If you need to update a teammate's details, rather than company details, use the articles below:
Change your company name—includes info about changing DBA Add or update your Doing Business As (DBA) or trade name in Gusto
You can add a DBA name in Gusto, but businesses are required to use the company name and FEIN on file with the IRS as your legal/official name to prevent filing issues.
To add or update your DBA name in Gusto, contact us from the Support section of your account. Your DBA name will appear:
- Across your Gusto profile, and;
- On reports run from the Reports section of your account, and;
- On paystubs for team members
Legal business name change or correction
If you've changed your legal business name, or need to correct it, follow the steps below:
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Submit your name change to the IRS and relevant state agencies (if you haven't already).
- Confirm with the IRS if this also requires a new Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN).
- If you're receiving a new FEIN, find the next steps for updating your FEIN with Gusto here.
- If you're using the same FEIN, message us from the Support section of your account and send the required* supporting documentation from the IRS and state agencies showing this company name change.
- *IRS proof is required (e.g., a copy of CP-575 or Letter 147C) before we can update your account—you cannot submit only state agency documentation.
Once we receive your request, and the related IRS and state documentation, we'll update the company name in your Gusto account.
Troubleshooting company name issues
If we reach out about an error with the name you're using in Gusto, it's likely because we're using your DBA (doing business as) name instead of the official name that's on record with the IRS. To fix the issue:
- Contact us from the Support section of your account and attach the correspondence from the IRS showing your current official company name.
- If you want to use a DBA in addition to your official name, just include both your official name and your DBA in the email.
- We'll review and update the company name (and DBA, if applicable) in your Gusto account.
Change your FEIN (federal employer identification number) Change in ownership/structure
If you've changed your business type, or experienced a change in ownership or structure with your business:
- First, check with the IRS to see if this requires a change to your company's Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN).
- Typically, a change in your business name alone does not require a new FEIN—see the “Change your company name” dropdown above for more information.
- Reach out to your state and local agencies about the company change to see if you need new state or local tax account numbers.
FEIN was changed
To make sure you have accurate tax filings associated with your old FEIN, and new FEIN, two separate Gusto accounts are needed—follow the steps below to set up the new company profile with the new FEIN.
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Create a new Gusto account.
- In your new Gusto account, enter any new company info:
- Legal entity name
- The new FEIN
- State tax IDs and corresponding deposit schedules and rates—you may need new state or local account numbers too, contact the agencies to confirm.
- Company address (if changed)
- Bank account (if changed)
- We can help migrate employee information over to your new account, as long as your employees have not changed work locations. Contact us from the Support section of your account about the FEIN change, and:
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Let us know which employees you do not want migrated to the new company profile (if any), and;
- If you'd like to migrate employees sooner than the expected time frame for completion provided by our team, you can also onboard employees yourself.
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Let us know if we manage your benefits so we can put you in contact with our Benefits team—we want to make sure the company benefits are not terminated with your carrier as a result of the FEIN change.
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Do not cancel the Gusto account with the old FEIN just yet, we need to make sure all tax payments are settled, and will help you cancel your account when ready.
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Important: If you need W-2s generated for the account you're closing, when canceling that Gusto account, you'll need to select that Gusto process your quarterly and yearly filings (for the year you closed your old FEIN).
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In making the above selection, we'll use the payroll amounts processed under the old FEIN to file current quarter returns and year-end forms. We'll also file any remaining quarterly returns for the year with $0 amounts.
- Once Gusto's given the go-ahead, cancel the old company profile (with the old FEIN)—this stops $0 returns from being filed in future years.
FEIN errors
If you realize you've added the incorrect FEIN in Gusto, contact us from the Support section of your account.
Heads up: If we've already successfully filed for a prior quarter under the incorrect FEIN, we may not be able to simply edit the FEIN in the current account (due to tax implications). Based on your company's unique situation, our team will walk you through any next steps needed.
Manage company addresses—add, change, or deactivate company locations and view employees working at each address A company location can be any address where your employees work (or live, for employees working from home), your legal filing address, or your legal mailing address. If you've added a new company location, enter it in Gusto.
Important reminders
- If you do not enter employee work locations during onboarding, and only have PO-box locations, we'll eventually ask for a company work location that's not a PO box (for taxation).
