Gusto Payroll Review (2024)

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How Gusto Works

HR Features

As previously mentioned, Gusto tries its hardest to “treat people like people, not ID numbers.” It does this by offering an easy platform for managers to work with (taking much of the burden and stress off of their shoulders) and a benefits-laden program for employees to enjoy (making workers happier to work for you!) These are some of the features we really liked from Gusto’s feature menu:

Payroll

Most HR software offers payroll services, and Gusto is no different. What does make it stand out is the unlimited payroll option. This service allows users to pay employees any time they want for no additional fees. There is no need to wait until the scheduled payment cycle arrives. Gusto payroll lets you make off-cycle payments, award bonuses, and factor in one-time workers without a hassle. Canceling payments is also easier with Gusto than most other sites.

Everything customers need is also seamlessly integrated with Gusto’s payroll - including health insurance, 401(k), workers’ comp, time tracking, PTO, etc - so you can avoid manual entering of data and just need to review and approve. For example, Gusto recently launched Time Kiosk, which enables employees to clock in and out securely from a centralized station in just a few seconds. It’s also seamlessly integrated with Gusto’s payroll, so you never need to track time manually again. Boost your efficiency and accuracy with employee hours automatically syncing when you run payroll.

Gusto also offers peace of mind on taxes and compliance. It tracks ever-changing laws and regulations and calculates the impact, so customers don’t have to worry. Employee I9s, W2s, and contractor 1099s are stored and organized online for quick access. State tax registration in all 50 states makes it easy for customers to hire and pay employees across state lines.

Benefits 

Gusto helps you offer your team affordable health and financial benefits - making your company a better place to work and helping you attract and retain the right talent.

It provides health benefits (medical, dental, vision), financial benefits (401(k), HSA, FSA, 529), and extras (commuter, workers compensation). It automates benefits deductions with payroll to reduce manual errors and provide live support with licensed advisors.

With 9,000+ health insurance plans, 30+ carriers, and licensed advisors, Gusto can help customers find the right plan for their budget.  For customers who already have health benefits, they can easily move their existing insurance broker to Gusto.   

HR Tools

Gusto can help you make your dream team a reality with tools for hiring, onboarding, and talent development.

You can streamline hiring by managing applicants in one place and creating and sharing job postings on 100+ of the top job sites, including LinkedIn and Indeed.

With a customizable onboarding checklist and digital tools for paperwork, you can quickly onboard new staff. You or a manager can just click a button to automatically onboard the new employee. Then, the system sends all of the necessary contracts, tax forms, and paperwork to the new recruit to sign and send back. It’s faster and more efficient than ever.

With Gusto, you can develop your employees with tools for Performance Reviews, Goal Tracking, Employee Pulse Surveys, and a Learning Management System.

For more complex needs, Gusto provides a robust suite of software integrations for hiring, onboarding, and performance management to keep all your data in one place.

Gusto provides an HR Resource Center with guidance and templates for compliance, as well as professionals to keep you informed around changing HR requirements.

The ability to hire and manage talent from around the world, compliantly

Recently, Gusto announced the launch of Gusto Global, an Employer of Record (EOR) solution enabling businesses to hire full-time employees worldwide, without cutting compliance corners. Powered by Remote, Gusto Global enables you to hire, pay, and manage talent through Gusto’s all-in-one platform and quickly run payroll for your whole team, whether in the U.S. or overseas, contract, or full-time. Having one platform for all your staff helps you keep your finances running smoothly without worrying about managing unconnected systems and tools. 

What’s also critical is Gusto Global enables you to pay your team compliantly. One of the most challenging parts of hiring international employees is ensuring you maintain compliance. Failing compliance in another country can mean paying hefty fines or no longer being allowed to operate in that country. For example, in Canada, fines for misclassifying employees can range between $50,000 to $500,000. In Australia, similar violations can cost $80,000 each. But with Gusto, you’ll have peace of mind about complying with all foreign laws and regulations in the countries where Gusto Global is available.

Gusto Global is available in beta in Canada now, and will be available in additional countries soon. Remote operates in more than 75 countries around the world. 

However, if you’re not ready to hire full-time international staff, and if you’d rather work with international contractors or freelancers, Gusto has you covered there too. Gusto allows you to pay international contractors in more than 120 countries around the world with just a few clicks, again all through its all-in-one platform.

