, what each app costs, and what you need in hand before the first pay run. It does not give tax or legal advice, and it says so wherever the answer depends on your state or your situation.

Is your helper an employee or a contractor?

The honest answer is that you do not get to pick. The IRS decides worker status on the whole relationship, grouped into three areas: behavioral control (do you direct how the work is done), financial control (who provides the tools, who carries the expenses, how the person is paid), and the type of relationship (contracts, benefits, how long the work continues). The IRS page on independent contractor or employee says no single factor decides it, and that a business can ask for a formal determination with Form SS-8, which takes at least six months.

In practice, a helper who works the schedule you set, cleans your clients under your business name, uses your supplies and checklists, and is paid by the hour looks like an employee on all three tests. A cleaner who runs their own business, brings their own supplies, sets their own hours, works for other companies, and invoices you per job looks like a contractor. A first helper who works your schedule with your supplies sits closer to the first description, which is why this guide spends most of its time on payroll.

Two things follow. First, ask an accountant before the first payment, with the facts of how the person will actually work; a wrong answer is corrected with back taxes and penalties, not with a signed agreement. Second, if the person genuinely is a contractor, you still need a way to pay them and, if you pay them $2,000 or more in a calendar year for services in the course of your business, to file Form 1099-NEC after the year ends. The IRS threshold is $2,000 for payments made after December 31, 2025 ($600 before that), and payments to a business taxed as a corporation are generally exempt. Square’s contractor-only plan below handles the payments and the form for $6 a month.

What does payroll software do for a two-person crew?

For an owner and one helper, a payroll service does four jobs. It calculates the helper’s pay and the withholdings from the hours you enter or import. It deposits the federal and state taxes and files the returns on the schedule each agency requires. It produces the pay stubs, the year-end W-2 (or 1099 for a contractor), and the new-hire paperwork such as the W-4 and I-9. And it pays the person by direct deposit on a schedule you choose.

What it does not do is tell you the hours. Those come from your scheduling app’s clock-in record or a time clock app, covered in the time tracking app comparison. Some payroll apps pull those hours in automatically: Square Payroll imports timecards from the Square Team app, Homebase Payroll sits on top of the Homebase time clock, Gusto and Patriot sell time tracking as an add-on, and Jobber syncs timesheets to Gusto on its Connect plan and above. If your crew already clocks in from the job in your scheduling tool, an export once a pay period is usually enough.

Payroll apps for one or two employees compared

All five run unlimited payrolls, pay by direct deposit, and produce W-2s and 1099s. The differences are the base fee, whether tax filing is in the cheapest plan, and how hours get in. Prices below are month to month, before promotional discounts, as published on October 23, 2026.

Prices verified October 23, 2026 against the vendor pages listed under Sources checked.

Two notes on reading the table. QuickBooks also sells Workforce Payroll on its own, without QuickBooks Online: as of October 23, 2026 the regular price is $50 a month plus $7 per employee, with Workforce Premium at $13 and Workforce Elite at $17 per employee on higher base fees, and Intuit shows a 50 percent discount on the base fee for the first three months. The table uses the bundled price because a business that keeps its books in QuickBooks is the usual reason to choose it; on its own, Workforce Payroll for one helper is $57 a month. QuickBooks and Patriot show introductory discounts (50 percent off for the first three months); the table uses the regular prices because that is what you pay in month four.

Gusto

Gusto’s Simple plan is $49 a month plus $6 per person and covers single-state payroll, unlimited runs, and tax filings and payments. Plus, at $80 plus $12, adds multi-state payroll, next-day pay, and built-in time tracking. Gusto also sells a pay-as-you-go workers’ comp policy, handles I-9, W-2, and 1099 forms, and offers state tax registration as an add-on priced by state. For a crew of two in one state, Simple is the plan; Plus only makes sense if you want time tracking inside the same app rather than from your scheduling tool. If your helper is a contractor, note that Gusto closed its Contractor Only plan to new customers on October 1, 2026; contractors are now paid on any plan at that plan’s per-person fee, charged for the months you pay them, on top of the plan’s base fee, so one contractor on Simple is $55 a month ($49 plus $6).

Square Payroll

Square Payroll’s single Full-Service plan is $35 a month plus $6 per person paid, with automated federal and state tax payments and filings, timecard import, and a workers’ comp add-on. It is the cheapest full-service option in the table for one employee and ties Patriot Full Service at $47 for two, and the contractor-only plan, at $6 per person with no base fee, is the cheapest way to pay a genuine contractor and get a 1099-NEC prepared at year end when one is required. The fit is strongest if you already take payments or run booking through Square, because hours from the Square Team app flow straight into payroll; if you run the schedule elsewhere, you enter or import hours each pay period.

Homebase Payroll

Homebase sells payroll as an add-on to its team app: $49 a month plus $6 per employee paid, with automatic tax filing. The reason to choose it is the free Homebase Basic plan underneath, which gives a crew of up to 10 people in one location a time clock and basic scheduling at $0, so hours land in timesheets and roll into payroll without an export. Location-based clock-in needs Essentials at $30 a month ($24 billed annually), and onboarding packets with W-4, W-9, and I-9 forms are on the All-in-One plan at $120 ($96 annually). For a cleaning crew that does not already have a time clock in its scheduling app, Homebase is the shortest path from clock-in to paycheck.

