Gusto Reviews

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.

Alternatives Considered

QuickBooks Payroll, Paychex Flex, Paylocity and RUN Powered by ADP

Reasons for Choosing Gusto

Gusto is easier to use than RUN and is cheaper. It also has much better support. ADP plays sales games sometimes.

Switched From

RUN Powered by ADP

Reasons for Switching to Gusto

I’ve got experience with all of these payroll companies. I feel that Gusto is the most reliable and easiest to understand and use.

Pros

Onboarding ease. New employees were easily onboarded and reported to the state.

Cons

Gusto like many software companies FAIL when it comes to providing adequate and thorough support. If you never run into issues, then the software works perfectly. If you have the unfortunate mistake of needing Gusto to correct a mistake they made, you will discuss this with 4 or 5 people vie email and chat and no one will share information with the other. It’s been a headache and after 17 months, I’m cutting ties.

Pros

Still after weeks and multiple phone calls I cannot get logged in to Gusto. This is sort of humorous/ridiculous.

Cons

Customer service is not helpful
Logging in did not work after weeks of trying

Pros

Gusto's ease of use is what we like most. It's so easy for our employees to onboard and use.

Cons

Their state tax compliance service need a bit of improvement, especially on the city and county level for taxes

Pros

I appreciate being able to access scheduling, time off, and payroll information in one app.

Cons

I found it slightly difficult to navigate some of the documents needed for tax purposes.

Pros

Gusto is easy to use. Simply log in and you can view each paycheck and even your W-2. I always get an email the minute my paystub is available.

Cons

There's nothing I dislike about Gusto. I have been using their services for 1.5 years and have never had a single problem.

Pros

Onboarding new employees takes no time at all.With a few clicks Gusto sends the online form to your candidates and alerts you once it is ready for approval.Its like having a full HR team at your fingertips but literally for a fraction of cost.

Cons

As the time grows it can be slightly expensive.

Pros

The support, they always get back to you and be able to provide a solution

Cons

Not a PEO. And repones sometimes can be slow

Pros

I love how easy you can navigate the app, from clocking in, to checking your paychecks (and stub!), request time off, see when birthdays are coming up, and even company holidays! Even enrolling in benefits!

Cons

Sometimes it takes a little to sign on to clock in.

Pros

They have a decent range of products for a one off treat

Cons

The high pricing structure doesn't make it ideal

Pros

Gusto is an easy to use platform that assists me with payroll as well as employee benefits

Cons

I would love to have a chance to select services à la cart

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.

Alternatives Considered

OnPay

Reasons for Choosing Gusto

QuickBooks is incredibly cumbersome and I was often left with enormous doubt as to whether what I needed to do was actually done. Their integrations for payment of taxes were difficult and I was still left to the legwork of filing. The amount of time I spent doing HR was eating up my ability to react and get ahead of all the other COVID-19 requirements.

Switched From

QuickBooks Desktop

Reasons for Switching to Gusto

Gusto made their pricing clear and demonstrated their ability to make onboarding as clean and easy as possible.

Pros

Gusto allows you to run payroll, effectively, upon sign-up. The system has numerous features that help to ensure that you are reminded when payroll is supposed to be run (as an administrator its something that is frequently forgotten when extremely busy), automatically tabulates and prepares tax documents for employees and contractors and even assisted with the preparation of forms for SBA Loans during the COVID-19 pandemic. The software is straightforward and is fairly self explanatory. Gusto is also a great onboarding tool that allows you to collect a significant portion of information needed to effectively onboard an employee and comply with state and federal requirements (E-verify, etc.) Overall, the software is excellent for its price point and well worth the money.

Cons

The only con associated with Gusto is the lack of customizable report options. Obviously, this con is more of a company or need specific issue. We found that utilizing Gusto for certain reporting needs for data generation was cumbersome or not really possible. However, I must also say that there have only been two instances over the last 1-2 years that we have encountered this problem and were able to successfully obtain this information from other resources.

Alternatives Considered

Paycom, ADP Workforce Now, QuickBooks Enterprise and Xero

Reasons for Choosing Gusto

We made the switch from both Xero and QuickBooks because we found the software with Quickbooks to be overly cumbersome for our use. Further, Xero lacked a lot of the functions that we felt we needed. Gusto is able to accommodate both needs associated with our intended use.

