Item: Gusto
Rating: 10
Author: Katie Barrilleaux

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We are a very small software consulting LLC that does contract work with larger video game development firms. We needed a cost-effective solution for payroll with a way to properly deduct taxes and handle benefits. At the time we signed up, Gusto wasn’t offering benefits for companies with only two employees. However, we were still able to run payrolls that factored in the benefits we obtained elsewhere.

Pros and Cons

Gusto makes payroll extremely easy to run.
They offer a cost-effective solution for small businesses, even ones with just two employees.
Gusto’s excellent website design is simple to navigate.
I just click a button to switch from my employer profile where I do the company payroll to my employee profile, if I need to access things like my personal paystubs.

When we signed up in 2019, they weren’t offering benefits through Gusto for a company with just two employees. We had to obtain insurance through an outside broker and manually add everything into Gusto. Most of the hard work was in the setup, though.
While their website design is usually easy to navigate, there’s always a few documents that I have to click through several pages to find. That might say more about me than about Gusto.
Having to add in state tax rates manually every year is very annoying. But like most things in Gusto, once it’s set up, it’s good to go.

Most Important Features

Obviously, the payroll is the most important part. Being able to deduct taxes, benefits, donations, etc. directly from pay is great. You can even reimburse employees without having that part taxed.
Gusto recently added a way to deduct donations to charity directly from payrolls. Employees just pick one or more charities and the amount they want to give. On the company side, you can configure it to match donations up to a specific dollar amount. I love this feature.
The two-factor authentication helps keep our extremely sensitive information secure.
At the end of running payroll, right before you confirm, Gusto will show you how much employees are making, what gets taxed and why, the hours employees worked, and so on. It’s all laid out for you there, so you can see where all the money is going and why.

Return on Investment

As a very small business, Gusto allows me to run payroll painlessly. I have more time to focus on other tasks, since I only spend about 10 minutes every two weeks on payroll.
Well, since one of our objectives is making money, Gusto helps with that by only costing $57 or so per month for our two employees.
Seeing the payroll numbers helps me understand where all the taxes are going.

Key Insights

Do you think Gusto delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Gusto's feature set?

Yes

Did Gusto live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Gusto go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Gusto again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Clockify, PandaDoc, QuickBooks Online

Likelihood to Recommend

I don’t have any experience with other payroll companies, so I’m limited to what I know about using Gusto. In fact, I’d never done payroll until I started using Gusto for the first time when the LLC was formed. We’re just a two-person consulting company, so we needed a payroll solution that was easy for someone inexperienced to use and didn’t break the bank. Most enterprise-level payroll would have been overkill. We wanted something more streamlined for a small business. Gusto offers plenty of functionality, but once everything is set up, it basically runs itself. I just go on every two weeks and click a few buttons. Voilà! Paid.

Excellent Payroll for Two (Employees)

Overall Satisfaction with Gusto