Set up your Gusto account (for employers)

Welcome to Gusto! Use the dropdowns below to complete account set up. Be sure to first check out our Onboarding Overview article.

If you have any questions, contact us through the Help section of your account.

Employees have different steps to set up their employee profile.

Enter company addresses during account setup

Click Step 1: Company's addresses.
Click Add Company Addresses and enter in your first address.
Select if the address is one or more of the following:
- Work Location: This is the address where your employees are physically doing their work.
  - It can be the same as the mailing or filing address so long as it's a physical address; do not enter a PO Box here (per IRS publication 1635 and SS-4 instructions, enter lines 5a-b from your SS-4).
  - If your employee works from home, you can indicate they're working from their home address when you add your employee to Gusto and select their work location.
- Mailing Address: This is the address that can receive any physical mailings from Gusto, which is oftentimes the same address as the Filing Address. Some tax authorities update employer address information based on tax filings, so we'll use your mailing address on tax returns sent to the agencies.
  - Street 1: Include critical mailing information only, such as the street address, followed by room, apartment or suite numbers, or you can report a P.O. box here. Note: You don't need to re-type your company name here. We'll include your company name first, then your street address.
  - Street 2 (optional): Any additional instructions, such as "Attention:" or "In care of" (%) can be reported here.
- Filing Address: This is your primary place of business (ex. company headquarters) and it should match the address you have on file with the IRS as the company's physical location, not a P.O box.
  - You can find it on the company's IRS Federal EIN assignment form (Form SS-4). You do not need to re-type your company name here. We'll include your company name first, then your street address.
Click Save.

Continue this process until all company addresses have been entered.

Add employees to Gusto during account setup

There are three main steps to adding an employee in Gusto when you're setting up your account. The way you set up each employee will determine their taxes.

If you've already set up your account, and you're hiring new employees down the line, go to this article.

Step 1: Add employee’s details

Basics

Click the Add employees step.
- If you previously indicated you’re switching from QuickBooks Online, you’ll see the option to import some employee data (name, date of birth, hire date, email, and home address) for quicker onboarding. Find the QuickBooks Online tile and click Get started.
Choose how you'd like to add your employees: One employee at a time, or Multiple employees at the same time.
- If you need help adding multiple employees at once, refer to these steps.
Enter your employee’s basic information:
- Full name
- Start date
- Manager (managers must have a Gusto employee account and email address)
- Risk class code (only with an integrated Workers' Compensation plan)
- Work address
- Personal email address
  - Your employee will have access to Gusto using this email address once the setup is complete.
Keep the option selected: Invite this employee to enter their own details, and we'll email your employee asking them to finish entering their personal details and sign important documents.

Compensation

(Optional) Enter the employee's job title.
Classify your employee's compensation type.
Enter the amount of money they'll earn.
Select the frequency of payment.

Time off

Optional: If you'd like to set up a time off policy, use the links provided to get started. Then apply the policy to your new employee.

Tax exemptions

Optional: If the employee has any special tax considerations, this can be selected from the dropdown menu. You'll be able to select specific tax exemptions within "Tax Elections" if onboarding the employee yourself, or after the employee completes self-onboarding.

Once your employee has been added, search for members of your team in the employee search bar to be taken directly to their employee page.

Step 2: View employee documents to be signed

Review the following documents that we’ll ask your employee to sign within their Gusto account:
- Form W-4: Employee Tax Withholding Allowance
- Employee Direct Deposit Authorization
- Form I-9: Employee Eligibility Verification (only for new employees whose start date hasn’t already passed)
Click Save & continue.

If your employee’s start date is in the past, we will not ask your employee to complete Form I-9 since this is a new hire form. Make sure to fill out Form I-9 and keep it for your records outside of Gusto if this document has not been completed for your employee.

Step 3: Select employee welcome options

If your employee’s start date is in the past, we will not ask you to select any welcome options since your employee has already begun working.

Select if you want your new employee to receive an email reminder to bring their I-9 materials and a welcome note the day before they start work.
Click Preview email to see what it'll look like before you send it.
Click Save & continue.
If you have more employees to enter, click Add Another Employee. If not, click I've Added All Current Employees.