Switched From

QuickBooks Enterprise and Xero

Reasons for Switching to Gusto

We ultimately selected Gusto because of the price point, ease of use and dependability associated with Gusto.

Pros

I like that they take care of filing the payroll tax forms

Cons

Their customer service is HORRIBLE. LONG wait times. Talking with folks who do not speak English as their first language. No commitment to getting issues resolved.One of my clients' payroll was blocked because an error in Gusto's system caused them to think that I wasn't paying the bill. Turns out it was a software issue on their end and there was nothing I could do to fix it.I called right away at the beginning of the month and was told it would be resolved in a few days.At the end of the month, it appeared the issue had still not resolved, so I called in. They said they would create a ticket.A week later the issue was still not resolved (and as of the time of me writing this, it's still not resolved).This was nothing my client did wrong. This was nothing I did wrong. This was an issue with Gusto's back office.But yet, my client was the one who suffered because we could not process payroll on time.No one took responsibility to escalate and resolve this issue.For my friends who have a dedicated account rep, I've been told it works well.But if you don't have an account rep, don't waste your money on Gusto.It will be the biggest mistake you can make (aside from maybe choosing Quickbooks Payroll...)

Alternatives Considered

QuickBooks Payroll, Rippling and Paychex Flex

Reasons for Choosing Gusto

This horrible experience I mentioned in my review

Switched From

Paychex Flex

Reasons for Switching to Gusto

They have a large marketing presence in the Accounting community and so I thought I could trust them.I was wrong.What a poor experience.

Pros

I really like utilizing Gusto for payroll, onboarding, and tax management. The system is really easy to use and it streamlines processes very well. The payroll calculation is so easy and it only takes about 5 minutes to run payroll which is great.

Cons

A few things I do not like about Gusto is the glitches, accountability, and response time from their support team. The system seems to glitch quite frequently which needs to be rebooted. We have had some issues with Gusto completing our taxes incorrectly or late which caused us to pay late fees and it was quite frustrating. Their response time on support tickets can be multiple days which is frustrating when it comes to urgent notices.

Alternatives Considered

Paycor

Reasons for Choosing Gusto

Sage is not user friendly and the cloud version never worked for our company. It was taking one whole day to complete payroll previously which is ridiculously for a company of our size.

Switched From

Sage 50cloud Accounting

Reasons for Switching to Gusto

We decided to choose Gusto as our owner knew people who had success with the program and pricing.

Pros

Benefits to using Gusto:- Ease of use, both for employer and employees.- Employees can clock in and clock out using an app on their smartphone. My employees comment on how much they like this compared to other time tracking systems they have used as past employers.- I was able to easily connect my CPA in with Gusto so he can monitor tax and accounting items.- Gusto automates the employee onboarding process, making the whole process a lot easier than it would otherwise be.- Bottom line: the product works well, is intuitive to use, and is efficient.

Cons

Gusto's ability to work seamlessly with 401k contributions is limited. I have to manually send our financial advisor the 401k contribution information for employee elective deferrals. Not the end of the world and certainly not a deal-killer, but it is a mild inconvenience.

Alternatives Considered

QuickBooks Payroll and Paychex Flex

Reasons for Switching to Gusto

Gusto had high ratings and several people I knew personally (including my CPA) highly recommended Gusto.

Pros

Employees are able to punch in and out using anything with an internet connection. Additionally, you can turn on Geolocation so that you can ensure the employee is actually on-site when they punch in & out. Best yet, they can actually leave notes in regards to what tasks were completed for the day. It's very helpful to have this built-in tracking feature for accountability with my very small staff.

Cons

Unfortunately, there is no effective scheduling tool (at least in my opinion), which forces me to go to another software provider for employee scheduling. Ideally, both scheduling and payroll could be done through the same web based software. This would also make it easier to compare scheduled vs. actually worked hours.

Alternatives Considered

Homebase

Reasons for Switching to Gusto

Homebase's payroll tools were not as intuitive or user friendly. However, we do use them for the staff scheduling aspect of the business.

Pros

Friendly interface. Staff-friendly time and absence tracking and benefit administration tools. Human resources and 401(k)s work better together than ever. The price is reasonable for us.