- Legal or mailing address changes—be sure to notify the IRS of your legal or mailing address change. You’ll also need to notify the states (where you've previously registered) so they can update your legal or mailing address on file.
- If you’ve never registered with the state agencies where you now have employees working, you’ll need to register your business in the new state.
If you do not let the IRS and state agencies know before making updates in Gusto, it may result in failed payments or filings.
Add a company address - Click the Settings section.
- At the top, toggle to the Company tab.
- Under Locations, click Manage your company locations.
- Click Add a Company Location.
- Enter the new work address—this should be a physical location and not a PO Box or other mailboxes.
- Check the box at the bottom if this is a work location.
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Click Save.
Gusto will file tax returns for the newly added location after you pay an employee at that location—make sure each of your individual employee profiles now reflects the appropriate work address (new or old).
Do not delete old work addresses if employees ever worked there. Gusto will need historical work addresses for taxation purposes.
Change your main company location (filing and mailing address) Before you can change the address, make sure you've added the new company address first (use the steps in the Add a company address dropdown). Then, follow the steps below.
Important: Switching the filing and mailing address will block payroll until your signatory has re-signed company forms—make sure they're ready to sign them before making the change.
- Go to Settings.
- At the top, toggle to the Company tab.
- Under the “Locations” headline, click Manage your company locations.
- Under “Main Company Location,” click Switch Filing & Mailing Addresses.
- Choose the company address you're changing it to, and click Save.
As a reminder, already-submitted filings typically do not need to be re-submitted if the filing address is the only information that was updated.
Change (edit) or deactivate a company address - Click the Settings section.
- At the top, toggle to the Company tab.
- Under the “Locations” headline, click Manage your company locations.
- Next to the applicable address, under the “Actions” column, click Edit address. A few reminders:
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For addresses that can be edited, and need to be deactivated, scroll to the bottom of the popup box and click the Deactivate this location link.
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If you still have employees actively working at an address, you will not be able to edit the address.
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To deactivate this location, create a new company location, then move your employees' work address to that location.
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If the employee used to work at that address, the address cannot be edited.
- If the location is permanently closed, scroll to the bottom of the popup box and click the Deactivate this location link.
- If an address is only applicable to dismissed employees, contact us from the Support section of your account so we can help with deactivating the address.
- Click Save.
View or move employees working at a company location Updating your employees’ addresses may have tax implications and result in follow-up action items. Check the notifications on your payroll dashboard for a list of things to complete once you've made a change.
- Go to the Settings section.
- Toggle to the Company tab.
- Under “Locations” click Manage your company locations.
- In the table of work locations, find the address, and click the three-dot menu in the “Actions” column.
- Click See employees.
- Review the current employees at this location, and if you need to move some, click Move employees here.
- Choose a start date at the new address.
- This date can only be now or in the future, not in the past.
- If you need to make retroactive address updates, do so individually in each team member's profile.
- The “start date” will be applied to all employees in the bulk operation.
- Select employees to move.
- Click Move employees.
Change the company signatory The company signatory is responsible for electronically signing all government forms Gusto creates and is generally a member of the partnership/business.
Each time a signatory is added or updated, we’ll have to file a new Form 8655 with the IRS—your signatory must be authorized by the IRS to give Gusto the “Reporting Agent Authorization” we need to file and pay your taxes. If you're adding or changing your company’s signatory, make sure to also notify the IRS by completing Form 8822-b.
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Important: Changing the signatory will block payroll until your new signatory has re-signed company forms—make sure they're ready to sign them before making the change.
Authorized signers by entity type:
- Sole proprietorships.
- The individual owning the business.
- Corporation—including a limited liability company (LLC) treated as a corporation.
- An officer having legal authority to bind the corporation,
- Any person designated by the board of directors or other governing body,
- Any officer or employee on written request by any principal officer, and
- Any other person authorized to access information under section 6103(e).
- Partnership (including an LLC treated as a partnership) or an unincorporated organization.
- A member of the partnership.
- Single member LLC treated as a disregarded entity.
Step 1. Delete the current signatory
You must be the primary administrator to complete the steps below:
- Click the Settings section.
- At the top, toggle to the Company tab.