QuickBooks Payroll

QuickBooks Payroll is priced as a bundle with QuickBooks Online: Simple Start with Workforce Payroll is $88 a month plus $6.50 per employee, Essentials is $125 plus $6.50, and Plus with Workforce Premium is $203 plus $10 and includes time tracking. Workforce Payroll is also sold on its own, at $50 a month plus $7 per employee, for a business that keeps its books elsewhere; that is $57 a month for one helper and $64 for two. All three include tax filing and 1099 e-filing, and all three list workers’ comp administration through a policy by NEXT. It is the right choice when you already keep the books in QuickBooks Online and want payroll in the same ledger. On price alone it is the most expensive line in the table for a crew of two.

Patriot

Patriot has the lowest entry price and the clearest split. Basic Payroll is $17 a month plus $4 per person and calculates pay but leaves the tax deposits and filings to you. Full Service is $37 plus $5 and files and deposits federal and state taxes. Contractors are paid inside payroll on both, time and attendance is an add-on at $6 a month plus $2 per employee, and a free workers’ comp integration with NEXT is listed. Full Service at $42 for one helper is the plan to compare with Square; Basic is only for an owner who already has an accountant doing the filings.

What does payroll cost per month for one helper?

The table works the published prices for an owner paying one W-2 helper, or one contractor, with the owner not on payroll. Add one more per-person fee if you pay yourself through the same service.

Prices verified October 23, 2026 against the vendor pages listed under Sources checked.

Set against a helper who works 20 hours a week, the difference between the cheapest and most expensive full-service option is under $60 a month. The Growth Calculator counts software as part of helper overhead, which it takes as a percentage of the helper’s pay in its “Overhead on top of pay (%)” field; at the calculator’s example rate of $20 an hour, 20 hours a week is about $1,730 of pay a month, so $55 a month of payroll software adds about 3 percent.

The setup checklist for the first pay run

Every payroll service asks for the same things during onboarding. Gather them before you start the signup and the first run takes an evening rather than a week.

1. Your federal Employer Identification Number (EIN). If you have been operating as a sole proprietor without one, apply for it first; the payroll service cannot file without it.
2. Your state employer accounts: state withholding and state unemployment insurance registrations. Gusto lists state tax registration in all 50 states as a paid add-on priced by state; the others expect you to have the numbers or to add them when they arrive. Timing varies by state, so start this the same week you decide to hire.
3. A business bank account with routing and account numbers, funded before the first payday. Payroll services pull pay and taxes from it.
4. The helper’s completed W-4 (federal withholding), state withholding form where your state has one, and I-9, with the document check completed using the required USCIS procedure. Gusto and Homebase collect these through the app, and Square and Patriot list employee self-onboarding.
5. The helper’s direct deposit details, or a decision to pay by check.
6. A pay schedule (weekly or every two weeks are the usual choices for cleaning crews) and the hourly rate, plus how drive time is counted. Under federal wage rules, ordinary travel from home to the first job and back home at the end of the day is generally not work time, but travel between job sites during the workday is work time and must be counted as hours worked; state rules can add to this. If you pay drive time at a different rate, ask your accountant or payroll provider how to set it up.
7. A way to get hours in: the clock-in record from your scheduling app, a time clock app, or the payroll app’s own tracker. Decide this before the first pay period, not during it.
8. A lead time. Direct deposit needs the payroll run submitted several business days before payday; each vendor states its own window during setup, so run the first payroll early rather than on the day.

The new cleaner setup guide covers what the scheduling app needs before day one, and the crew scheduling rules cover the first week of two-person jobs.

Which one should a crew of two choose?

Already on Square for payments or booking: Square Payroll. Cheapest full service, and timecards flow in from the Square Team app.

No time clock yet, and no scheduling app with one: Homebase. The free time clock plus payroll at $55 a month is the shortest path from hours to paycheck.

Using Jobber, or planning to add benefits later: Gusto Simple. Jobber timesheets sync to Gusto on Connect and above, and Gusto’s benefits and workers’ comp add-ons are all in one place.

Books already in QuickBooks Online: QuickBooks Payroll, accepting the higher price for one ledger.

Lowest price with tax filing: Square Payroll at $41 for one helper, or Patriot Full Service at $42, which also files local taxes.

A genuine contractor, confirmed with your accountant: Square’s contractor-only plan at $6 a month. Gusto closed its Contractor Only plan to new customers on October 1, 2026 and now pays contractors on its regular plans.

The full comparison of the scheduling tools these apps take hours from is in the best scheduling software guide.

Key takeaways

• Employee or contractor is decided by how the person actually works, under the IRS’s three tests; ask an accountant before the first payment, and do not choose by convenience.
• As of October 23, 2026, full-service payroll for one W-2 helper costs $41 a month on Square, $42 on Patriot, and $55 on Homebase or Gusto Simple; QuickBooks Payroll is $94.50 bundled with QuickBooks Online.
• A genuine contractor can be paid for $6 a month on Square’s contractor-only plan, with the 1099-NEC produced at year end when one is required.
• Hours come from your scheduling app or a time clock; payroll apps import them or you enter them each pay period.
• Have your EIN, state employer accounts, a funded business bank account, the helper’s W-4 and I-9, and a pay schedule ready before the signup, and submit the first run early.