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Gusto
Overview
Gusto is the modern leader in small business payroll. This space has been dominated by ADP and Paychex for years, but Gusto's modern user interface and ease-of-use have made them a popular choice for new companies. In the last few years, Gusto has adding benefits admin, time tracking and onboarding capabilities to the system to provide more value to clients
Free Tool: Build a vendor report comparing Gusto and their top competitors - for free
Market Segment
Gusto is considered an SMB HRIS, which means the system works best for companies with less than 150 employees. SMB solutions are designed to cover some, but not all HR needs with some gaps to be filled in by 3rd party solutions. SMB solutions are typically more user-friendly and more modernly designed than other vendors. Additionally, they are typically built with integrations in mind and have open APIs. A solution like Gusto usually takes 2-4 weeks to implement and often does not require a great deal of work from an administrator to get started, due to the fact that most of the system is not configurable. SMB solutions tend to have limited rules engines and custom workflow tools, which can limit how scalable they can be.
Many companies compare Gusto to Quickbooks Payroll or evaluate Gusto vs ADP in their evaluations since those companies tend to be the market leaders for small business payroll and common Gusto competitors.
Many companies wonder if Gusto is a professional employer organizations (PEO). However, Gusto is not a certified PEO today. They do, however, offer full service payroll processing functionality and benefits broker services to small business owners. However, they do not take on the liability for employment that a PEO does.
Blog: How Long Does it Take To Buy and Implement an HRIS
Costs
What is Gusto payroll pricing? Gusto pricing for accountants and customers is charged on a monthly or quarterly subscription basis. Gusto rates are often a good value for companies and the software fees can cost between $6 and 13 PEPM.
Additionally, Gusto does not usually charge an implementation fee to clients to get started.
Blog: How to Negotiate an HRIS Agreement
Strengths
- Gusto delivers a modern, user friendly payroll software and HR experience for companies that don’t want to use legacy platforms like Paychex or ADP
- In addition to their technology offering, Gusto offers robust HR support services for companies that needed added help with creating policies and staying compliant
- Gusto has recently expanded beyond payroll to provide more onboarding, time tracking and benefits administration services
- Gusto can serve as an employee benefits broker for companies, allowing them to bundle payroll and insurance in the same platform.
- Gusto recently opened up their partner marketplace and is building more integrations with 3rd party HR tools
- Gusto's payroll services feature a full-service tax filing arm that will file payroll taxes on your behalf
Weaknesses
- Gusto focuses on very small companies. Companies tend to outgrow Gusto’s platform when they grow beyond 75-100 employees
- The Gusto timekeeping app is very basic and not designed to support anything more than tracking PTO
- Gusto does not offer extended functionality, such as an ATS or a performance management system
- Gusto's customer support inquiries skyrocketed during the pandemic and they have been unable to keep pace for their customers
Integration Capabilities
Gusto has strong integrations with accounting systems and benefit carriers, but has traditionally lagged behind its peers with their HR point solution integrations. They've recently started building a marketplace and opening up APIs but it will take time for their capabilities to catch up
Free Tool: HRIS Requirements Builder
Global Capabilities
Gusto is a domestic payroll solution and has historically only worked with US-based companies. However, they recently purchased a global payroll start-up that will allow them to expand internationally in the future. Gusto international payroll is not currently available to customers, however.
Modules Offered
- Gusto Online Payroll
- HR / Employee Files
- Gusto Employe Login
- Time & Attendance (limited)
- Onboarding
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