- Next to Company Signatory, click Edit.
- Click Delete This Signatory.
Step 2. Assign a new signatory
Once this signatory is deleted, add the new signatory.
- Click the Settings section.
- At the top, toggle to the Company tab.
- Next to Company Signatory, click Assign a Signatory.
- Select if you are the signatory.
- If you are the new signatory, enter your information.
- If you are not the new signatory, enter their email address so that we can send them a notification to fill out their information.
Once the new signatory is added, they'll be prompted to electronically sign a few forms by clicking the Documents section.
Change a state or local payroll tax account number If your state or local tax account numbers were changed or updated, check with the IRS to determine if your FEIN (Federal Employer Identification Number) also needs an update. If you’re issued a new FEIN, here’s how to handle FEIN changes with Gusto.
Update a state or local tax account number (if your FEIN has not changed)
Carefully review any information you’re updating, and all supporting agency documentation (e.g., notices, online portal screenshots, etc)—entering incorrect information can result in notices, penalties, and extra cost and time to correct historical payments and returns.
When one thing changes, others may too—you should check to see if any other important tax details are changing (e.g., state unemployment insurance tax rate changes, or deposit schedule changes for withholding taxes).
- Click the Taxes & compliance section and select Tax setup.
- Scroll to the applicable “[State] Tax Setup” headline.
- Click Manage taxes.
- Click Edit next to the account number you need to update.
- Update the number, and click Save—this new account number will be used on all payments and filings that are created after the update was made.
- If you change your account number in January, April, July, or October (the months that quarterly filings are generated and due), contact us from the Support section of your account. There’s a chance that the upcoming payments or filings will be sent with your old account number—if this happens, there could be tax implications.
If we’ve already made payments and filings to an incorrect account number, you’ll need to fix this with the tax agencies directly (outside of Gusto). Learn how to find your historical tax payments and tax returns in Gusto below.
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Heads up: Correcting payments or filings sent to the wrong account number can be tricky—we recommend working with a tax advisor for help, or using our partner directory to find one.
Find historical tax payments made to the incorrect account number
- Head to the Reports section of your account.
- Find and select the “Agency payments” report.
- In the “Sort by” field, select Date (newest) to see the most recent deposits made.
- Choose the report format, and click Generate report.
- The report will not show the account number each payment was paid to, but all payments listed will have been made to the account number Gusto had on file on the date listed in the report.
- For the agency where a new account number was issued, confirm the “effective date” of the new number and identify all past payments that were made to the incorrect account number (based on the new number’s effective date).
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Contact the agency and ask that they transfer the identified payments to the correct account number.
Correcting payments or filings sent to the wrong account number can be tricky—we recommend working with a tax advisor for help, or using our partner directory to find one.
Find historical tax returns filed with the incorrect account number
- Head to the Taxes & compliance section and click Tax documents.
- Toggle to the State tab.
- To find historical tax returns made to the incorrect (old) number, click the column headers to filter by:
- Find all filings that have been “Sent” (according to the “Status” column) using the incorrect account number—this should be based on the new number’s effective date.
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Contact the agency and ask that they transfer the identified tax returns to the correct account number.
Correcting payments or filings sent to the wrong account number can be tricky—we recommend working with a tax advisor for help, or using our partner directory to find one.
Change your state unemployment insurance (SUI) tax rate State agencies send out notices with your assigned state unemployment insurance tax rates—you'll get one when you first
register your company as an employer with the unemployment agency in the state.
You’ll also receive a new tax rate notice with each new year that includes your rate for the upcoming year. Depending on the state, these are often mailed out between November of the prior year through March of the effective year.
Add a new SUI rate
If you get a new rate assigned to you for the current or future periods, update your SUI rate in your company profile by following these steps:
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Click the Taxes & Compliance section and select Tax setup.
- Click Manage Taxes under the applicable State Tax section.
- Scroll to "State Tax Settings" and click edit next to "Unemployment Tax Rate"—this may also have other names like "SUI rate" or "Experience rate" based on the state.
- Updating your rate only works in states where you currently have active employees.
- Here you can also view the past rates you've had in your account.
- Click Add a new rate.
