If you're paying $75/month for HomePay Plus and wondering whether that $900/year is really necessary, you're not the first person to ask.
Switching payroll services sounds like a headache, but it's actually straightforward: grab your records, set up NannyKeeper alongside HomePay on the free tier, then cancel when you're ready. Below: what to download from HomePay before you leave, how to cancel, and how to get running on NannyKeeper.
Before You Cancel: Grab Your Records
Before you call HomePay, download everything you might need. Once your account is closed, getting this information back is a pain.
Download these from your HomePay account:
- Year-to-date payroll reports (every pay period so far this year)
- Prior year W-2s and Schedule H documents
- Quarterly tax filing confirmations
- Your employee's tax withholding details (federal and state)
- Any state tax registration numbers
You'll also want to note:
| Info You'll Need | Where to Find It |
|---|---|
| Employee's gross wages YTD | Payroll summary report |
| Federal income tax withheld YTD | Payroll summary report |
| Social Security + Medicare withheld YTD | Payroll summary report |
| State income tax withheld YTD | Payroll summary report |
| Your EIN | Any tax filing confirmation |
| State tax account numbers | State registration documents |
Write all of this down or save the PDFs. You'll need them at year-end, and whether you enter them in NannyKeeper depends on the W-2 question below.
How to Cancel HomePay
HomePay requires you to cancel by phone or in writing. There's no self-service cancel button. There's also no rush: you can have NannyKeeper running alongside HomePay before you make the call (see below).
Call: 1-888-273-3356
Or write to them via email or mail. Keep a copy of whatever you send.
A few things to know:
The 6-month guarantee. If you've been with HomePay for less than six months, ask about their happiness guarantee. You may be eligible for a refund.
Billing. Confirm whether you'll receive a prorated refund if you cancel mid-billing cycle. Get this confirmed in writing.
Ask about outstanding filings. If HomePay has already started preparing your current quarter's tax filings, confirm whether they'll complete them or if you need to handle the current quarter yourself.
Hold times. Some customers report long wait times on the phone. Call early in the day if you can, and have your account number ready.
When to Make the Switch
The cleanest transition is at the start of a quarter:
| Quarter Start | Switch By |
|---|---|
| Q2: April 1 | End of March |
| Q3: July 1 | End of June |
| Q4: October 1 | End of September |
| Q1 (next year): January 1 | End of December |
That said, you can switch at any point. NannyKeeper handles mid-quarter transitions fine. It's just easier to have HomePay finish out a quarter's filings before you take over.
Setting Up NannyKeeper
You don't have to cancel HomePay first. NannyKeeper's free tier lets you create an account, add your nanny, and record the payments HomePay is currently running, so you can see what taxes you'd owe and check it against your HomePay reports before anything changes. Nothing is billed until you upgrade to run payroll. Once you're comfortable, the switch itself takes about 10 minutes.
Create your account. Sign up here and add your basic info: name, address, EIN.
Add your employee. Enter their name, address, pay rate, and schedule. If they need to update their W-4 withholdings, NannyKeeper's employee portal lets them do it themselves (available on the Plus plan).
Ask HomePay about the W-2. This is the important step. Find out whether HomePay will issue your nanny a W-2 for the months it ran payroll. If it will, make sure your nanny's start date in NannyKeeper is the day they first worked for you, then, before your first payroll here, open their profile, choose Add earlier wages, enter the total HomePay paid, and answer Yes, their W-2 has these wages. If it won't, send us a message before your first payroll here and we'll help you bring those months in.
Set up direct deposit (optional). Connect your bank account in your NannyKeeper settings. Direct deposit costs $6/transfer on Plus or $8/transfer on Starter, plus 0.8% on amounts over $1,000 per transfer.
Run your first payroll. NannyKeeper calculates federal, state, and local taxes for all 50 states. You'll see a breakdown before you confirm. Use our calculator to preview what your taxes look like.
What Changes (and What Doesn't)
Switching from HomePay to NannyKeeper means one real change: you file your own tax forms. Everything else stays the same or gets cheaper.
| HomePay (Plus) | NannyKeeper | |
|---|---|---|
| Tax calculations | Automatic | Automatic |
| Pay stubs | Yes | Yes |
| W-2 generation | Included | Included |
| Schedule H generation | Included | Included |
| Deadline reminders | Yes | Yes |
| All 50 states | Yes | Yes |
| Filing taxes for you | Yes | No |
| Annual cost | $900 | $100–$180 |
Filing is the easy part. Each quarter, NannyKeeper emails you a reminder before the deadline. You log into the IRS website (and your state's site if applicable), enter the numbers NannyKeeper calculated, and submit. Most families finish in 15 minutes.
