How EV Auto Scaled Payroll Across States Without Losing Compliance

Five and a half years ago, Alex Lawrence sold his first electric vehicle out of a driveway in Utah. Today he runs the largest EV-only dealer group in the country, and he’s on track to sell more than 4,000 cars this year alone.

Growth that fast breaks things. For Lawrence, the first thing to break wasn’t inventory or staffing. It was payroll.

He told the story on a recent episode of the Car Dealership Guy Industry Spotlight, hosted by Sam Dark, alongside Chris Roig, Director of Sales Engineering at Netchex. You can watch the full interview here. Here’s what dealership owners can actually take from it, especially the parts about managing multi-state payroll compliance.

Last updated: August 2026

When One Payroll Tax Issue Becomes a Red Flag

EV Auto had been running payroll through Gusto since the early days. Gusto is solid software, and Lawrence used it happily at earlier startups. But a business doing nine-figure sales across multiple rooftops is a different animal than the one-driveway operation Gusto was built for.

Here’s what changed his mind.

There were two specific moments. The first was discovering a payroll tax issue that hadn’t been caught, real money owed with time-sensitive filings on the line. Federal payroll tax deposits carry strict timing rules. According to the IRS, missing a deposit deadline can trigger penalties that stack up fast, long before any formal audit ever opens.

The second moment ran the opposite direction. EV Auto overpaid on payroll tax, and a refund check from the IRS showed up out of nowhere. Nobody on the team had even flagged the error. That’s not the kind of surprise a growing dealer group wants, in either direction.

Why a DMS Alone Can’t Carry Payroll Anymore

Most dealership owners assume their dealer management system already has payroll handled. Chris Roig hears that a lot, and he pushes back on it gently, every time.

What we’ve learned is that in today’s environment there’s so much more that touches payroll. An employee has a PTO request. They’ve enrolled in benefits. There are new hire forms to collect, and on the back end there are tax payments that need to go out.

— Chris Roig, Director of Sales Engineering, Netchex

Roig compares it to the oil change business. Twenty-five years ago, most people changed their own oil in the driveway. Almost nobody does now, and it’s close to a lost skill among younger drivers. He thinks payroll taxes are headed the same direction, a task dealerships used to handle themselves, now something they hand to a specialist who does it every day, in every state, without exception.

That shift is already happening.

Netchex integrates directly with Dealertrack, the DMS EV Auto already runs on, so switching payroll providers didn’t mean switching how the front office actually sells cars. For dealerships evaluating payroll integrations, that connection point is usually the first thing worth checking before anything else.

What Multi-State Payroll Compliance Actually Covers at a Dealership

Dealerships carry compliance risk in a few specific places. Getting taxes filed accurately and on time is the big one. That’s not a letter any owner wants to find in the mailbox. There’s also I-9 verification for every new hire, plus overtime calculations under the Fair Labor Standards Act, which get complicated fast once flat-rate technicians and commissioned salespeople enter the picture.

Neither one forgives a mistake.

Car dealerships pay people in ways most generic payroll systems weren’t built for. Flat-rate technicians punch a clock but get paid on what they turn. Salespeople work off commission and guarantees, sometimes with a draw against future deals. Netchex’s automotive dealership payroll setup accounts for that structure from the start, paired with time and attendance tracking that ties hours to the right pay rules automatically.

Why EV Auto Picked Netchex Over the Usual Suspects

Lawrence didn’t jump at the first option. He looked at ADP, Paycom, and stayed with Gusto long enough to know it had limits at this scale. Each has its place. None of them, in his experience, were built around the specific way a multi-rooftop dealer group runs payroll.

It wasn’t one thing. We felt like they were innovative, and they let us try new things. It didn’t feel salesy, and we didn’t have to re-explain our business every time we needed help.

— Alex Lawrence, CEO and co-founder, EV Auto

What tipped it, by his account, wasn’t a single feature. It was the combination: a support team that spoke the language of a dealership without needing a primer, plus a product roadmap that kept moving instead of sitting still. For a business planning to double in size again, a static tool wasn’t going to cut it.

Netchex’s payroll and tax platform and its HR tools sit on one login instead of three disconnected systems, which matters more once a dealer group is opening rooftops in new states on a real timeline.

Where AI Fits, and Where Alex Still Wants a Human

Lawrence calls himself an early adopter of almost everything, and payroll AI is no exception. He’s beta-testing a new set of always-on AI agent tools built to approve routine time cards and PTO requests, and to flag things like an unexpected spike in overtime before it becomes a bigger problem.

Would he let AI approve overtime outright? He answers that one without hesitation.

If there’s rules for a human to follow, you just use those same rules for the AI to follow. As long as the rules are clear, that’s what AI is best at.

— Alex Lawrence, CEO and co-founder, EV Auto

Roig frames the split in practical terms.

The reality is what the AI is doing is the eighty percent. You’ll always have that twenty percent we’re going to surface to a human. But the beauty of that is the eighty percent off your plate.

— Chris Roig, Director of Sales Engineering, Netchex

That’s the model Lawrence runs his whole company on already, not just payroll. AI takes the repetitive first pass. A person handles the exception. Nobody has to choose between the two.

What to Audit at Your Own Dealership This Week

Both Lawrence and Roig ended the interview with the same kind of advice: don’t guess, audit.

Lawrence’s version: track exactly what manual, repetitive tasks your team is doing and how many hours a week go into them. That’s usually where the easiest automation wins are hiding, and it frees up time for the strategic work, like reviewing pay scales or compensation structure, that actually grows the business.

Roig’s version: count your paper forms, and ask a simple question. If an employee wants to know their PTO balance, their last pay stub, or who their benefits carrier is, how do they actually get that answer today? If the honest reply involves texting three different people, that’s the gap worth fixing first.

That’s a lot of manual work for one dealership to carry alone. It doesn’t have to.

Frequently Asked Questions

This article is based on a recorded interview and reflects the experiences and opinions of the individuals interviewed as of the recording date. It does not constitute legal, tax, or accounting advice. Payroll tax rules, overtime requirements, and compliance obligations vary by state and change over time. Consult a qualified professional or the relevant government agency for guidance specific to your business.

Disclaimer: Any product roadmap or future plans provided herein are for informational purposes only. They do not represent a commitment to deliver any material, code, feature, or functionality. Plans may change without notification. The development, release and timing of any features or functionality described remain at the sole discretion of Netchex, its affiliates, and partners. Netchex does not give legal, tax, or accounting advice. You are responsible for ensuring your use of Netchex product meets your individual business and compliance requirements.

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