- If the rate you're entering was effective during an already closed quarter, and you're adding it after the quarter ended, you'll likely get a notice for taxes owed (if underpaid) or a refund (if overpaid).
- Enter the number shown on the notice as a percentage rate.
- Example: If your notice says you have a rate of .055555, enter 5.5555%.
- For information about how to enter your rate correctly for your specific state, go to the state-specific registration article in the Help Center.
- Click the Register a company with state agencies or Find your account number and rate info dropdowns, scroll to the applicable unemployment section, and enter the rate(s) as detailed.
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Set the "Effective Date" as the effective date listed on your notice.1
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In most states: The effective date will be January 1.
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New Jersey, Tennessee and Vermont: There are a few states that change their rates mid-year, and you should enter an effective date of July 1.
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New Hampshire can change their rate effective any quarter, so pay close attention to these rate notices. Enter:
- January 1 if the rate takes effect for the period Jan 1 - Mar 31.
- April 1 if the rate takes effect for the period April 1 - June 30.
- July 1 if the rate takes effect for the period Jul 1 - Sep 30.
- October 1 if the rate takes effect for the period Oct 1 - Dec 31.
- Click Save.
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Important: If the update is being made after the deadline listed on the notice, agencies may assess penalties and/or interest for underpayments. These are the employer's responsibility to pay.
Correct your SUI rate or effective date and review rate history
Some tax agencies provide Gusto with "rate exchanges", and you may receive a notification that we’ve already updated your rate. This is a courtesy that's intended to help you pay the correct taxes each quarter. There may be circumstances when we're unable to confirm your current rate with a tax agency, so your company must still confirm that the correct rates are in your company tax profile.1
If you realize that you previously entered an incorrect rate or effective date, update the information in Gusto as soon as you have the correct information.
- Sign in to Gusto.
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Click the Taxes & Compliance section and select Tax setup.
- Click Manage Taxes under the applicable State Tax section.
- Scroll to "State Tax Settings" and click edit next to SUI Rate.
- Updating your rate only works in states where you currently have active employees.
- Here you can also view the past rates you've had in your account.
- Click Make a correction.
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Before the end of each quarter, we'll run a reconciliation payroll to determine if there was a difference between the most up-to-date rate and a previously used rate. If there's a difference, we'll debit the company for the underpaid SUI tax amounts or refund the company for any SUI tax amounts that were over-collected.
- If the rate you're entering was effective during an already closed quarter, and you're changing it after the quarter ended, you'll likely get a notice for taxes owed (if underpaid) or a refund (if overpaid).
- Gusto does not amend unemployment returns for rate updates retroactively made for an already closed quarter—you can simply pay the agency any amount owed (if you've underpaid), or accept the refund (if you've overpaid).
- Enter the number shown on the notice as a percentage rate.
- Example: If your notice says you have a rate of .055555, enter 5.5555%.
- For information about how to enter your rate correctly for your specific state, go to the state-specific registration article in the Help Center.
- Click the Register a company with state agencies or Find your account number and rate info dropdowns, scroll to the applicable unemployment section, and enter the rate(s) as detailed.
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Set the "Effective Date" as the effective date listed on your notice.1
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In most states: The effective date will be January 1.
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New Jersey, Tennessee and Vermont: There are a few states that change their rates mid-year, and you should enter an effective date of July 1.
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New Hampshire can change their rate effective any quarter, so pay close attention to these rate notices. Enter:
- January 1 if the rate takes effect for the period Jan 1 - Mar 31.
- April 1 if the rate takes effect for the period April 1 - June 30.
- July 1 if the rate takes effect for the period Jul 1 - Sep 30.
- October 1 if the rate takes effect for the period Oct 1 - Dec 31.
- Click Save.
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Important: If the update is being made after the deadline on the notice, agencies may assess penalties and/or interest for underpayments. These are the employer's responsibility to pay.
- Gusto does not amend unemployment returns for rate updates retroactively made for an already closed quarter—you can simply pay the agency any amount owed (if you've underpaid), or accept the refund (if you've overpaid).
If you need assistance adding a rate, contact us from the Support section of your account.
1 Failure to timely update or confirm your State Unemployment Insurance rate may result in additional taxes and penalties being imposed on the taxpayer by the taxing authority or agency.