401(k) plan sponsors and administrators can use this article to walk through the first steps of setting up a Gusto 401(k) plan, including connecting payroll, linking a bank account, and reporting company ownership.
It's simple to connect your Gusto or Gusto Embedded payroll account to your 401(k) plan. Within your Gusto Retirement dashboard, click Start on this task, and it will route you to your payroll where you can sign in. This connects your payroll to your 401(k).
Your payroll syncs with our system daily to update employee information, like new hires or terminated employees, and to pull payroll reports needed to administer the plan. Contribution rate changes made that day from the 401(k) platform will also update in your payroll platform, as long as they are made before your payroll is processed.
In addition to Gusto payroll, we integrate with the following Gusto Embedded providers:
HiBob
HR for Health
How do I know my payroll is connected?
There are two ways to confirm. First, the task will be marked as done. Second, you will see a list of your employees in your Roster tab.
How do 401(k) contributions get processed when my company runs payroll?
Learn more about how we process contributions when your company runs payroll.
What happens if I switch payroll providers?
Learn more about how to notify us when you change payroll providers.
If you do not use Gusto or a Gusto Embedded provider for payroll, you will need to use a self-serve plan. This means you will upload a participant roster during setup, and for every pay cycle after that, you will upload a payroll summary report.
Participant roster
The participant roster is a report with information on participants in your company. To find the template, go to the "Submit [previous year] and [current year] payroll roster" task on your 401(k) dashboard. Fill out the template and upload it through that task.
Payroll summary report
The payroll summary report must include all required information for each payroll cycle. To find the template, follow these steps:
Go to your 401(k) dashboard.
Click the Payroll tab at the top of the screen.
Download the report template.
Fill out the template and upload it through the same Payroll tab.
You can find step-by-step directions for uploading payroll reports.
You have two options when connecting your bank account:
Instant verification (about five minutes) — You will be prompted to sign in to your bank account through Plaid. This recommended method is quick, easy, and secure. Check if your bank is integrated with Plaid.
Manual entry (about 2 – 4 business days) — If your bank is not integrated with Plaid, or if you prefer to manually enter your bank account information, fill out the required fields and micro deposits will be sent to your account. See the "Verify your bank account" section below for next steps.
What type of account do I need to connect?
We request your company's checking account. A checking account is needed for contributions and matching.
Why is Plaid not loading?
Clear your cache and cookies, then sign in again. If you are on a mobile device, try using Google Chrome on a desktop computer instead.
What if my bank is not integrated with Plaid?
You will need to connect your bank account using the manual entry and micro-deposit method.
Why am I getting an "Institution name cannot be blank" error when adding my bank account manually?
Make sure you are using Google Chrome to connect your bank account. Reach out to us if you have any questions.
If you manually entered your bank account information, two small deposits (between $0.01 – $0.99) will be sent to your bank account within 2 – 4 business days. Once they appear in your account, input them into the verification task in this format: "$0.##."
Important: Do not enter amounts before they appear in your account. There is a maximum number of attempts. If you reach this limit, you will need to start the process over again.
Why did my micro deposits not show up?
Try troubleshooting with these steps:
Confirm that you are still within the 2 – 4 business day window. If you click into the task titled "Verify your bank account," you will see the last possible date the deposits should arrive.
Contact your bank to confirm the transactions were not blocked. Some institutions do this for security reasons, and a quick call to your bank will resolve it.
Reach out to us if you are still experiencing issues.
Why did I get an error that I maxed out my attempts?
There are only three inaccurate attempts before you need to re-enter your bank account information. Go to your Manage payment methods section in Settings to delete your current account information and re-add it. This will trigger a new set of micro deposits.
Why are my micro deposits showing up as only one amount instead of two?
Some banks combine the micro deposits. Call your financial institution and ask for the separate amounts.
Reporting owners, officers, and related entities is a required task for compliance purposes. We are not able to provide specific guidance on who or what you need to report. We suggest reaching out to your own tax or legal advisor if you have questions about your entity structure.
If clarification is needed after you submit, you will get an email notification with instructions.
An individual is on the roster but I am not able to add them on the task. Why?
This could happen for a few reasons:
Their hire date is during the current year, but we are requesting ownership from the prior year. You can mark them as a current owner by going to the Roster tab of the 401(k) administrator dashboard, searching for their name, and clicking to open their details. In the pop-up, check the box that says Is an owner. If they joined the company this year as an owner, they do not need to be reported for the prior-year information task.
You need to select their name from the dropdown. This task requires you to type the owner's first name and select their name from the dropdown that appears.
Who needs to be reported as an owner?
Learn more about determining ownership and family attribution.
How do I add owners not on the roster?
There is an Add owner button in the Roster tab of your dashboard where you can add an owner. Depending on the type of entity, you may not need to report them. Reach out to us for details.