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When you start hiring employees, one of the first things you’ll need to do is find a good payroll service. Unless you want to do it yourself (not recommended), you’ll need a service that can handle paying your employees, withholding taxes, and submitting tax filings on your behalf.

And look, there’s no shortage of options to choose from. From local payroll providers to full-service online offerings from Intuit, ADP, Paychex, etc, you won’t lack for choice. And the truth is that all of these companies will do the same basic tasks of payroll – pay your employees and cover your tax filings.

With little to differentiate these payroll providers, how do you choose the one that’s right for you? Without additional information, you’ll probably base your decision on a combination of price, special offers, brand familiarity and recommendations.

You could do that, but I’m going to save you that homework and brain power and recommend the payroll provider that stands head and shoulders above the fray. It’s called Gusto, and I think you’ll love it.

Here are my top five reasons why Gusto is the best choice for real estate agents.

1. It’s Simple

Gusto is built on the idea that payroll shouldn’t be overly complicated, and man, does it deliver on that promise. The user interface is as clean and intuitive as it could be, and the navigation is second to none. Every part of the typical payroll experience has been simplified and optimized for the non-technical user: switching from another payroll provider, adding and removing employees and contractors, running payroll, running reports and surfacing important administrator tasks. If you’ve been with another payroll provider, you’ll be shocked at how simple and intuitive everything feels in Gusto.

*Bonus: each one of your employees gets lifetime access to their own private, user-friendly dashboard with access to all of their paystubs, withholding calculators and W-2s or 1099s (depending on their classification)

2. It’s Affordable

Gusto’s payroll offering comes in three flavors: Core, Complete and Concierge. Core is the most basic offering, but the features will more than suffice for most teams. The base price for Core is $39/month plus $6/month per employee or contractor. You can scale your subscription up or down as needed. For a typical team that has 2 employees, that’s just $51/month. A comparable Intuit Full Service payroll plan will cost you $88/month. In this scenario, choosing Gusto over Intuit would save you $444 per year, which is nothing to sneeze at. Plus, with Gusto you’re getting a superior product, which I can say with complete confidence having used both. It’s a no-brainer!

*Bonus: Gusto pricing is also month-to-month, with no long term contracts.

3. It Has Great Support

Gusto is designed to be very easy to manage on your own, with very little human support needed. But even the most diligent payroll users can run into issues with state or federal tax filings. When you have questions or receive a tax notice, Gusto’s support team is easy to reach and will help you with both simple and complex issues.

*Bonus: During the Gusto onboarding process you’ll be assigned a customer success manager to make sure your transition is a smooth one, and answer any questions you might have.

4. Your Filings Are Hands-off

Payroll tax filings can be a real headache. Between Federal, state and local taxing authorities, there are multiple annual, quarterly and sometimes monthly reports that need to be filed to make sure you’re in compliance. Gusto takes care of all of that for you and sends you notification emails when they’re prepping to file a return on your behalf in case any changes need to be made. The time you’ll save not dealing with your filings is huge!

*Bonus: Annual Employee W-2s and Contractor 1099s are included in your subscription. Gusto will file these forms with the IRS and send them to your employees on your behalf

5. It Plays Well With Others

This is my sneaky favorite part of Gusto. The software is designed to play extremely well with others. This is an underrated feature that can save you and your financial advisory team hours of work. Here are just a few of the built-in integrations you’ll find on Gusto:

• Integrated benefits management (Healthcare, Vision/Dental, Worker’s Comp Insurance, 401K administration)
• Robust accounting integrations: Quickbooks, Xero, Freshbooks, etc
• Time tracking integrations: TSheets, Homebase
• Advisor access for your bookkeeper, CPA or CFO

There you have it, my top five reasons for choosing Gusto as your next payroll provider. If you enjoyed this post, and would like to sign your team up for Gusto, please consider using my special link, found here. We’ll both receive a $100 Amazon Gift Card when you sign up and run your first payroll!

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