Create, send, and manage independent contractor agreements

You can send a contractor agreement when you add a US contractor to Gusto. It will be emailed to the contractor right away. Once they sign it, you’ll get a notice.

1. After you add an individual contractors personal details, we'll ask if you want to send a contractor agreeement as an "Onboarding option".
2. Select to Send a contractor agreement and click Save and continue.
3. Tell us more about the contractor's role, and continue until you get to the agreement.
4. Review the agreement—choose a saved template or click Create contractor agreement template. 
   • Add an expiration date for the offer.
   • List the contractors responsibilities.
     • Include clear tasks or deliverables when possible.
   • Choose how long you'll work with the contractor—until responsibilities are completed, or until a specific end date.
   • Want to add fields that fill in automatically (like the contractor’s name or email)?
     • Put your cursor where you want the info to go. Click Insert Smart Text, then pick the field to add.
   • To make changes, click into the contract and type where you want to update the text.Click Preview to see how the agreement will look.
5. When the contract looks good, click Save and continue.
6. If you need to add other documents, select them now and click Save and continue.
7. Review the contractor’s info.
   • Click Edit to make changes.
8. Add a personal note to include with the agreement (optional).
9. Click Send contractor agreement to [name].
10. If your contractor accepts the offer and you let them self-onboard, Gusto will automatically create a Form W-9 for them.

For now, you cannot resend a contractor agreement. If you need to send it again or make changes, you’ll need to create and send a new contractor agreement.

1. Go to People.
2. Go to Hiring.
3. Next to "Offer and agreements" click See details. 
4. Review the agreements and offers that have been sent. Click the three-dot action menu to take actions. Here's what the statuses mean:
   • Not sent
     • Contracts that you have started but not yet completed.
     • You can Update & Send, or Delete these contracts.
   • Sent
     • Contracts that have been sent and are pending a decision.
     • You can View, Update, or Rescind these contracts.
       • Heads up: Updating an agreement will make the old agreement invalid. When you begin to update an offer, the old link that was sent will no longer work, and the agreement on this page will go back to the “Unsent” table. When you are finished updating the agreement, a new agreement letter will be sent.
   • Accepted
     • Contracts that have been sent and signed.
     • You can View or Download these contracts. You cannot change or delete a signed contractor agreement.
       • If you need to make changes, have the contractor sign a new agreement outside of Gusto. Then, upload the new agreement to the Documents tab in their profile
   • Expired/Rescinded
     • Contracts that you sent but were not accepted, either because you rescinded them or they expired before being signed.
     • To rescind a contract, click the Actions menu next to the contractor's name and select Rescind contract.
       • We will not notify the contractor that the contract was rescinded, but they will not be able to read or sign the contract

1. Go to Documents.
2. Go to Templates.
3. Click Add template
4. Click Build your template.
5. Give the template a name.
6. Choose the template type A contractor agreement.
7. Choose if you want to use your own template, or use Gusto's default template.
   • You're able to customize all templates before you send them to contractors still. 
8. Click Create template. 
9. Customize the text on Gusto's template, or paste your own template-text.
   • If you want some parts of the contract (like name or pay rate) to fill in automatically, follow the steps below. Make sure your contract has smart text for both the employer and contractor signatures so they can sign the agreement.
     • Highlight the part of the contract that changes for each person.
     • Click Insert Smart Text.
     • Pick the field you want, like contractor name, rate, or start date.
   • Add custom text fields (manual)
     • If you cannot find the smart text you need, you can make your own placeholder text. This won’t auto-fill. You’ll need to type the info yourself in step 2 ("Edit template") when sending the agreement.
     • Type something like "[INSERT DESCRIPTION]" where you want to fill in details later.
10. Click Preview to review your finalized template.
11. Scroll to the bottom of the agreement and click Save & continue. 
12. Have the person in charge of hiring sign this template. This is typically your CEO, Owner, or Head of HR.
13. Click Save & continue.

Now you can use this template to invite prospective contractors to join your team.The template is stored in Documents > Templates if you’d like to make changes.

1. Go to Documents.
2. Go to Templates.
3. Next to the template name, click the three-dot action menu and choose to:
   • Edit template
     • Customize the text on the template as needed. 
       • If you want some parts of the contract (like name or pay rate) to fill in automatically, follow the steps below. Make sure your contract has smart text for both the employer and contractor signatures so they can sign the agreement.
         • Highlight the part of the contract that changes for each person.
         • Click Insert Smart Text.
         • Pick the field you want, like contractor name, rate, or start date.
       • Add custom text fields (manual)
         • If you cannot find the smart text you need, you can make your own placeholder text. This won’t auto-fill. You’ll need to type the info yourself in step 2 ("Edit template") when sending the agreement.
         • Type something like "[INSERT DESCRIPTION]" where you want to fill in details later.
   • Delete
     • If there are agreements in progress or currently pending that use this template, you cannot delete it here. Once these unresolved agreements are accepted, rescinded, or expire, you will be able to delete this template. To delete the current sent agreement, head to Hiring > Offers. 
   • Make offer (send agreement)
     • This will start the onboarding process—add your new independent contractor and send the agreement.
   • Show template