An unpaid team member is someone within your organization who will not be paid in Gusto. Unpaid team members can join your team space, help manage people, and keep records up to date. Unpaid team members are different from external collaborators—like accountants who work for another company—because they're part of your team.
Team members set up as "unpaid team members" will not count toward your per-employee monthly subscription price.
Here are clear examples of which to use based on our definitions.
People who work for another company but need to help administer your Gusto account. Use this when the person is not on your staff but needs admin-level access.
Accountant at a CPA firm who runs payroll, downloads reports, and helps with filings.
Benefits broker who sets up health plans and enrollment, and checks deductions.
Bookkeeper from an outsourced accounting team who reconciles payroll in your ledger.
A fractional CFO or finance consultant who reviews payroll costs and headcount.
HR consultant who helps configure policies (time off, org chart) and reviews compliance.
People who are part of your team but receive no pay through Gusto. Use this when the person is on your team (shows on Team Members/org chart, may manage others) but is not paid in Gusto.
Founder or owner who is not on payroll but manages people in Gusto.
If they need to take owner's draws or have special benefit taxation, you'll need to set them up as an employee and classify them as an owner.
Manager from an acquired subsidiary paid through a separate system who still approves hours, time off, and schedules in Gusto.
Board member or internal advisor who needs a profile, documents, and visibility in the org chart.
Volunteer or unpaid intern who takes assigned learning courses and appears in Team Members, with a manager listed.
Program supervisor funded by a grant and paid outside Gusto who approves team requests in Gusto.
The lists below show what they can do and what they cannot do, with plan notes where needed.
Core profile & visibility (All plans)
These features help you track who is on your team.
Show on the Team members page with a job title and department
Have a manager assigned
Convert to a paid team member later, if needed
Have a custom role (permission set)
Documents
E-sign or acknowledge documents
Upload and download documents in their profile
Manager actions they can take (All plans)
Unpaid team members can manage others when you set them as a manager. They'll be given the same permissions as your other people managers, which may include the ability to:
Approve time off requests for their direct reports*
*They approve time off for others, but they cannot request their own time off without an employee profile.
Approve time tracking hours for their direct reports
See and set schedules for their direct reports
Submit and approve expenses for their direct reports
Growth & collaboration (Plus and Premium)
These features support coaching and alignment.
Show in the org chart
Give feedback and request/receive 360 feedback
Create goals (goal tracking)
Use custom fields to store extra data
Learning & training (All plans)
Keep skills growing with assigned content.
Take learning courses, when assigned (LMS)
These limits apply even if they are on Plus or Premium.
Unpaid team members cannot:
Pay & benefits
Enroll in benefits
Submit their own expenses or receive reimbursements
Time & scheduling
Track their own time
Request or submit their own time off
Set or see their own schedule (they can still manage schedules for others)
Performance & documents
Participate in a performance review cycle
Be a reviewer in a performance review cycle
Access & roles
Use the Gusto mobile app
Hiring & compliance
Receive or fill out an offer letter
Receive or complete a background check
Reporting
Show in the custom report
All plans = Core features that do not require Plus or Premium.
Plus and Premium = Extra people-management features (org chart, goals, feedback, custom fields).
To add an unpaid team member in Gusto and invite them to their account:
Go to People.
Click Add person.
Enter their full name and preferred first name. We use the preferred name in communications where a legal first name is not required, like offer letters, onboarding emails, and org charts.
Select worker type Unpaid team member. This is someone within your organization that will not be paid in Gusto.
Select a type:
Owner
If they need to take owner's draws or have special benefit taxation, you'll need to set them up as an employee and classify them as an owner.
Intern
Unclassified
Choose the country where they work.
Enter a personal email, not a company email.
If they already have a Gusto profile with your company or another, use the same email, and they can switch between their profiles.
Click Save and continue.
(Optional) Enter a job title. Make sure the job title reflects the scope of work.
