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Switching from QuickBooks Payroll: a form you can't undo and a $150 year-end fee
Updated Oct 15, 2026
QuickBooks Payroll cancels through an online form you can't change once submitted, with no refund for the rest of the period. On full service, Intuit pays outstanding tax liabilities when it processes the form, and it charges $150 if you ask it to prepare year-end filings or W-2s. Your payroll data stays available for a year. OnPay migrates prior wages free; Gusto files from the quarter you join, plus year-end W-2s.
The steps
- Step 1 · not stated on its pages · No fee stated
Agree the quarter your new provider starts filing
Gusto files from the quarter of its first check date; the old provider files the completed quarters. Only one provider files a quarter.
source - Step 2 · Before you cancel · No fee stated
Run your final payroll and save your reports
Intuit asks you to complete your final payroll and print the reports you need.
source - Step 3 · not stated on its pages · Free
Set up OnPay and let it migrate your history
OnPay's team migrates your prior wages and employee data for you.
source - Step 4 · Under seven days to switch, per Gusto · Free setup
Or set up Gusto and enter this year's payrolls
Gusto needs quarter-to-date summaries for past quarters and paystubs for the current quarter, for every employee paid this year.
source - Step 5 · Email within 3 business days once reviewed · No cancellation fee stated
Submit the cancelation form
Fill out the online cancelation form; Intuit can't edit it once it's submitted. On full service, leave your bank account open until Intuit debits and pays any tax liabilities. Intuit's terms give no refund for part of a period.
source - Step 6 · not stated on its pages · $150 if Intuit prepares them
Decide who prepares the W-2s
Intuit charges $150 to prepare year-end filings or W-2s after you cancel. Gusto says only it should file year-end forms once you switch.
source
Carries over
- Payroll data stays available for a year after cancelling
- On full service, Intuit pays outstanding tax liabilities when it processes the form
- OnPay migrates prior wages and employee data free
- Gusto files the year-end forms after a switch, not the prior provider
What you lose
- No refunds or credits for part of a period
- The cancelation form can't be changed after you submit it
- Intuit charges $150 to prepare year-end filings or W-2s
- Intuit's pages don't say who files Form 941 for the quarter you leave in
Where to switch to
| Destination | Price from | Visit |
|---|---|---|
| OnPay No affiliate relationship | $6 per month | Visit OnPayOn onpay.com |
| Gusto No affiliate relationship | $6 per month | Visit GustoOn gusto.com |
Leaving QuickBooks Payroll, now sold as QuickBooks Workforce, runs through one online form, and it's final. Get your reports and your tax handoff sorted before you submit it. Everything here comes from the companies' own pages, read Sep 27-30, 2026.
What Intuit's pages say
- How to cancel: you fill out an online form. "Once you submit the cancelation form, Intuit will not be able to edit or change it," says the cancellation article. You'll get an email "within 3 business days" once it's reviewed.
- Refunds: under the Terms of Service, the subscription renews each period and you can cancel at any time, but "We do not provide refunds or credits for any cancellations or partial subscription period." No early termination fee is stated.
- Your data: "You'll have access to your payroll data until one year after the date your subscription was canceled. Be sure to export and save copies of your reports." The payroll articles don't say which export formats are offered.
Taxes and W-2s
Before you cancel, Intuit asks you to run your final payroll and print the reports you need.
On a full-service plan, "be sure to leave your bank account open until we debit and pay those tax liabilities." Intuit pays the liabilities, annual ones included, when it processes your form. Its pages don't say who files Form 941 for the quarter you leave in, so settle that with the new provider.
Year-end forms cost extra. On Workforce Payroll, Premium or Elite, "Intuit will charge you $150.00 if you request us to prepare year-end filings and/or W-2s." If you move to Gusto, Gusto files them instead. Its switching article says "Only Gusto should file year-end forms." Your prior provider files completed quarters, and Gusto files "for the quarter you joined... and forward."
Where to move
These two companies from our payroll ranking publish a way in. Each is listed in rank order.
OnPay says its "team of payroll experts will migrate all of your prior wages and employee data for free" (OnPay), any time of year. Payroll Essentials is $49 a month plus $6 per worker on its pricing page, read Sep 27, 2026. When we read it again on Sep 30, the page title said pricing "Starts at $55 Per Month", which matches the $49 base plus $6 for one worker. OnPay names no QuickBooks importer and gives no time for the move.
Gusto says you can "Switch to Gusto in less than seven days" (Gusto), and setup is free. Its pages name no QuickBooks importer. You enter this year's earlier payrolls from quarter-to-date summaries and current-quarter paystubs. Its Premium plan, for 25 or more employees, adds "white-glove data transfers." Simple is $49 a month plus $6 per person, and Premium $180 plus $22, on its pricing page, read Sep 27, 2026.
Who should switch
Switching at a quarter's end keeps the filings clean. Mid-quarter, Gusto asks for every paystub from the current quarter. If you'd rather not pay Intuit's year-end fee, move before year-end to a provider that files the year-end forms after a switch, as Gusto says it does. See how we score payroll services.