Gusto Reviews

Pros

Auto-sync and tax payments are the best features of the product that go above other products. Gusto will file the taxes for you, will send corrections if need be, and keeps track of all of that for your ease of mind. Their customer service team is above reproach, always willing to look into a problem and resolve it as soon as possible.

Cons

This is nitpicky, but the layout of the website often changes slightly. It would be nice if there was more consistency in the format. But the tool itself is above reproach.

Pros

Gusto's self-onboarding and employee communication is leaps and bounds ahead of their competition, as is their clean, user-friendly interface.

Cons

Customer service has been struggling recently. There should be a way to have a salary that doesn't change when the hours are changed. The other downside is that if there is an error, you have to void the entire payroll. An option to void a single check would be a great improvement.

Pros

This is one of the many common low-cost self-service payroll solutions. It allows you to pay your Employees and Contractors and handles virtually all of the taxes and processing of payments to the taxing authorities. The interface is on par with the many other UX/UI's in the industry. As is industry standard, Employees are emailed all end of year documents automatically. The company also offers access to two-day payroll processing.

Cons

Customer Service is terrible - an absolute nightmare. When mistakes are made by Gusto, they are hard, if not impossible to fix and/or get them to admit to. The firm has attempted (and mostly failed to my knowledge) to enter the higher margin HR platform and benefits fold. The firm has also just begun predatory lending at rates advertised as 1% which are actually as high as 45.63% (per their own fine print). The Customer Service in this area (from my limited exposure) provides misleading at best and false at worst information. This used to be a great firm, but there was an initial turning point where it began to focus more on marketing than the system, which then led to the constant sales calls for HR and other insurance services, which has led now, to Payday Lending. There had been an Intuit integration issue that seems to have finally been solved. Additionally, the firm has the same problem with missed payments and 941 misfilings that other full-service platforms have, however the customer service is severely lacking and resolutions take forever. The platform also can not handle an employee working in two states (more common in the North East). The cost for paying contractors is too high which limits the usefulness of the system overall - forcing a company to keep Employee Payroll, Contractor Payments, and expense reimbursements on separate systems. I have also received tax filings from another firm as their own CSR system combined two threads and had to speak to the a

Pros

These guys make me compliant with the evolving landscape of HR and payroll without distracting me from the core functions of my small business. They made on-boarding from my old payroll system easy. They found mistakes I'd made and helped me to correct them so even my tax history was compliant. Their customer service is excellent and I'm incredibly pleased with their Homebase integration. Super clean!

Cons

While the onboarding was much smoother than I anticipated, it was still a bit more cumbersome than described. It's definitely a hands-on process.

Pros

The payroll features make doing payroll very easy. The employees can log their times and I can easily verify them and sync it with payroll. I feel like this company really cares about their customers much more than my previous "large payroll provider"

Cons

Site navigation can be a little bit difficult at times. I have to do some searching to find what I am looking for. Reporting is OK but could be better.

Pros

Ease of use, customer support is great, lot of features to ease payroll management

Cons

I don't like how Gusto syncs the reimbursements to QBO - lump sum amount

Pros

I love how absolutely easy it is to use this software! Running payroll is already a complicated process, but doing it on Gusto was so simple it alleviated the headache for my business. A huge fan of this and the benefits set up.

Cons

The customer support can be very slow which can be annoying to deal with when it's an urgent matter.

Pros

I love Gusto. It makes running payroll super easy. They submit the necessary reports to the state and automatically calculates the taxes to take out. It's super affordable compared to a payroll service or accountant.

Cons

I honestly can't think of much that could be improved. Maybe if it was somewhat easier to use different types of compensation (hourly, commission, etc.)

Pros

Gusto is the easiest point of entry for a start-up working to hire its first employees that I've ever seen. It also makes working with clients as a CPA much easier when it comes to helping them resolve payroll issues.

Cons

There's not much not to like, however I would say one improvement that could be made is a little more flexibility when setting up re-curring payroll scheudles.

Pros

Huge kudos to the developers, this is an absolute wonderful tool to keep up with employees, onboarding processes and training materials (time tracking)

Cons

sometimes the lack of web UI features, interactions make some end users lose interest in its usage

Pros

Gusto has been a great resource for us to handle our own payroll processing & HR management in-house. It is super easy to set up and manage and has a really intuitive user interface. Onboarding new employees is a snap, time-tracking is simple to manage for both employees and managers, and running payroll only takes us a few minutes twice a month. Having employees able to manage their own banking info and paycheck splits and W4s has saved our HR dept a ton of time and headaches. And we love having an online library of company forms and documents we can distribute to employees quickly and easily. Also, their customer support is amazing. We are signed up for the Conceriege level service and have a dedicated team of customer service people who are knowledgable and friendly and responsive and have helped us out with innumerable questions.