After your employee has finished entering their information, you’ll receive a to-do item on your Home page as well as an email notification to review and approve their details. If you added newly hired employees, you’ll be notified to complete their Form I-9 details on their start date.

Note: If you do not want your employees entering their own information, simply unselect Invite this employee to enter their own details. You'll then be able to enter all of your employee’s personal, tax, and payment details to bring them on board. We’ll still generate Form W-4 and the authorization form for direct deposit, but you’ll need to fill out Form I-9 outside of Gusto.

Add federal tax details

As a full-service payroll provider, we take care of your federal tax returns and deposits. To do this, we need to know the following:

Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN)
Official company name on file with the IRS
Company type

You can find this information on form CP-575 from the IRS.

During onboarding, click Step 5: Federal Taxes.
Click Add Federal Tax Details.
Enter your FEIN and company type.
- Important: Do not use your Social Security Number (SSN) as your FEIN.
  - This is a common error for sole proprietors and other new employers. The IRS requires a FEIN once you've hired your first employee.
  - You'll need to register as an employer with the IRS and provide us with your FEIN. It'll be assigned immediately when you register here.
Click Save.
Click on the next step to continue with the setup.

In the future, you'll need to add your state and local payroll tax account numbers.

Federal tax deposit schedule reminder

We'll default your account to a semi-weekly deposit schedule, and the 941 form filing—this helps protect you from potential IRS penalties.

Add your company bank account

When you set up your Gusto account, we’ll ask for a default company bank account to debit for wages, taxes, and your monthly Gusto fee. You can add other bank accounts later and individually select which bank account to use on payrolls and contractor payments.

Bank account requirements

The account must be a US-based checking bank account
- It cannot be the same as a team member's bank account.
Credit payments, credit cards, and savings accounts are not accepted.
Alphanumeric account numbers (with both letters and numbers) are accepted.

Add a default company bank account—you can update this later

Click Step 7: Bank account.
Click the Add Bank Account button.
- If this button does not work, try refreshing the page a few times until you can click it.
Select how you want Gusto to verify your bank account:
- Verify account with Plaid—you'll be asked to link your bank account to Gusto so we can instantly verify your bank.
  - Reminder: If you verify with Plaid, you cannot use "Bottom (blank check stock)" to print checks you may write. Account numbers are encrypted and will not print to this type of check.
- Manually verify your account—if your bank is not eligible to connect through Plaid, or you've decided not to instantly connect, you'll need to enter your bank information manually. We'll then send two test transactions, which usually take 2–3 business days to hit your account. You'll need to come back to Gusto to enter these amounts.
  - Click the checkbox to acknowledge this change may block payroll for up to 2 business days until bank verification is complete.
Click Continue.

Once the account is verified:

The bank account will automatically be set as your default bank account.
If you need to add or change bank accounts, learn how here.

If the account has not been verified yet, here's how to update the details (if needed):

Next to "Add Company Details", click the Actions button.
Select Review.
In the left-side menu, click Bank Account.
- You'll be taken to a page asking you to enter test bank transaction amounts.
Click Back.
Enter your new bank account details and proceed.

Enter test transaction amounts in Gusto

Once you've entered your bank details, you'll need to enter the test transaction amounts in Gusto.

Sign in to Gusto.
Click the Settings section.
At the top, toggle to the Plan & billing tab.
Scroll to the “Bank accounts” section and find the bank account.
Under the “Status” column, click Confirm test transaction to enter the two amounts.

If you're having issues verifying the account:

Make sure the bank account information is entered correctly in Gusto.
Check your bank transactions again to make sure they're entered correctly in Gusto.

What's next?

Add your pay schedule to Gusto.

Verify your bank account using Instant Bank Verification (IBV)

You can securely connect your bank account to your Gusto account using instant bank verification (IBV). We use a third-party service called Plaid to instantly verify your bank account. We don't store your bank account’s username and password, and your bank credentials are encrypted.

Connect your bank account with IBV

After you've entered your routing and account number, you have the option to instantly verify your bank account.