One thing worth understanding before you switch: full-service never actually moved the tax liability off you. Your nanny's taxes are reported on Schedule H with your own 1040, under your own Social Security number, so the IRS holds you responsible either way. HomePay's own accuracy guarantee reflects this. It covers a penalty if they made the mistake, but never the underlying tax you owe. With NannyKeeper you keep that same responsibility, but you see exactly how every number was calculated, so a mistake surfaces before you file instead of when an IRS notice arrives. You pay the IRS directly from your own account. You're just not paying $900 a year for someone else to hit submit.
If you're in California, New York, or Texas, NannyKeeper knows your state's specific requirements and includes them in your calculations automatically.
See what you'll owe
Use our free calculator to estimate your nanny tax costs for 2026.
Mid-Year Switching: How It Works
Switching mid-year is fine from a tax perspective, as long as every paycheck is reported once. What NannyKeeper's W-2 covers depends on one question for HomePay: will it issue your nanny a W-2 for the months it ran payroll?
| If HomePay... | Your nanny gets |
|---|---|
| issues a W-2 for the months it ran payroll | two W-2s: HomePay's for its months, NannyKeeper's for the rest |
| won't issue one | one W-2 from NannyKeeper, covering the whole year |
Many providers issue a W-2 for the months they handled, so ask before you enter anything. If HomePay issues a W-2 for those wages and NannyKeeper's W-2 includes them too, the same wages are reported twice.
The year's tax thresholds and wage limits still count every paycheck, including HomePay's. So if HomePay will issue that W-2, enter its months as earlier wages and answer that HomePay's W-2 has them (the steps are above). They count toward the year's totals, and we leave them off the W-2 we make. If it won't, send us a message before your first payroll here.
Two W-2s from one year are normal. Your nanny adds box 1 of each on their tax return. Whether HomePay's months also go on your Schedule H depends on whether HomePay already reported and paid the taxes for them, so when you enter them we ask who handled the taxes for those months.
What You'll Save
The math is straightforward:
| Annual Cost | |
|---|---|
| HomePay (Plus) | $900 |
| HomePay (Essentials) | $708 |
| NannyKeeper Starter (annual billing) | $100 |
| NannyKeeper Plus (annual billing) | $180 |
| Your savings on Starter (vs. HomePay's $900 plan) | $800/year |
| Your savings on Plus (vs. HomePay's $900 plan) | $720/year |
If you use direct deposit, add $6-$8 per transfer. Even with weekly direct deposit on the Plus plan ($6 x 52 = $312), your total annual cost is $492. That still saves you $408/year compared to HomePay's top tier.
Competitor prices in this guide were verified against each provider's own site in June 2026.
Ready to simplify nanny taxes?
NannyKeeper does the calculations, tracks the deadlines, and prepares the paperwork so you can focus on your family.
FAQ
Can I switch from HomePay mid-year?
Yes, you can switch at any point during the year. First ask HomePay whether it will issue your nanny a W-2 for the months it ran payroll. If it will, your nanny gets two W-2s: before your first payroll here, enter HomePay's months as earlier wages and answer that HomePay's W-2 has them, and NannyKeeper's W-2 covers the rest of the year. If it won't, NannyKeeper's W-2 can cover the whole year; send us a message first and we'll set it up with you. Switching at the start of a quarter (April 1, July 1, October 1) makes the transition cleanest.
Will my nanny's pay be affected?
No. Your nanny's gross and net pay stays exactly the same. The only thing that changes is which service calculates the taxes and generates the pay stubs. They won't notice a difference.
Do I need a new EIN?
No. Your EIN stays the same. You'll enter it when setting up NannyKeeper. If you don't have your EIN handy, check any previous tax filing or W-2 from HomePay.
What if HomePay already filed my quarterly taxes?
That's fine. Just make sure you know which quarter they completed so you don't double-file. Start your NannyKeeper payroll from the next pay period after HomePay's last one, so no paycheck is run twice.
Does NannyKeeper file taxes for me?
No. NannyKeeper calculates your taxes, generates all the forms (W-2, Schedule H, pay stubs), and sends you deadline reminders. You file the forms yourself on the IRS and state websites. It takes about 15 minutes per quarter. For most families, that's a reasonable tradeoff to save $720-$800/year vs. HomePay Plus.
Read our full HomePay review →