Cons

Moving from our previous payroll processor (ADP) to Gusto was easy, because we decided to do it at the beginning of a new fiscal year. The one issue we did experience was in setting up our company's Federal and State tax filing details. Gusto does not assist you with this, so we had to track down all of our company's employer account #s and UI tax rates and filing frequencies for the 3 different states where we have employees and manually enter it into Gusto. We ended up making a mistake on one state's filing frequency, which ended up costing us a bit of $$ in penalties. It would have been nice if Gusto had been able to assist us with this as part of the switch over from ADP. Also, Gusto does not offer benefits administration in our state (yet). Hopefully that will be coming soon, as it would be nice to handle payroll and benefits through one platform. And they could cut down on the number of "recommended" services from affiliated companies that pop up on the admin dashboard these days.

Pros

Gusto is easy and straightforward to use. But it doesn’t sacrifice accuracy for ease. What I like most about Gusto is that it makes it easy for small businesses to be legally compliant with complicated wage laws across jurisdictions. I haven’t found a legal error yet — and I can’t say that about any other payroll software or service I’ve worked with over the last 15 years.

Cons

I wish the price didn’t jump up so much for time clock feature. Getting clients to use the integrated time clock can be a challenge, and it creates unnecessary problems. It should be included in the base fee.

Pros

We are finally done with Intuit Payroll. So difficult to actually talk to a live person when you need help. I did a little research and found that Gusto does payroll for small companies so I decided to give them a try. My thought was that it certainly can't be any worse than Intuit. And WOW - did they ever Overdeliver! The absolute best thing about Gusto is that you don't have to go through a bazillion menus on the phone trying to figure out which number to press so that your call gets routed to the right person. You actually get to talk to a live person when you call their company. Setting up all of the employees has been very easy, nothing difficult to figure out, the flow from one screen to the next is not complicated at all. So far - we love Gusto!

Cons

The only thing that I think they could improve on would be integrating your existing numbers into their system. In order to be able to print accurate W-2's at the end of the year, I have to enter my employee paystubs from January 1 through today (May) into their system. It makes sense, I know it has to be done. It is just a tedious job and I'd rather not do it. Although I must say, that the 3 times I ran into a snag while entering the information, I called them and the issue was fixed instantly. Their customer service ROCKS!

Pros

We chose to move to Gusto when we looked to simplify and streamline our payroll. As a small business owner juggling payroll and all the other tasks associated with running a business, PTO management, HR management etc., was becoming a big time sink and we did some research and came across Gusto.

Moving to Gusto simplified and automated many of those above tasks. It made it easier to track employee time off requests, made it dead simple and automated getting employees to fill out forms, and sign HR documents. And handling payroll, taxes, and such was so much easier after moving to Gusto.

Once payroll was set up and configured, it runs on Autopilot. This allows me to know that payroll is being done every 2 weeks and that I have nothing to worry about. We hire a new employee and the employee is automatically added to the system and I know that everything is done correctly, including the workmen's comp insurance, etc.

Overall, Gusto allows me to be more efficient with time and ensure everything is being taken care of.

Cons

The hardest part for us and the least liked feature in Gusto is trying to set up net-zero paychecks for me and my partner. There was no easy way to set up a paycheck to go completely to taxes. It required some calculations and messing with withholding amounts. Would be nice if there was an easier way to implement net-zero paychecks.

Pros

Gusto makes managing employee relations, payroll, and benefits so simple. You truly get a lot of bang for your buck. We're able to manage payroll processing; time/attendance; benefits; onboarding; and salary offers all in place. Their web-based technology has great up-time and is very easy to use. I also like the fact that Gusto does all of your federal and state payroll document filings and return (quarterly and annual). Every form needed to remain in compliance with the feds and state are filed by Gusto on your behalf. That takes the headache away and allows my company to focus on matters that are more critical at this time.

Cons

There is not much I can say here other than their support isn't necessarily a phone call away. That said, they answer emails and tickets super quick. I haven't been much in a pinch to need an immediate response to issues, and their self-service support center is rather extensive.

Pros

I use Gusto for my clients as well as for our own company. I find it very user friendly, especially for my tech-phobic clients. I also like their tech support. They are easy to reach by phone, chat or email and the technicians are very patient.

Cons

The import mapping. This is the only reason I wouldn't give 5 stars. When the payroll is simple, the mapping is fine but for more complicated payrolls, the mapping is a nightmare.
Also, that it imports to Xero as a bill. Clients find it really difficult to grasp how to work with this. In their mind payroll has already been "paid" so when they see it show up as an unpaid bill, they get confused or worried that their employees didn't get paid.