Enter their department, manager (optional), and start date.
Click Save and continue.
Review the person's details and what happens next.
Click Add [name].
Go to People.
Select Onboarding.
Find the person, and under Actions, click Mark as complete. This will remove them from the Onboarding team members tab.
Click Complete onboarding.
You can add multiple US-based contractors, W-2 employees, and unpaid team members at once in two ways:
By uploading a CSV spreadsheet (template), OR
By entering the team members’ info directly into Gusto
Uploading a spreadsheet is one way to add multiple US team members at once (employees, contractors, and unpaid team members). Once you upload the spreadsheet, we’ll prompt you to fill out a table with more hiring information.
If you want to upload your data using a spreadsheet, you can fill out this template or set it up on your own.
If you set it up yourself, here are the column labels to include in Row 1. Required fields are marked with an asterisk (*).
Note: If you have more data fields to add, you can enter them directly into Gusto after uploading the spreadsheet.
Member type* — choose Employee, Contractor (individual), Contractor (business), or Unpaid team member.
Leave the cell blank to default to Employee.
Legal first name*
Last name*
Middle initial
Preferred first name
Start date (MM/DD/YYYY or YYYY/MM/DD)*
Job title
To upload the spreadsheet to Gusto:
Go to People.
Click Add person.
On the right, choose Add multiple team members.
Click Upload CSV.
Either drag and drop your CSV file or click Upload to select the file from your computer.
Click Continue.
We’ll automatically match your spreadsheet’s columns to Gusto’s data fields. Review each category.
To change how a field is mapped, click the field under the Gusto column and select the correct field. If you choose Unmatched, that column will not be imported.
On the next page, you can add data to any columns that cannot be matched.
Once your categories match, click Continue.
Review the imported data in the table and fill out the required fields for each employee.
We save your progress as you go, so you can leave this page if needed.
Once you’ve added each new team member to the table, click Create team member profiles.
You’ll return to Onboarding, where you can view onboarding statuses and add team members who are paid to payroll.
We’ll email any team members you’ve selected to self-onboard.
Another way you can add team members in bulk is by entering them directly into the table in Gusto.
To add multiple US-based team members (employees, contractors, and unpaid team members) without a spreadsheet:
Go to People.
Click Add person.
On the right, choose Add multiple team members.
Fill out a row for each new team member. Required columns are marked with an asterisk (*).
You can copy and paste from a spreadsheet directly into the table.
We save your progress as you go, so you can leave this page if needed.
Once you’ve added each new employee to the table, click Create team member profiles.
You’ll return to Onboarding, where you can view onboarding statuses and add team members who are being paid to payroll.
We’ll email any team members you’ve selected to self-onboard.
Use the instructions below to update these unpaid member details:
Job title, department, manager, or direct reports
Worker type, country, or start date
Preferred name, legal name, or pronouns
Birthday
Personal email or recovery email
Phone number
Address
Emergency contact
Custom info
How to update an unpaid member's details:
Go to People.
Find the person and click their name to view their profile.
Click Work or Personal to edit their information.
How to add a document to an unpaid team member's profile:
Go to People.
Find the person and click their name to view their profile.
Go to Documents.
Click Add document.
Give it a name and upload or drop the file.
Click Save.
The document will appear in their profile for them to see, but they cannot e-sign or acknowledge the documents directly in Gusto.
How to review goals or feedback in an unpaid team member's profile:
Go to People.
Find the person and click their name to view their profile.
Go to Performance.
Next to Goals, click View all.
Next to Feedback, click Go to dashboard.
For now, unpaid team members cannot participate in performance reviews or be a reviewer for them.
How to turn an unpaid team member to a paid team member:
Go to People.
Find the person and click their name to view their profile.
Go to Work.
Click Edit next to the Work header.
In the banner, click change worker type or country.
Follow the steps to add them as a new worker type:
Employee
Contractor (individual)
Contractor (business)