Accounting and Time Management

In addition to Gusto’s native time tracking and Time Kiosk solutions, Gusto also offers 3rd party time tracking integrations, such as Deputy and Homebase, so you can easily see which employees are taking their work seriously (combine that with the talent, attendance, and task management features, and you can get a really clear picture of employee productivity). Additionally, Gusto syncs with QuickBooks, Xero, TSheets, and other time sheets, so your hours are instantly updated and added to the payments system. Tax management features ensure that your books are always handled properly according to state and federal legislation, and Gusto will even update your taxes according to the latest reforms and regulations.

Records and Reports

Gusto reports are simple for even the most non-technical employee. Fields are customizable, and you can create, manage, and print several types of reports including payroll reports, individual employee productivity charts or team reports, timesheets, employee surveys (anonymous or by name), and new hire reports.

Usability

The modern online user interface makes adding and updating information easy. What’s more, once you’ve set up your schedules, settings, and preferences, Gusto HR software takes care of most of the work automatically. This way, you don’t have to keep going back to update or manually set things in motion.

Gusto is mobile-optimized, so you can log directly onto the website from your mobile device without the added step of downloading an app. The mobile site has all of the same functionality, features, and navigation as the regular desktop site with exactly the same look, feel, and processing for a seamless experience.

For employees of your business, Gusto offers a free mobile app called Gusto Wallet. It enables your employees to track, save, and access their hard-earned money. Employees can set budgets and save automatically while tracking their paychecks and tax documents.

Gusto has strong layers of security on its site, so users might not appreciate the 2-step authentication, but it is really the best way to keep your organization and business information secure. As a side note, Gusto also provides thorough security for all of its data centers, including biometric and iris scanner locks, surveillance cameras that are monitored 24/7, and onsite security staff.

Gusto Customer Support

The entire look and feel of the site is friendly, open, honest, and clear, which makes for a better, quality user experience right from the start. Gusto continues with the same attitude by hiring and training professional customer support staff to field all of its customer relations and questions. Every experience we had with Gusto’s customer service was a positive one, and you will find the same results from an online search of its reviews.

Gusto recently expanded its customer support hours. Here are their hours of operation below:

Callback hours

• Basic support (Simple plan): 9am - 4pm PT 
• Full support (Plus, Plus +, and Premium plans): 7am - 4pm PT
• VIP Accountant Partner: 7am - 4pm PT

Chat hours

• Standard hours: 7am - 4pm PT 

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Pricing & Special Offers

Recognizing the challenges and potential financial pitfalls of manual payroll processing, Gusto stands out as a cost-effective solution for small business owners. Many entrepreneurs in the U.S. still tackle payroll by hand, a risky approach that often results in costly mistakes and thousands of dollars in IRS fees each year. 

Gusto addresses this issue head-on, offering an automated, reliable, and user-friendly service that not only corrects existing payroll issues but also prevents future errors. By choosing Gusto, businesses are making a smart long-term investment. The cost of utilizing Gusto’s services is consistently lower than the hefty fees and penalties associated with manual payroll errors.

When it comes to pricing, Gusto ensures affordability and transparency. Even with its highly competitive rates, such as the $40 per month plus $6 per user on Gusto’s Simple Plan, you receive a comprehensive package of services. 

This plan includes automatic tax filing, unlimited payrolls, diverse pay rates and schedules, multi-state payroll capabilities, time off tracking, tax form amendments, and expedited payroll services when applicable. 

For the general HR services pricing, see the table below:

*Prices last updated December 2023

Especially for startups and SMBs, this Simple package offers an economical yet feature-rich option, ensuring that businesses of all sizes have access to essential services like unlimited payrolls, tax filing, unemployment insurance, extensive reports, health benefits, and unwavering customer support.

Gusto also offers a free trial, something you won’t find with most other HR software providers. This is a serious advantage as you can test drive the software without any commitment. You also won’t have to pay any setup fees or end-of-the-year W2 filing with this company.

Bottom Line

Providing a wide range of helpful features, offering useful and clear information directly on its website, and delivering more services than you could imagine, Gusto is a pleasure to work with. Combine that with the full range of services and a surprisingly affordable price tag, and this company quickly shoots to the top of the charts. With a free trial, you can’t go wrong.