Pros

I love how easy it is for my employees to see their paycheck stubs, get their tax documents, and even do a early cash out option if they need a little extra money before payday. They have recently introduced time tracking, which solved another issue I had with keeping track of everyone's hours in another product.

Cons

I don't have many cons regarding Gusto. So far it has met all my needs flawlessly. The one con I would say is that the insurance process could be a little less confusing.

Pros

I am not an accountant, nor did I take any business or accounting classes in college. Payroll was always a chore and a daunting task. Gusto has taken over all those aspects and provided an online way to check in on employees info/w2's, tax info at a glance, and even sends reminders when employees are due to be paid, who has been paid and who has not etc, it has made payroll so fun!

Cons

The customer service is great, but the response time on answers is longer than desired. I am used to dealing with online companies that respond to businesses right away, or even just answer one part of the problem and let me know they will get back to me on the rest of the problem with more in depth solutions.

Pros

This software allows the employee to be able to make adjustments to their tax withholding at any time, request for time off, check their sick/PTO time, etc. I love that it offers this self service portal!

I also love that you can see the profiles of your coworkers. It shows you their company role, birthday and when they first started working with the company. Definitely comes in handy when you want to celebrate work anniversaries or surprise a coworker for their birthday.
This software also emails you when you’re being paid and shows you the preview of how big your check is. You can always turn this off if you do not wish to receive notifications, but I sure love it!
The best thing is that you can process payroll one day and employees are paid the next!

Cons

The only con is there isn’t a mobile app. It would be nice is mobile users could check their past paystubs and other information using a mobile app instead of the mobile web.

Pros

Gusto is extremely simple and quick to configure, and speedy to run payrolls—even custom payrolls or additional payrolls—during the month. It has been an incredibly user-friendly and intuitive solution for someone not familiar with accounting or payroll processes.

Cons

I have had nothing but success with Gusto. No issues, no payroll processing problems, nothing. They pull funds Monday for Friday pay, which might be a long gap, but also offer a shorter payroll process, where you can pull funds Wednesday for Friday pay . . . I just haven't configured that shorter process yet.

Pros

Easy to use. Clear, concise interface. Pricing is reasonable. They make it really easy to open a 401k account for your team even if you're a super small company. Support has usually answered within 24-48 hours. Phone support is available. Integrates relatively easily with accounting software by mapping accounts and exporting as special files.

Cons

Really, only three minor complaints: I miss their old name, ZenPayroll. Gusto just doesn't explain them like ZenPayroll did. Payroll truly is easy with them. Gusto is literally defined as "the enjoyment or vigor in doing something; zest"—the direct opposite of Zen. That's a total reversal that doesn't make sense.

Also, deposits into employee accounts show up as Gusto rather than our company.

Finally, accounting integration is dependent on downloading files and then importing. I would really like to see direct integration with the major accounting platforms like Quickbooks and Xero.

I know, I'm nitpicking in both cases, but I had to think of something...

Pros

It simple to use and does everything we need to run the primary administrative tasks for our business.

Cons

The HSA feature did not move over seamlessly from Zenefits and is more expensive for a small team to have and the 401k option has been a bit of work to get moved over.

Pros

There is one thing that separates this from other payroll/HR...it catches everything. I don't have to offer ins but there is a lot of information availiable thru Gusto if I need it. However, child support orders also require insurance is availiable for the child. Servers job bounce and don't always mention court orders on the tax paper work. Gusto knows, Im not sure if it is specifically looked for because of an innovate idea that the child support order is for the child..per the law. Or the software properly scans the social and does the right thing. Gusto then provides the insurance options as well as reports job agency. As a divorced mom..I love this and everyone in in compliance.

Cons

Because of all the properly following the rules in court ordered garnishment for employees, I had a high turn over. Well more paperwork for me is the least? Ill take it. I now mention this little payroll feature at interview and thin it from there.

Pros

This was exactly what we needed for our small company that just needed basic payroll. There is more functionality should we ever need it but the basic set up is a great price and covers our payroll needs.

Cons

There really are no downsides. The service is great at reminding to submit payroll and giving exact numbers to expect before submitting.

Pros

Gusto is so easy to use, it takes care of everything for you when it comes to payroll. Just connect a bank account, enter your business information, and you can start onboarding and paying employees. There are so many pieces to payroll - legal requirements, taxes, withholding, etc. - yet Gusto handles it all so incredibly simply and easily.

Cons

One complaint I had about Gusto was that when I was first using it, it did not have a good integration for 401ks, and the one they built with Guideline was not great, in my opinion.