Emburse SpringAhead vs. Gusto

It's definitely well suited for all organizations with knowledge workers who use computers to do their work and are able to log in and enter their time on a regular basis. I've always had access to it as part of my job and love using SpringAhead. It may be less appropriate in a role where the worker does not have regular access to a computer to enter their hours digitally.

Incentivized

Gusto is well-suited for small businesses looking for a one-stop platform for payroll, tax-related tasks, and onboarding. It has many automated features that make tasks related to running a business/running an S-Corp simpler. I have not tried any other similar platforms, so I am unsure how it compares, but the pricing Gusto offers feels reasonable compared to other providers.

Incentivized

• Tracking Time Across Projects
• Tracking Time Across Pay Periods
• Dashboard view of time tracked weekly
• Easy Reporting Over Extended Timeperiod

Incentivized

• Quarterly tax access for CPA
• Gusto makes it easy for our CPA to access quarterly tax data directly, which saves us time and ensures tax reporting stays accurate for our LLC.
• IRS support via human reps
• Whenever we get confusing IRS mail, I forward it to Gusto. A real human rep either walks me through next steps or handles it directly—huge peace of mind.
• Payroll automation
• Once payroll is set up, it runs smoothly and automatically with little effort on my part. It’s reliable, affordable, and a great “set it and forget it” solution for a small business.

Incentivized

• The reporting is not perfect. When I am trying to find history for one person it is very cumbersome to get the info you need.
• At the current use there is no integration with an expense tracking tool. We had a separate app to track expenses vs. time.
• Only resources on the project can view time. External customers could not log in to see users' time against the project. Instead they waited for invoices or status reports.

Incentivized

• I honestly don't have any complaints about Gusto as it stands.
• Maybe add 2-factor authentication for security purposes. I haven't seen that being part of the login process yet.
• I think Gusto pushes its easy Gusto card payroll method a bit too much. I'd like to see direct deposit as the main method it suggests and the Gusto card as a secondary one.

Incentivized

Unless they break it, I'm never leaving. It's just too easy. Gusto is also really affordable, and for what I pay, it's worth having the historical record within the system. I like that I can go back and pull up W2's for year's past. This sort of easy access reporting, has been helpful especially when getting reports for PPP loans.

Wonderful overall usability – especially for the new business owner. The user interface is clean and intuitive, so it's easy to find what you're looking for. They also have great explanation pages ingrained into the process, so if you get stuck knowing what to do next, there's a link right there to walk you through the process!

Incentivized

Gusto's customer service has really deteriorated lately and they seem to have really changed their focus. It used to be when you called you were routed to an individual who knew about payroll, benefits, reporting, etc. but now you get someone who seems to have not received the correct training. My last call about a dismissal payroll took me over an hour of my time and the person still could not help me and finally transferred me to someone else.

Incentivized

Reach out to support immediately if you are having trouble setting up Gusto. Rather than being confused and trying to figure it out yourself, it's much better to talk to someone who knows what they are doing. Save yourself time and frustration and reach out to support

Incentivized

We selected SpringAhead because of price and usability. This tool is easy to set up and configure. It is a cloud application allowing access from anywhere. There were no training requirements. When you have a small use case this tool is the way to go. We moved off SpringAhead to get more functionality and it has required a lot more training and effort to maintain and utilize

Incentivized

I think Gusto has much better marketing than the rest of their competition, and it has the assets to get in front of more people, like on live TV during a sports game, so I just knew about it before the others. When comparing, I think feature-wise and usability were big for Gusto.

Incentivized

• They fit the purpose of time keeping and expense reports but it could always be a whole lot better

Incentivized

• It saves me time and energy - I'm not worried about being compliant or having everything I need for tax season. It's all there!
• I don't wonder when my team is working- they can easily log in and out of the system.
• I don't have to handle updating information when an employee or contractor has changes - they have their own portal.

Incentivized