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Real Estate Agencies: Managed Payroll for Small Businesses (Under 25 Employees) (2026)
Managed payroll for a small real estate brokerage is a complexity decision, not a headcount one: at $45 per employee with no monthly minimum a 10-person real estate brokerage 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 real estate brokerage
At $45 per employee per month with no monthly minimum and no setup fee, a 5-person real estate brokerage 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 real estate brokerage is that payroll.
The complications that decide it for real estate brokerages
The outside sales exemption from minimum wage and overtime requires that the employee's primary duty be making sales or obtaining orders or contracts, and that the employee be customarily and regularly engaged away from the employer's place of business. The salary requirements of the regulation do not apply to this exemption.
Commission-only agent payroll, agent contractor vs W-2 classification, split commission processing and draw-against-commission structures: each is a pay code that self-service software ships blank, and each is a place a small real estate brokerage 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 real estate brokerage 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.
- The outside sales exemption from minimum wage and overtime requires that the employee's primary duty be making sales or obtaining orders or contracts, and that the employee be customarily and regularly engaged away from the employer's place of business. The salary requirements of the regulation do not apply to this exemption. [DOL Fact Sheet #17F]
Read the full guide to managed payroll by company size, and the rest of the real estate brokerage 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 a real estate brokerage under 20 employees?
When there is a complication: commission-only agent payroll, a second state, a garnishment, or a classification question about licensed agents and administrative staff. Without one, software is the cheaper price for a simple payroll and this page says so.
What does a 10-person real estate brokerage pay?
$450 a month: 10 employees at $45 per employee, all-inclusive, with no monthly minimum and no setup fee.
Which real estate brokerage rule most often breaks a self-service setup?
The outside sales exemption from minimum wage and overtime requires that the employee's primary duty be making sales or obtaining orders or contracts, and that the employee be customarily and regularly engaged away from the employer's place of business. The salary requirements of the regulation do not apply to this exemption.
What does managed payroll cost for a real estate brokerage?
$45 per employee per month, all-inclusive, inside the payroll software you already use, with no monthly minimum. Commission-only agent payroll, agent contractor vs W-2 classification and split commission processing 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 Real Estate Agencies. 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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