There are currently many accounting services that enable businesses to automate and improve their bookkeeping routines with as little effort and cost as possible. They usually offer tools, software, and advice regarding hiring, taxes, financial statements, and payroll.
Gusto, in particular, is a prime example of an accounting service bent on payroll, but also with numerous other features. There are many instruments to cover. Obviously, you’ll need to know what you’re dealing with because there are many more similar platforms, and it’s a race for the best.
Gusto – Overview
Gusto is one of the most popular accounting services on the internet. This niche has been growing for several years already, and countless businesses partially automated their accounting routines in the meantime.
Gusto, in particular, has a very intuitive, personal approach to management. An employer creates an environment for their workers, and workers can use it to better control their finances, worker benefits, and work routine in general. Basically, the employer takes part in the development of a user interface for their employees.
While this entire process is rather straightforward and obvious, all the confusing parts (as financing is bound to be full of) can be straightened out using the help of one of the Gusto experts. Anything you’ll need in your line of work as an employer or an employee – and even more – can be done easily here.
What does Gusto offer?
As expected, many of these automation features Gusto offers have something to do with software. There are different types, and you can actually create your own experience by picking the exact software you’ll use during your time with Gusto.
The software hosted here is sorted into three big categories, and that includes:
- Their all-in-one HR platform
- The library of accounting applications
- Tools, calculators, and other manual tools
This diversity of applicable software means you can more-or-less customize your routine and pick tools that serve your needs. Although it’s wise to use everything they give you (considering you’re paying for this stuff), there’s just too much. Depending on what your own approach to bookkeeping is like, you can select an exact list of tools and run with it.
But what are these tools, exactly? Let’s go through them one by one and then see if they are worth their price.
Gusto all-in-one platform
This universal helper Gusto is so proud of is really all about managing your employees, as well as creating a helpful space for them to know about their pay, bonuses, rights, and performance. A large chunk of it is payroll management.
Employer POV
You can access this ‘HR operating system’ by clicking on one of the many ‘Get started’ buttons scattered across their website. But for direct access:
- Go to any of their pages
- Navigate to the header (the top navigation menu)
- Select ‘Services’
- Click on the big ‘HR OPERATING SYSTEM’ space.
There are several sections in this system. They all pursue their own goals, but it’s generally the same story of managing your employees and taking better care of them. It includes payroll management, benefits management, hiring management, performance view, and more.
It’s not just about seeing all the requirements and rewards you set for your workers, but also about being able to properly connect them in many small ways. This software will allow you to leave performance reviews for every single employee for their own knowledge, but it will also enable you to interact with them.
Send mail to potential workers, existing workers, and contractors from one menu; allow people to take leaves in one click; enable them to take payment in advance before the month is out; commend and show appreciation to your workers – this, and much more, can be done in just a handful of clicks.
Employee POV
This experience your employer can craft for you directly influences what you can do as their employee. Gusto is a 2-way resource, but it also costs money. The thing is: if your employer paid for a subscription, you can download a special Gusto Wallet app for free. This will give you many good opportunities.
Gusto might seem like another layer of control, but it’s very comfortable and useful even for employees – even more so, considering that you don’t pay for any of this stuff.
As an employee of a business who subscribed to Gusto, you can download the Gusto app. You’ll likely have to do it, actually, because employers spend their own money on this stuff. However, it’s all for the better.
Gusto Wallet is a helpful little app that shows you, as an employee, all the information regarding your pay, benefits (leaves, health insurance, bonuses & more), your rights, your performance, and much more – all available in a single piece of software. Without it, you’d have to guess. This automates much of your routine.
It even helps you with taxes and other reports. In the age of remote work and digitization everywhere, this app is a must-have.
The payroll part
There are many ways you can interact with this platform, but payroll management is the most prominent section. Much of Gusto is actually aimed at providing a proper paycheck management experience for all parties.
As an employer, you deposit money from any payment method you want, select the size of paychecks for each of your employees, and the payment itself will be automated when it’s due. You only need to have enough money on your account for it to happen. Just know that depositing money takes a few days, but after that you’re golden.
There are many smaller features, including help with paperwork for contractors and special provisions for individual workers. But that’s the general gist.
As an employee, you receive your paycheck automatically on a specific date. But barring that, you can take some money in advance if your boss allows that. All of this money is stored on a single balance inside the app, after all. You can withdraw it whenever you want. But here’s the sweetest part.
You can manage your money by putting certain amounts into various funds. For instance, you can save money for a vacation or a back-up. It’s nothing technical – you just divide your savings into various categories for budgeting. You can even tell the algorithm to put a portion of your paycheck into one of the funds each time it arrives.
So, it’s not just a way to receive your money via an intermediary. Through Gusto, you can ration your savings, receive paychecks easily, and do many more small things regarding their management, not to mention that you get to view your benefits and other stuff in the same app.
Accounting apps
Accounting apps are integrations of various sorts that can be accessed through Gusto. Most of these are independent applications designed by other parties, and you can even find a few famous ones among them. The good news is that many of these are free, while the ones that cost money are often cheaper on Gusto.
These applications cover a large list of activities, including accounting, business promotion, collaboration, hiring, taxes, and much more. They are generally used to automate these specific parts of your business routine, which is great news if you’re fond of such solutions.
Although it’s a big library with all sorts of software in it, you don’t want to download every single extension you see. After all, you’ll still have to control them even if they automate much of your routine. If a job is not too complex, you can do it manually. Just go to ‘Services’ -> ‘App directory’ to see more.
Calculators & other tools
This section is mostly about various calculators, including algorithms for salaries, taxes, and other parameters that usually require a specialist and a complex formula to compute. With this, you can do it all by yourself with just minimal knowledge about accounting.
There are more tools besides these. If you want to know more, head to the ‘Resources’ -> ‘Calculators and tools’ menu.
Summary
Considering that a Gusto subscription can be bought for as little as $39 a month (+ fixed price for each person using it), all of this content seems like a bargain. Now, naturally, there are more expensive plans that offer even more content. However, even the cheapest offer gives you all of the features mentioned above.
With that in mind, Gusto might just be the best payroll service out there, although, it’s subjective and depends on what you want from your service specifically.
If you want to see if you can afford Gusto, go see the full pricing on this page. Just remember that it’s only the employer who has to pay.