As a comprehensive payroll and human resources (HR) solution, Gusto simplifies all essential aspects of people’s operations in a single dashboard. Through its competitive compensation tools, time tracking, and seamless payroll and benefits administration, Gusto has supported the HR operations of over 300,000 businesses. 

No matter the size or stage of your business, Gusto’s key functionalities work together in a cohesive system to handle everything from hiring to onboarding and team management. This ensures increased HR capabilities, efficiency, and ease of operations throughout your organization. 

Gusto’s extensive suite of tools and innovative functionalities can be tailored to address the unique challenges of businesses across various industries. Here’s how Gusto works to improve and streamline complex HR operations. 

How Gusto’s Key Features Work?

Payroll And Tax Filing 

Gusto’s full-service payroll and tax filing system brings running payroll down to just a few clicks. It allows you to choose between running it manually or automating it, supporting both salaried and hourly employees, along with the option to add any additional bonuses, tips, and reimbursements. Furthermore, it: 

  • Offers unlimited payroll runs at no extra charge
  • Ensures compliance with state tax registration in all 50 states
  • Handles all tax calculations (employee and employer taxes)
  • Automatically submits necessary forms to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
  • International payments for contractors in over 120 countries
  • This enables you to pay remote and in-house employees whenever and however you want, all while ensuring automated legal and tax compliance

Benefits Administration 

Through its comprehensive benefits administration, Gusto seamlessly integrates employee benefits and manages them well within the payroll system. This includes: 

  • Medical benefits like dental, vision, and life insurance
  • Financial benefits like 401(k), workers' compensation programs
  • Retirement plans
  • Gusto Employee Wallet helps employees plan pre-tax savings and paycheck breakdowns and utilize smart financial tools to secure their financial future

This allows you to integrate and streamline your team’s benefits within one single system, ensuring compliance, transparency, and team satisfaction. 

Time And Attendance Tracking 

Gusto's automated time and attendance tools sync with payroll, pulling and gathering live data like worked hours, overtime, paid time off (PTO), holidays, and more directly from the employee portal. This includes functionalities like: 

  • Mobile time tracking with geolocation
  • Overtime alerts
  • Time-off requests
  • Project tracking and cost reports

These features prove beneficial for managing remote or field teams. Employees use their self-service portals to view pay stubs, manage savings, track time, and access benefits, reducing administrative workload and boosting trust between them and the administration. 

Employee Hiring And Onboarding  

Gusto simplifies the management of the employee life cycle, from hiring to onboarding and beyond. It enables businesses to attract top talent through: 

  • Custom job posts
  • Automated applicant tracking
  • Offer letter templates
  • Automated direct deposit form submission
  • 1099 form fillings

Once the talent has been selected, Gusto automates much of the paperwork for the new hire. All you have to do is add a new team member by entering their details (name, role, email, etc.), and it will send an email inviting the employee to log into the dashboard. From there, the new hire can complete the remaining paperwork and submit their information. This feature simplifies the onboarding process by managing everything digitally.  

Talent Management Tools 

With its comprehensive set of talent management tools, Gusto provides a clear and efficient way to support newly onboarded team members. Additionally, its integration with a learning management system (LMS) enhances your ability to develop talent all within a centralized platform. This is done through: 

  • Automated feedback requests to gather timely, transparent, and relevant insights into the employee journey
  • Integrated tools for learning and development (L&D) for more personalized training
  • Performance review templates to ensure objective evaluations
  • Personalized employee communication channels to keep employees engaged

These features work together to ensure businesses have an effective strategy for performance reviews, training, and feedback loops to develop and retain talent.  

Analytics, Insights And Reporting Tools  

Gusto’s insights and reporting tools help businesses make data-driven decisions and create a more efficient, compliant, and competitive workplace. Analytics from project costing tools, competitive compensation benchmarking, and custom reports will enable you to optimize labor costs and compensation strategies. Not only this, but the platform also: 

  • Automatically files state, federal, and other applicable taxes
  • Identifies any tax credits to save money
  • Sends real-time law and regulation alerts to ensure compliance
  • Provides comprehensive reports for all payroll activities, taxes, and employee earnings in the Reports library
  • Customizes reports and export them as PDFs or CSVs directly without manual intervention

Integrations  

The cloud-hosted platform offers various integrations with several third-party systems, greatly enhancing operational efficiency and streamlining business functions across departments. For example, an integration with accounting software will ensure that payroll data is synced well with the software, making it easier to track expenses. Integration with collaborative tools like Dropbox, Trello, Google Workspace, and Microsoft 365 will enable you to set up new employee accounts automatically. This allows for a smoother onboarding process and eliminates the need for repetitive HR tasks.  

How Gusto Works To Support Your Business?

Gusto is designed to be user-friendly and intuitive, making its features, dashboard, and employee portals easy to navigate. All its key functionalities and tools work together to support the HR operations for organizations of all sizes. With dedicated customer support and customizable pricing plans, Gusto provides a tailored solution for businesses looking to streamline and enhance their HR processes.