As an entrepreneur, you’ll have to manage several tasks at once such as payroll generation, insurance, taxes, and human resources. All these services will take a ton of time and require some serious attention to detail that should not be taken lightly. However, in doing so, you’ll be distracted from the core areas of your business.
If the above-mentioned issues, including payroll generation, are an intimidating prospect for you, consider signing up for an online solution like Gusto.
Gusto gives you the much-needed respite from running the strenuous administrative duties of a small business. There are several helpful tools and resources designed for small businesses that will be discussed below.
Why Gusto Is the Ideal Choice for You
Gusto is the preferred online payroll software of choice for small business owners who wish to automate the payroll process. It is a great choice for small businesses such as startups and restaurants that are paying their employees for the very first time. The last thing you should be worrying about is things like unemployment insurance and paying contractors, employees, and freelancers.
Gusto lets you do all this while maximizing your tax benefits and ensuring that your contractors are being paid on time and correctly. All business owners will agree that the biggest pitfall to running a business is not being able to pay contractors and freelancers on time. Plus, it’s not a good idea to send money randomly through PayPal, Cash App, or Venmo.
So, your company needs to maintain proper documentation and bookkeeping as a hedge against future lawsuits and periodic audits.
It is worth noting that the employee benefit features of Gusto are only available in 26 states. They also support payroll in all 50 states, which means they are only suited to small businesses for now. Perhaps the biggest selling point in Gusto’s favor is how it seamlessly integrates payroll, benefits, compliance, and compensation in one easy-to-use and fully transparent package.
Features at a Glance
Gusto is a tiny software tool that’s packed with a large number of features that are extremely valuable. The company takes care of tax filing, payroll calculations, benefits administration, HR and on-boarding process, and 401(k) plans. This is a great way to save business owners some time. Its payroll feature works in all 50 states for all employees.
With a perfect combination of great customer support and affordable pricing, it’s easy to see why Gusto is the preferred option for so many small business owners.
Great Services at Affordable Pricing
Unlike other software suites in the market, Gusto is 100% transparent about their pricing structure. They also offer three different plans. Payments can be made monthly from your account and can be canceled at any time. The best part is that it comes with a free 30-day trial as well. You won’t have to sign any contracts with Gusto and cancel without any obligations at any time.
Below is a general breakdown of the three pricing plans:
Core
- Generating payroll
- PTO
- Tax filing
- Direct deposits
- Generating reports
- Wage garnishment
Pricing: $39 per month + $6 per month per person
Complete
- Tax filing
- Time tracking
- PTO Requests
- Onboarding
- Payroll generation
- Vacation pay
- Wage garnishment
- Direct deposits
- Employee surveys
- Report Generations
- Custom administrator privileges
Pricing: $39 per month + $12 per month per person
Concierge
- Tax filing
- Time tracking
- PTO Requests
- Onboarding
- Payroll generation
- Vacation pay
- Wage garnishment
- Direct deposits
- Employee surveys
- Report Generations
- Assists with Employee Handbook
- Custom administrator privileges
- HR Support and Resource Center
- Dedicated customer support team
Pricing: $149 per month + $12 per month per person
Other Features
Gusto offers several add-on services that seamlessly integrate with the payroll software. These features are worth your while and can save you a ton of hours, effort, and money along the way. These services include:
Health Benefits: For now, their benefits services are only available in 17 states with support for more states being panned in the near future. At present, they cover general health insurance premiums, but you can add dental and vision in addition to medical. Make sure to check-in with Gusto to see if your selected states are supported.
401(k) Retirement Plans: Gusto works with Guideline to provide you and your employees with a 401(k) plan. This will cost an additional $8 per month with $ 40-month minimums and a $500 setup fee.
Worker Compensation Insurance: Gusto also provides pay-as-you-go workers’ compensation insurance in partnership with AP Intego. You won’t have to pay any administration fees, and you will only pay for insurance premiums.
Only Works with Small and Medium-Sized Business.
Gusto works best with SMEs at the moment. Larger enterprises with more complex operations and payment schedules are not currently supported. For simpler situations, Gusto works perfectly fine for the most part. The only downside to Gusto is that it does not handle implementation, but their excellent customer support team should easily help you through the setup process in case you get stuck.
Ease of Use
Subsequently, what sets Gusto apart from other payroll software systems is its easy-to-use, clutter-free interface that makes navigation easier. In their 2018 survey of over 600 clients, at least 85% of respondents stated that Gusto is easy to use. Both employees and employers alike should have an easy tie handling the dashboard which gives you quick access to information and major benefits.
Speaking of dashboards, employees have their own dashboard where they can log in and view how much they got paid, things to do, upcoming payday, and more. The sidebar can be used to quickly navigate to the main features that employees typically want to access.
If you’ve made up your mind to use Gusto, use this link here to sign up and get a $100 gift card when you run your first payroll!
