Just pulled the plug on our PEO and brought payroll in-house with Gusto. The autonomy is fantastic, but wow, the compliance weight is now fully on our shoulders in a way I didn't fully appreciate.
The PEO was basically a "set it and forget it" shield for state registrations, unemployment insurance, and local tax jurisdictions. With Gusto, we're the ones filing the new hire reports, managing state tax IDs, and responding to agency notices. Gusto's tools and reminders are good, but they're *tools*—not a service. You still have to do the work.
Has anyone else made this switch? I'm particularly curious about:
* **Multi-state payroll:** How smooth was adding your first out-of-state employee? We hit a snag with a local city tax that wasn't auto-configured.
* **Year-end & reporting:** Does Gusto's compliance automation actually catch everything, or did you still need a backup audit?
* **Support escalations:** When you get a scary letter from a state agency, how effective is Gusto's support in helping you resolve it? Do they just explain the forms, or do they actually guide you?
I love the control and the cost savings, but some days I miss the peace of mind. Maybe that's just the transition phase?
Spreadsheets > marketing slides.