Run payroll or pay contractors with CSV upload

Use the CSV upload feature to upload hours and earnings to payroll/payments to make processing payroll easier. CSV uploads are available for:

Regular payrolls
Off-cycle payrolls
Bonus payrolls
Contractor payments

Upload hours and earnings to payroll with CSV

Heads up: If you've entered information such as hours or reimbursements throughout the week in the payroll and saved it for later, uploading a CSV will overwrite anything previously entered. If they are not included on the spreadsheet, the CSV upload will zero them out.

Click the Payroll section and select either Run payroll or Pay contractors to start the payroll/payments process.
Click Upload CSV in the upper-right corner of the first page of payroll (or contractor payment).
Click download CSV template to get a template to fill out.
If you already have your CSV ready to go, click Select File and then Upload.

Your employees' info will be filled out and ready to go—just continue processing payroll.

How CSV works

Download Gusto's CSV template or create your own CSV file. Enter payroll details, then upload. You can upload multiple CSVs as long as the columns for each are different. For example, you could upload one CSV with everybody's hours, another with commissions, and a third with reimbursements.

Gusto's CSV template
- Your employees' or contractors’ names and any payroll details that have already been entered will pre-populate. This template will be available in the Run payroll flow—see steps in the dropdown above.
Create your own template
- You'll need to make sure all required fields are filled out, that all column titles match how they're shown in the Gusto template, and that the file type is CSV. You can change the order of the columns and/or remove any that are not needed.

Information you can upload (by payroll or payment type)

Regular payroll	Off-cycle payroll	Bonus payroll	Contractor payments
Required fields First name Last name SSN Only required if two employees have the same first and last name. Title Only required if employees have multiple pay rates. Optional fields Regular hours Overtime hours Bonus Commission Paycheck tips Cash tips Correction payment Reimbursement Custom earning types Personal note	Required fields First name Last name SSN Only required if two employees have the same first and last name. Title Only required if employees have multiple pay rates. Optional fields Regular hours Overtime hours Bonus Commission Paycheck tips Cash tips Reimbursement Custom earning types Personal note	Required fields First Name Last Name SSN Only required if two employees have the same first and last name. Title Only required if employees have multiple pay rates. Optional fields Regular hours Overtime hours Bonus Commission Paycheck tips Cash tips Correction payment Reimbursement Custom earning types Personal note	Required fields Contractor type First name Only required for individual contractors. Last name Only required for individual contractors. SSN Only required for individual contractors that have the same first and last name Business name Only required for businesses. EIN Only required for businesses. Optional fields Hours worked Wages Bonus Reimbursement Memo

CSV formatting guidelines

Take a look at the columns you can use and how to format them.

Type	Column title(s)	Details
Employee name	first_name: last_name	Not case sensitive, required Example: "Smith", "smith", or "SMITH"
Social Security Number (SSN)	ssn	Last 4 digits, preceeded by an asterisk (), required if there are two employees with the same name Example: 1234
Job title	title	Not case sensitive, required for employees with multiple pay rates. Learn more about multiple-pay-rate formatting below this chart.
Pay	regular_hours; over_time_hours; double_ovetime_hours; bonus; commission; paycheck_tips; cash_tips; correction_payment; reimbursement	Positive numbers, decimals optional Example: 40.00
Personal note	personal_note	Can contain numbers and letters Example: Thanks for giving it 100%

Multiple pay rates with CSV

If an employee has multiple pay rates:

Job titles must be included in the CSV file and must match the exact job title(s) listed in the employee’s Gusto profile.
Job titles must be entered in separate rows.
Any reimbursements, tips, bonuses, commissions, or correction payments must be added to the employee’s primary job. If you're not sure which job that is, download Gusto's CSV template and it will show the job title followed by “(Primary)” for the primary pay rate.

Zeroes and blanks in the CSV file

If you upload a file that contains zeroes, a zero will be populated in payroll and replace any previously entered or uploaded data.

If you upload a field that contains blank values, nothing will be populated in payroll for that field and any previously entered or uploaded data will remain.

Run payroll or pay contractors with CSV upload

Regular payroll

Off-cycle payroll

Bonus payroll

Contractor payments