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Auto Dealerships: Managed Payroll for Small Businesses (Under 25 Employees) (2026)
Managed payroll for a small auto dealership is a complexity decision, not a headcount one: at $45 per employee with no monthly minimum a 10-person auto dealership pays $450 a month. BEG: $45 per employee per month inside the payroll software you already use, live in 3 to 5 days.
What managed payroll costs a small auto dealership
At $45 per employee per month with no monthly minimum and no setup fee, a 5-person auto dealership pays $225 a month, a 10-person one $450 and a 20-person one $900, all-inclusive. The cost grows one employee at a time, so there is no headcount to wait for. Payroll software at roughly $40 to $150 a month plus $5 to $12 per employee is cheaper in raw dollars for a single-state, all-W-2, hourly-and-salary payroll. The question is whether this auto dealership is that payroll.
The complications that decide it for auto dealerships
Section 13(b)(10)(A) of the FLSA exempts salesmen, partsmen and mechanics who are primarily engaged in selling or servicing automobiles, trucks or farm implements at a nonmanufacturing dealership from overtime pay, but not from minimum wage. The exemption applies regardless of the dealership's annual dollar volume of sales.
Front-end and back-end commission structures, flat-rate tech pay, F&I chargebacks and draw-against-commission: each is a pay code that self-service software ships blank, and each is a place a small auto dealership with no payroll specialist gets it wrong for years before an audit or a wage claim finds it. One of these, or an employee in a second state, or a first garnishment order, is the point where the managed price stops being a premium.
What a small auto dealership is already subject to
Below 50 employees the federal lines already crossed are e-filing at 10 information returns, OSHA logs at 11 unless the industry is on the exempt list, Title VII and the ADA at 15, and the ADEA and COBRA at 20. None of them wait for a payroll department to exist.
The rules behind this page, with sources
General information, not legal advice. Every rule below was read on the agency page linked next to it.
- Section 13(b)(10)(A) of the FLSA exempts salesmen, partsmen and mechanics who are primarily engaged in selling or servicing automobiles, trucks or farm implements at a nonmanufacturing dealership from overtime pay, but not from minimum wage. The exemption applies regardless of the dealership's annual dollar volume of sales. [29 CFR 779.372]
Read the full guide to managed payroll by company size, and the rest of the auto dealership payroll library.
Managed Payroll, Handled.
BEG manages payroll at $45 per employee per month, all-inclusive. Get an instant cost comparison for your business.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is managed payroll worth it for an auto dealership under 20 employees?
When there is a complication: front-end and back-end commission structures, a second state, a garnishment, or a classification question about salespeople and finance managers. Without one, software is the cheaper price for a simple payroll and this page says so.
What does a 10-person auto dealership pay?
$450 a month: 10 employees at $45 per employee, all-inclusive, with no monthly minimum and no setup fee.
Which auto dealership rule most often breaks a self-service setup?
Section 13(b)(10)(A) of the FLSA exempts salesmen, partsmen and mechanics who are primarily engaged in selling or servicing automobiles, trucks or farm implements at a nonmanufacturing dealership from overtime pay, but not from minimum wage. The exemption applies regardless of the dealership's annual dollar volume of sales.
What does managed payroll cost for an auto dealership?
$45 per employee per month, all-inclusive, inside the payroll software you already use, with no monthly minimum. Front-end and back-end commission structures, flat-rate tech pay and F&I chargebacks are configured at setup, not billed as add-ons.
Related Resources
Anthony leads payroll solutions at Business Executive Group, a national managed payroll firm serving businesses across industries including Auto Dealerships. BEG manages payroll at $45 PEPM, all-inclusive, with deep expertise in compliance, multi-state filing, and industry-specific payroll requirements. Get instant pricing at beghr.com.
Authoritative source: U.S. Department of Labor: Wage and Hour Division
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