Gusto Review: Payroll and HR for Small Businesses

Running payroll and managing HR can be an overwhelming hassle for small business owners.

But with Gusto, you can automate payroll, track time, manage benefits, and handle other critical HR tasks in one elegant platform designed just for small businesses.

In this comprehensive Gusto review, you'll see how Gusto makes payroll and HR simple, enabling you to focus on growing your business.

We'll cover Gusto's key features like easy payroll setup, robust reporting, HR tools, customer support, pricing, and more. You'll get a complete look at who Gusto is best suited for, along with actionable recommendations on whether it's the right HR and payroll solution for your small business needs.

Introduction to Gusto

Gusto is a leading HR and payroll management platform designed specifically for small businesses. This review provides an overview of Gusto's key features, benefits, pricing, and suitability for different types and sizes of small businesses.

Brief Background on Gusto

Founded in 2011 in San Francisco, Gusto (formerly ZenPayroll) has grown rapidly to serve over 100,000 small business customers across the country. Gusto aims to provide an all-in-one payroll, benefits, HR, and compliance platform to simplify and automate administrative tasks for businesses.

Main Benefits and Features

Key benefits of using Gusto include:

• Easy automated payroll setup and processing
• Health benefits management and enrollment
• Applicant tracking and onboarding
• Robust reporting and insights

Main features cover:

• Payroll processing
• HR management
• Health insurance
• Retirement benefits
• Compliance guidance

Pricing and Plans

Gusto offers three main pricing plans based on number of employees:

• Core - starting from $39/month + $6 per person
• Complete - starting from $39/month + $12 per person
• Concierge - customized pricing

Exact pricing varies depending on specific needs. All plans include payroll processing, health benefits, applicant tracking, and support.

Ease of Setup and Use

A key focus for Gusto is providing intuitive, easy-to-use HR and payroll software. The platform is designed for simplicity and most customers need minimal training for setup and ongoing use. Gusto also provides full customer support when guidance is needed for setup, migrations, new hires, compliance, or optimizations.

Integration Capabilities

Gusto integrates directly with various popular small business platforms like Xero, QuickBooks, Slack, and Google/Office 365. Gusto also offers API access to allow building some custom integrations with other business apps.

Key Features and Tools

Gusto offers a comprehensive suite of payroll, HR, compliance, reporting, and other tools to help small businesses efficiently manage their teams.

Payroll Management

Gusto makes payroll easy through:

• Simple setup and configuration for pay schedules, pay types, deductions, etc.
• Easy employee payments via direct deposit or Gusto debit card
• Automated federal and state tax calculations and filings
• Integration with time tracking apps for accurate hours data

By automating much of the payroll process, Gusto saves small businesses considerable time and effort.

HR Tools

Key HR features in Gusto include:

• Applicant tracking system to manage the hiring workflow
• Employee database with contact info, compensation, documents, etc.
• Customizable onboarding checklists to smoothly onboard new hires
• Organization reporting like org charts, directory, and personnel cost analysis
• Secure online document storage and signing

Together these tools streamline various HR workflows.

Benefits Administration

Gusto enables easy group health insurance management:

• Shop for health, dental, vision, disability plans from top providers
• Simplified enrollment, eligibility tracking, and compliance
• Online benefits administration portal for employees
• ACA compliance features including 1094/1095 form filing

By consolidating these tasks under Gusto, the administrative burden is reduced.

Time and Attendance Tracking

• Optional feature to track employee hours worked and time off
• Seamlessly integrates time data with payroll for easy processing
• Rules to enforce policies like overtime, late arrivals, etc.

This allows proper compensation based on actual hours worked.

Reporting and Analytics

Gusto offers:

• Customizable payroll, compensation, overtime, absence reports
• Labor cost analysis reports by department, location, etc.
• Health insurance and benefits analysis
• Ability to schedule reports and set email alerts

The extensive reporting enables data-driven workforce decisions.

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Available Support

Gusto provides various support options to help customers effectively use their platform and services. The level of support available depends on the pricing plan selected.

Onboarding

All Gusto pricing plans come with access to dedicated onboarding specialists and resources to help new customers get set up smoothly. This may include:

• Initial consultation to understand the customer's specific needs
• Step-by-step guidance on configuring the Gusto platform and integrating with existing systems
• Best practice recommendations based on the customer's payroll and HR requirements
• Direct contact with an onboarding specialist for any questions during the implementation process

Onboarding support aims to make the transition to Gusto as seamless as possible for all new customers.

Ongoing Support

In addition to standard email, chat, knowledge base, and community forum support, Gusto's higher-tier Complete and Concierge plans provide further ongoing support options:

• Dedicated Account Manager: A named customer service representative who gets to know each customer in depth. They proactively monitor the account, provide usage recommendations, and serve as the main point of contact for any issues.
• Priority Support: Faster response times and escalated issue resolution from senior support staff.
• Additional Integrations: Support for building custom integrations with niche third-party systems not included in the standard Gusto integration library.
• HR Specialist Consultations: On-demand access to HR experts who can provide compliance advice and best practices tailored to each customer's unique HR needs and challenges.

The Complete and Concierge plans are suited for larger or more complex organizations that require closer partnerships and tailored support from the Gusto team.

Who Should Use Gusto?

Gusto is designed to be an all-in-one payroll, HR, and benefits platform tailored for small businesses. Here's a breakdown of what types of businesses can benefit most from Gusto's services:

Best For:

• Small businesses with under 200 employees
• Full-service restaurants and small restaurant groups
• Franchise business owners with multiple locations
• Professional services firms like accounting, legal, marketing agencies
• Early-stage startups and fast-growing companies

Gusto is purpose-built to handle the payroll, HR, and compliance needs of these types of small but growing companies. Key features like integrated payroll, health benefits, time tracking, and org charts make Gusto a streamlined solution.

The platform scales as you grow, allowing you to graduate from basic payroll to more advanced compensation like equity and retirement plans. Gusto also automates compliance with federal, state, and local laws as your team expands.

Not Optimized For:

• Large enterprises with over 200 employees
• Companies with unionized workforces

For more complex or unique needs like union payroll, Gusto may not be the best fit. Large companies may outgrow Gusto's feature set and need an enterprise-level HCM platform.

So in summary, Gusto hits the sweet spot for the majority of small businesses looking to efficiently manage payroll and people operations. For more niche needs or at significant scale, other solutions may be better suited.

Conclusion and Recommendation

Key Takeaways

Gusto provides an intuitive interface and robust set of features for managing payroll, HR, and other critical aspects of running a small business. Key benefits include:

• User-friendly interface: Easy to set up and navigate, reducing administrative burden.
• Strong payroll features: Automates payroll tasks like calculations, filings, payments. Direct deposit and live support.
• Useful HR tools: Onboarding, time tracking, organizational chart, employee self-service.
• Competitive pricing: Prices in line with value delivered across plan tiers.
• Integrations: Syncs with accounting, point of sale, and other business platforms.
• Support: Knowledge base, chat, email, and phone assistance.

The platform is well-suited for most small business needs with the tools, automation, and support required to simplify critical back-office tasks. Gusto earns a strong recommendation as an all-in-one payroll, HR, and administrative platform, enabling small teams to focus their energy on core business goals.

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