Select Verify Bank Account.
- Note: If you do not want to verify instantly, you can verify by receiving two test transactions to your account. Click verify your account manually to do this.
Click Continue.
Enter your online bank account username.
Enter your online bank account password.
Answer any security questions, if needed.
If we're able to connect instantly to your account, you'll be able to return to the dashboard. If we cannot connect, we'll ask you to verify manually via two small test transactions.
If you experience any problems connecting your bank, contact our Assurance team at [email protected].

Set up a new pay schedule

Set up your pay schedules in Gusto so we know when to pay your employees.

Pay schedule options

Everyone on one pay schedule
- One pay schedule for all employees (hourly and salaried).
- Compatible with Gusto Time tracking and Project tracking.
By compensation type
- Assign separate pay schedules to hourly and salaried employees.
  - Heads up: Employees classified as "Salary/Eligible for Overtime" are included on the “Hourly” pay schedule.
- Compatible with Gusto Time tracking and Project tracking.
By employee
- Assign employees to pay schedules individually. Use this for schedules based on location, owner status, etc.
- This schedule can only be set up after you're done onboarding.
- Compatible with Gusto Time tracking and Project tracking.
By department
- Assign pay schedules to departments.
- To set this up, you need to turn on the Departments feature and assign employees to departments.
- Compatible with Gusto Time tracking and Project tracking.

Pay frequency options

Weekly
Biweekly
Semimonthly
Monthly
Quarterly
Annual

For advice about what schedule(s) would work the best for your company, check out our blog post.

Set up a new pay schedule

Compliance check

Always check your state payday laws, and consider paying in arrears. This is when there’s a gap between the pay period and pay date, so you have time to gather hours and do payroll.

Payday reminder

Paydays will always be on a weekday (regardless of what payment method is used, check or direct deposit). If a payday is on a weekend or bank holiday, the check date will be moved to the business day before.

Sign in to Gusto.
Click the Pay section and select Pay settings.
- If you’re still onboarding, go to the Pay Schedule section.
Find the “Pay Schedule” section and click Add New Pay Schedule.
Choose how you’d like to assign employees to pay schedules (more info about each above):
- Everyone on one pay schedule
- By compensation type
- By employee
  - This schedule can only be set up after you're done onboarding.
- By department
  - To set this up, you need to turn on the Departments feature and assign employees to departments.
Click Continue.
Choose from an existing pay schedule listed, or add a new one.
- If you add a new schedule, before you save, click Preview upcoming paydays to view your future schedules. When everything looks right, click Save.
Click Continue once all employee types have been assigned to a pay schedule.
Review the changes, and click Submit if everything looks correct.
If this schedule should be on AutoPilot, click the Pay section and select Pay settings. Find the new pay schedule, and next to "Payroll on AutoPilot" click Edit to turn it on.

You may need to run a transition payroll to account for any gap between schedules. If you do, we'll let you know on your Home page.

You can learn how to change a pay schedule after it's been set up here.

Report previous payrolls

If you're entering previous payrolls during the setup of your Gusto account, you'll need a few documents first. Click here for the documentation needed to report previous payrolls.

If you've already run payroll with Gusto, record the missing payroll through the non-Gusto payroll flow.

