One of my most popular videos on Youtube is a 6 minute quick walk through of Gusto – payroll for small business.

What’s Gusto? Gusto is software you can use to manage payroll, benefits, and more. Gusto is relatively new to the market and while there are other payroll services for small businesses you have likely heard of, like ADP, QuickBooks Payroll, and Paychex, I’ve used several of these payroll systems and Gusto payroll is unique in that it has a great user interface, their customer support is very responsive and helpful, it feels like they really get what small businesses need and they’ve found a way to make it easy.

 In my walk-through video you can see Gusto in action, but here are the highlights of what Gusto has to offer:

Your To-Do List is Front and Center

Logging in gets you to your dashboard that walks you through anything payroll related you need to do.  Any approvals need processing? Time off requests? Missing a tax classification for a new employee. It’s easy and interactive, and guides you through an otherwise daunting task of managing people.

Running Payroll is Easy

Running payroll is a straightforward process. You can easily review all of your payroll and make any changes you need to make. It takes a few minutes to run – easy peasy, payroll done! You can save yourself even more time by using the autopilot feature for companies with salaried employees – game changer!

Robust Reporting Options

Regardless of how you are running payroll, you’ll easily be able to review what your employees got paid, how much taxes were withheld, and what transactions hit your bank, all of which help small businesses better understand what’s happening with their payroll. Gusto has a lot of reporting options which help small business owners stay informed and answer any questions as they arise.

Simplified Hiring and Onboarding

You can use Gusto to pay contractors as well as employees. It takes only a few minutes to bring someone new onboard. Once an employee or contractor is added to Gusto they are sent an automated email walking them through the set up process so you can quickly get the payroll related information that you need from them – such as W2s and W9s, withholding information, billing addresses, and even direct deposit set up.

Benefits and Policies Management in One Place

With Gusto, you can administer all kinds of employee benefits and policies. You can set up paid holidays, as well as vacation, sick and time-off policies. You can even administer things like health, dental, and vision benefits. Under certain plans, Gusto can also act as a broker to help you navigate HSA, FSA, as well as retirement and savings plans. All of these tools are great resources for small businesses as benefits administration can quickly get very complicated  – Gusto has thought through these things really well and their tools make it easier on you.

Should you use Gusto?

Is Gusto right for everyone? Not always. Like any tool and expense you have to weigh the pros and cons so you can make the right decision for your business. For most small businesses with employees, the cost of a plan is often a small price to pay considering the alternatives: doing it yourself or using a system that you can’t easily navigate.

Payroll and HR can be complicated, but they don’t have to be. Gusto makes it easy for everyone, and they do it well. Bravo!

Sign up for Gusto by clicking here and after you run your first payroll you’ll receive a $100 Amazon gift card.

For more information about Gusto payroll and their plans and pricing visit: https://gusto.com/product/pricing.

Disclosure:  Some of the links on this page are affiliate links, meaning at no additional cost to you we will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

Disclaimer: This blog and the linked videos are intended for educational purposes and should not be taken as legal or tax advice. You should consult with your financial professionals about your unique financial situation before acting on anything discussed in these videos. Clara CFO Group, LLC is providing educational content to help small business owners become more aware of certain issues and topics, but we cannot give blanket advice to a broad audience.