Due to FTC requirements, I am required to provide the following disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. If based on this review you decide the product fits your business needs and you register to use Gusto through a link on our site, I will be paid a commission for the referral.
What is Gusto?
Gusto is primarily geared toward small businesses seeking to streamline payroll, HR, and benefits management for their business. The program is a cloud based online service intended to simplify the management of these tasks. It is affordable, with the first month being a free trial, and offers a user friendly interface with numerous features. Monthly pricing has a base of $39 and $6 per additional person for their full-service payroll. Gusto Payroll calculates payment, completes direct deposit, year-end W2s and 1099s, and submits taxes to the appropriate govenerment entities. It is one of the best payroll companies I have come across, with an emphasis on user friendliness.
The company has more than 60k businesses using their software (as of the time of this writing), and based on many reviews they are continually stiving to improve their product. They are based in San Francisco and Denver, and Gusto provides customer support Monday through Friday 6 AM - 5 PM pacific time. They offer phone, email, and chat customer assistance.
While their software is primarily for completing payroll tasks, users can manage 401k, workers comp, and health benefits. It should be noted that the health benefit feature is only currently available in 20 states (AZ, CA, CO, FL, GA, IL, MA, MD, MI, MN, MO, NV, NJ, NY, OH, OR, PE, TX, VA, and WA), but the company is working to grow availability to other states. Otherwise, their payroll service is equipped to automatically pay and file Federal and local taxes in all 50 states.
Get Gusto Payroll
While this is some upfront work required to establish healthcare as an option for employees, once you review the best fit for your business budget and employee needs, Gusto has integrated the process to invite employees to enroll and complete the health insurance registration process themselves. Healthcare goes beyond just standard medical coverage, you can also add dental and vision to your employee offerings.
Gusto Video Demo Overview
Additional Gusto Software Features
- Employee self-service : Employees get lifetime accounts to review historical pay and W-2s and they can update personal information
- Accounting and Time-Tracking integration
- Workers' Comp Insurance: When integrated with their partner AP Intego. Payment will be automated as part of the payroll process.
- Handles multiple schedules and pay rates
- Integrated ability to manage/offer bonuses, commissions, and other types of earnings
- Integrated benefits: commuter, HSA, FSA, 529 college savings plans are also features that are available
In short, Gusto payroll is about as automated as things can get, reducing the time you need to spend as a business owner tracking taxes, writing employee checks, keeping track of time off, updating employee information... all these tasks are built into their software package and streamline these tedious activities so you can spend more time focusing on building your business and engaging with customers.