Sign in to Gusto.
Click Get started next to "Add previous payroll records and review tax liabilities."
Make sure all of your active employees are listed and click Save and continue.
Make sure all of your dismissed employees from the current year are entered, and click Save and continue.
- This step is important as we need this info to generate all W-2s at the end of the year.
If you're joining after the first quarter of the year, select the checkbox next to any prior quarters in which you paid employees. Then, select each check date that you paid employees in the current quarter and click Save and continue.
Click Add details next to the first check date, the date the wages were paid.
- Have quarter-to-date payroll reports ready for any prior quarters (1/1–3/31, 4/1–6/30, etc.), and individual payroll reports for the current quarter.
Select all applicable employees for that check date and click Save and continue.
Enter the employee’s earnings, deductions, and reimbursements (if applicable).
- For the current quarter, gather all paystubs for every employee.
- For previous quarters in this calendar year, gather quarter-to-date payroll summaries for each employee.
Once you've entered the details for the first paystub, click Save and continue.
Review the tax and contribution amounts.
- If it matches your records, click Looks good.
- If it does not match your records:
  - Click Edit tax amounts to edit Federal Income Tax (FIT) or State Income Tax (SIT), if needed.
  - If the State Unemployment Insurance (SUI) does not match, go back to Tax setup and click Manage taxes under the applicable state to make sure you have the correct SUI rate(s) on file for the applicable period.
  - If the wrong state taxes are being calculated, check that employees have accurate address history and address effective dates listed in Gusto.
  - If you need to edit other taxes, contact our Sales Team at 415-918-2367 or [email protected].
Choose which taxes you have not yet paid/need Gusto to debit and pay on your behalf.
- - For previous quarters where we did not file and pay on your behalf, we can only debit for FUTA since this is an annually paid tax.
Confirm your Total Payroll amount, Check date, and Taxes Gusto will pay on the "Review and Submit" page.
- If all looks good, select Save and continue.
- If anything needs to be edited, click Back.
Repeat these steps for any remaining check dates.
On the check date summary page, make sure the total net pay matches what your year-to-date report from your previous payroll provider shows.
- If it does not match, view the total net pay next to each check date to see where the discrepancy is—click edit next to any incorrect payroll(s) and review the wages and taxes.
The amount listed on the Taxes Gusto will pay section is what will be debited once you run your first payroll through Gusto.
When completed, click I’m done.
To make changes to your prior payrolls:
- If you're still in onboarding: Click Review next to "Add previous payroll records and review tax liabilities."
- If you've completed onboarding but have not run your first payroll: Contact our Sales Team at 415-918-2367 or [email protected].
- If you've completed onboarding and have run your first payroll: Contact us through the Help section of your account.

What's next? E-sign forms in Gusto.

Sign paperwork

You need to e-sign a few forms to authorize Gusto to debit your bank account and file your payroll taxes. Without a signature on these forms, Gusto will not be able to file or pay taxes for your company.

Click Step 10: Sign Documents.
Click the Sign Documents button.
Select a signatory,* a person who can legally sign forms for your company.
- If you elect a signatory who is not yourself, we'll ask you for some personal details so we can identify them in the future.
Enter the signatory's personal information.
Click Save & continue.

*Your signatory should be an officer, owner, general partner or LLC member manager, plan administrator, fiduciary, or an authorized representative. An officer is the president, vice president, treasurer, chief accounting officer, etc. Learn more here.

We'll email the signatory to fill out their personal details in Gusto and sign the company forms. If you're the payroll administrator and the signatory, you can move forward by clicking Sign Form next to all required documents.

Review unpaid tax liabilities

Unpaid tax liabilities are the employer and employee payroll taxes that have not yet been paid to the state and federal agencies.

If you're switching over to Gusto mid-year, you may have some outstanding tax liabilities you'd like us to pay. We'll calculate the amounts you may owe based on your payroll history and allow you to select what you'd like us to pay on your behalf.

Click Step 12: Unpaid tax liabilities.
Select whether you had a previous provider taking care of your taxes, or if you were paying on your own.
Select the amounts you'd like us to pay from the drop-down menu.
Click Review Previous Tax Liabilities.
- Important: If you're not sure if these numbers are 100% accurate, review the in-depth overview attached at the bottom of this article for additional guidance.
If everything looks good, select Pay Liabilities.

FAQs

Q: How do I find out which tax liabilities still need to be paid?

A: Call your payroll provider and ask for your outstanding tax liabilities. Ask them about every tax liability that you see on Gusto's Pay Previous Tax Liabilities screen. Here are some things you can ask, depending on when you join with us:

If you're joining Gusto for your first payroll in the quarter, say: "File and pay all quarterly tax filings for the previous quarter. Will you be refunding me any unpaid taxes? If so, which tax and how much?"
If you're joining Gusto in the middle of the quarter, say: "Please do not complete my quarterly filings, since I am switching payroll providers. Will you be refunding me any unpaid taxes? If so, which tax and how much?"

Q: What if the amounts shown don’t match the amounts from my previous payroll provider?

A: Select Amount Not Available. You'll be prompted to contact our Success team at [email protected] so we can help you figure out why there are any discrepancies in the data.