Cons

Payroll blocks caused by a lack of State tax information can be inconvenient, as it requires contacting Gusto to request an extension until the necessary tax data is provided. Perhaps there's an easier method to simply hit a button and have the block lengthened.

Pros

This software has been of great importance for our business in managing payroll as well as other HR services. We implemented this software as we hit 9 employees as we were having issues relating to payroll receiving several complaints from our employees. The complaints have reduced drastically as soon as we implemented Gusto, which hence resulted in time as well as cost savings as well as more satisfied employees.

Cons

There can be some improvements made to leave management as sometimes it is difficult to navigate through the software especially when the leave is of less than a day.

Alternatives Considered

SurePayroll

Reasons for Switching to Gusto

We decided to implement Gusto as we saw it as being more aligned with the issues that we wanted to address.

Pros

I love the clean, simple, modern, easy to use user interface and user experience - for both the admin and employees in Gusto. It feels robust and relevant, not clunky and convoluted like many other outdated, expensive systems.

Cons

I do wish there were some more integrations, and/or that the present integrations were slightly more robust.

Alternatives Considered

Paychex Flex

Reasons for Choosing Gusto

Cost primarily

Switched From

ADP Comprehensive Services

Reasons for Switching to Gusto

Customer support and ease of on boarding & overall very smooth user experience with modern interface

Pros

It's pretty, modern GUI, and marketing and PR are nice. Lots of VC cash spent on social media and GUI to promote it. Phone support folks are pleasant but limited in what they can help with.

Cons

If problem, then your fault as they say software is designed to be self-serving and thus everything is your fault if does not work. But, if you want to grant restricted stock to people and generate 1099s and edited W-2s , then sorry, there software and support team could not help and there are no fields for me to "self-service" this data into their software. I've been in contact with Gusto since December and trying to get some 1099s and W-2s created and that are due by Jan. 31st. I finally spoke with someone today who said I could email them directions on where and how to enter into W-2s and 1099s, but I was then told that if a person's name was not in their software by Dec. 31st then software cannot create forms, even though there is time to still file. At the same time, I am receiving notices from IRS that 941s were not received, but Gusto software states filed.

Pros

Very clean design, easy to understand your account from your dashboard.

Cons

After several years as a Gusto client (and a previous 5 star reviewer), I'm posting this second review regarding my experience. Gusto is great ... until it's not. When we refinanced our house, we discovered that Gusto had been incorrectly reporting on our W2's. This created a series of several complications that took several weeks and persistent calls to fix. Perhaps some of the liability falls with me, but when I tried to make corrections, it was extremely difficult, slow, and frustrating. I expected some level of expertise in correct filing of tax forms. Gusto entry level workers did not seem to have the experience to understand the complexities of 5013 organizations. The trouble continued. If you've ever experienced the bureaucratic run around of pressing through multiple layers of hierarchy to actually get someone who knows what they're talking about and has the authority to make changes - yeah, that's what I experienced. The problems continued into this year - anytime I had a problem, it consistently took waaaaaay to much time to get a response from someone who could actually fix my problem. Ultimately, I decided after several years to cancel my relationship with Gusto. If you have a company or non-profit where you know tax laws, Gusto will be great for you. If you're looking for a payroll company that provides excellent, timely customer service and a level of counsel/guidance regarding tax and payroll laws to protect you, I suggest you look elsewhere.

Pros

The system is easy to use, but it is super problematic.

Cons

Firstly, the customer service aspect has been less than satisfactory. On multiple occasions, responses to inquiries and issues were delayed or lacked the depth and clarity needed to resolve concerns efficiently. It's crucial for a service provider in such a critical domain as payroll and HR to offer prompt and effective support to its customers. Unfortunately, this has not always been the case, leaving our team in challenging positions during time-sensitive periods.

Another significant issue encountered was the unexpected cancellation of payroll processes without prior notice. Not only has this caused confusion but also operational delays, affecting the morale of our workforce due to the unpredictability of their compensation. We've been met with no information, no solution.

There have been instances where former employees were not promptly removed from our benefits plan for months even after being notified, leading to unnecessary complications and financial discrepancies. This oversight underscores a need for a more rigorous system or checks to ensure that employee status changes are accurately and timely reflected across all service aspects provided by Gusto.

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

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.