Adding collaborators lets the trustee and primary benefit administrator (PBA) delegate responsibilities to other members of your organization. This article covers the 5 administrator roles and their permissions, how to add a collaborator, and how to remove one. Roles must be assigned to individuals — not job titles.
There are 5 administrator roles, each with different permissions. If you’re not sure which role applies to you, find your administrator access level.
The trustee holds the highest level of access to a Gusto 401(k) plan and is ultimately responsible for the plan. This individual also serves as a plan fiduciary.
The trustee:
Has visibility into all plan documents
Is the only role that can approve and sign plan amendments and government filings, like the Form 5500 and Form 8955
Has access to the online portal for the plan custodian, Benefit Trust Company (BTC), through the Settings section of the administrator dashboard
Can view quarterly Trust Statements from BTC in the Resource Library
Is the only individual who can designate the PBA (though one person can hold both roles)
For plans where custodial services are provided by Benefit Trust Company (BTC), this individual has access to the online portal for the plan’s custodial account, through the Settings section of their Gusto 401(k) administrator dashboard. A copy of the quarterly Trust Statements from BTC are also available to the trustee in the Account Documents section of the Resource Library.
For plans with brokerage services through Gusto Brokerage, which uses Pershing for custodial services, you’ll receive a statement from Gusto Brokerage via the Gusto Brokerage online portal through the Settings section of their Gusto 401(k) administrator dashboard.
Note: A trustee must be designated for every plan. To change the trustee, submit a Trustee Change Packet to Gusto Retirement. For more information, see our trustee change FAQ.
The PBA has similar permissions to the trustee, with some exceptions. The PBA can request plan changes but cannot approve them. The PBA can also add and remove collaborators and has visibility into all plan documents, including quarterly BTC Trust Statements or Gusto Brokerage account statements, as applicable — but does not have access to the custodian portal.
The PBA gets notifications about Form 5500-related tasks and can approve the form itself.
Only the trustee can change the PBA through the Plan Settings page in their administrator dashboard.
Important: If no PBA is designated, the trustee automatically fills both roles.
Admins get notifications about pending tasks and can view some plan documents. This role can request plan changes, but those changes require trustee approval. Admins can update the plan's roster but cannot add, edit, or remove other collaborators or update permission levels or profile details.
This role can be held by multiple people.
Finance collaborators get notifications about upcoming bank withdrawals for contributions, invoices, and other plan financial details. They can request plan changes, which require trustee approval. Finance collaborators cannot add, edit, or remove other collaborators or update permission levels or profile details.
This role can be held by multiple people.
A finance admin has the combined permissions of both the admin and finance roles.
The steps to add a collaborator differ depending on whether you access your plan through the Gusto Retirement embedded experience (available to Gusto payroll customers) or the stand-alone retirement dashboard.
Choose the option that matches how you access your plan:
Gusto payroll customers can access their retirement plan directly from their Gusto account. The navigation is slightly different in the embedded experience.
To add a collaborator from Gusto payroll, follow these steps.
Go to Benefits.
Under Active Benefits, find 401(k) and select Manage.
In the top navigation, select Settings.
Go to Collaborators.
Select Add a collaborator.
Enter the new collaborator's information, then select Continue.
Choose the collaborator's role and responsibilities, then save.
Anyone can access the Gusto Retirement dashboard directly, including Gusto payroll customers who prefer to use it.
To add a collaborator from your Gusto Retirement dashboard, follow these steps.
Sign in to your Gusto Retirement administrator dashboard.
Select your company name in the upper right corner.
Select Settings.
Scroll down to the Collaborators section.
Select Add a collaborator.
Enter the new collaborator's information, then select Next step.
Choose the collaborator's role and responsibilities, then select Save collaborator.
After you add a collaborator, they will get an email notification to claim their account. They will not have access to the dashboard until they finish account setup.
Important: Only the trustee can appoint and edit the PBA. Only one collaborator can hold the PBA role at a time. If a PBA is removed and no replacement is appointed, the trustee automatically becomes the PBA.
If a collaborator needs to be removed from your plan, the trustee or PBA can make that change from their administrator dashboard. The steps differ depending on which dashboard you use.
Choose the option that matches how you access your plan:
To remove a collaborator from Gusto payroll, follow these steps.
Go to Benefits.
Under Active Benefits, find 401(k) and select Manage.
Select Manage 401(k).
In the top navigation, select Settings.
Select Collaborators.
Find the individual you want to remove and select the trash can icon in their row.
In the pop-up window, select OK to confirm the removal.
To remove a collaborator from your Gusto Retirement dashboard, follow these steps.
Sign in to your Gusto Retirement administrator dashboard.
Select your company name in the upper right corner.
Select Settings, then scroll down to the Collaborators section.
Find the individual you want to remove and select the trash can icon in their row.
In the pop-up window, select OK to confirm the removal.
Once removed, that person will no longer get notifications about the plan or have access to the administrator dashboard.
The trustee holds the highest level of plan administration. To reassign this role, the company must submit a Trustee Change Packet to Gusto Retirement. The trustee role cannot be reassigned until this process is done.