No Simple Closure with Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen
I wanted to close my 1-person S corporation in California. I contacted my payroll service, Gusto and they had SimpleClosure as a service to do this. I paid Gusto, was then contacted and scheduled an interview with SimpleClosure, and spoke to your representative. To close the business, obviously (at least in my mind), closure meant closing the business to all State and Federal agencies, payroll, EIN, etc., everything. And I thought that was what I was paying for. 6 months goes by, the State payroll items seem to be done, but I am then informed by Gusto that the EIN also has to be closed and they refer me back to SimpleClosure and you want more $ to accomplish this (??!). Why did I pay Gusto the $199, if Gusto is not going to take care of it. After long and several emails, Gusto's rep said a) he can't help, talk to SimpleClosure and b) I understand your frustration, and will bring it to the attention of my bosses.
My operations closed in July 2025. My business accounts closed on or about December 31, 2025. Federal and State taxes for 2025 were finalized last month.
I believe that most small businesses have no idea of how to close a business and that is why they pay a service vendor to handle it. Therefore, I would strongly recommend that Gusto simply refer the clients to SimpleClosure. That way the business has a single point of contact and person/company responsible. SimpleClosure's interviewer responsibility is then to assess, what the business that is closing needs. For small businesses, this means explaining ALL of the things that a business has to do to close down, letters to the State and Federal agencies, final Tax filings, signed affidavits, confirming all forms submitted, and following up with the agencies to confirm that the business is closed, etc. After making sure the business knows everything that has to be done, then go through what services SimpleClosure can provide and which ones they don't provide. The business then has a clear picture of the effort needed to complete all of the work and whether SimpleClosure has provided a fair price for it. There is no "oops, I didn't know you wanted that, it will be another $149." Based on that information, SimpleClosure can provide a price for consulting and providing that service.
In summary, I was very disappointed in having to deal with more than one company in closing my business. That's not service, that's a waste of time because no one seems to be responsible. Because I thought all was complete and my business banking accounts were closed, the SimpleClosure offer of $149 to take care of the Federal closure was going to have to come out of my pocket as opposed to being a business expense.









