Since our platform has an integration with your payroll provider, we can take a lot of work off your plate regarding the processing of your payroll files through automation.
Gusto Online Payroll offers a 360° level of integration.
This guide will help you set up your integration as well as help you understand your specific responsibilities for the proper administration and submission of payroll files.
- Is My Version of Gusto Compatible With the Integration?
- How Does My Integration Work?
- Are There Any Reasons Why My Plan Might Not Be Eligible for an Integration?
- How Do I Initiate My Integration Setup?
- What Are My Responsibilities if My Plan Has an Active Payroll Integration?
- What Does Vestwell Handle For Me if My Plan Has an Active Payroll Integration?
- How Do I Disconnect My Integration?
Is My Version of Gusto Compatible With the Integration?
Gusto offers several products that have similar names. Below is a list of the integration-compatible product/version names offered by Gusto 👇
✅ Supported
- Gusto (Simple, Plus, or Premium)
Visit https://gusto.com/product/pricing for more information on your Gusto product.
How Does My Integration Work?
Your integration is a 360° automated integration. This is a two-way integration in which Vestwell will automatically receive certain information about your plan and employees from your payroll system, process employee and employer contributions to the plan, and automatically send your employees’ selected deferral elections from their Vestwell portal to your payroll provider.
Are There Any Reasons Why My Plan Might Not Be Eligible for an Integration?
There are some plan design features that currently prohibit the use of payroll integration, including:
- Plans that have multiple EINs
- Plans that have multiple logins into their payroll system
- Plans that do not have an established recurring pay schedule setup in both Vestwell and the payroll system
- Plans that do not use the same payroll provider for all pay group(s)
- Plans that have limitations preventing each paygroup from being integrated.
- Eligibility rules that exclude certain classes of employees, types of compensation, or certain types of hours worked
- Plans with per pay period non-mandatory employer contributions
- Plans that allow after-tax contributions (only be available if your plan uses a Third Party Administrator). Note: After-Tax and Roth contributions are not the same; please see our article “Participant Contribution Types: Differences between Pre-tax, Roth, and After-tax”
How Do I Initiate My Integration Setup?
Vestwell will then deactivate your existing deduction codes & create new ones. Please do not run payroll until you see the following deduction codes in your Gusto account:
- Vestwell Pretax 401k
- Vestwell Roth 401k
Please note, if you have multiple pay groups, please rename the pay schedule of each pay group in Gusto. Note, this is not required when setting up the pay group in Gusto, but is required for the integration to function as intended!
What Are My Responsibilities if My Plan Has an Active Payroll Integration?
Our ability to successfully process your payroll files and administer your plan depends on you! It is your responsibility to:
Loans
Set up and maintain retirement loans within your payroll system
Follow the steps below to set up a loan in Gusto:
- Log into the Gusto portal
- Navigate to the employee to which a loan repayment should be added
- Scroll to the bottom of the employee's Job & Pay tab and click +Add Garnishment or Custom Deduction
- Under Deduction Type, choose Garnishment
- Under Garnishment Type, choose Other Garnishment
- Under Description, type exactly Vestwell 401k Loan Repayment
- Use the following prompts on the Gusto website to accurately enter the loan repayment amount to be withheld
- Click Save & Continue
Discretionary and/or Profit-Sharing Contributions
- Set up and maintain non-mandatory employer contributions in your payroll system.
- Submit non-mandatory employer contributions through your Vestwell portal using an off-cycle upload. Learn how to submit an off-cycle contribution here.
Mandatory Employer Contributions
- Set up and maintain mandatory employer contributions that are on a frequency other than on a per-pay period basis using an Off-cycle upload. Learn more about off-cycle contributions here.
Pay Groups
- Make sure any pay groups in your payroll system are also set up at Vestwell and vice versa. To edit a pay group name or set up new paygroups please see How to add or change a pay group in your Vestwell account.
- The number of pay groups or companies in your payroll system may affect your plan’s eligibility to integrate.
- If your plan has multiple pay groups, you must add a pay schedule name to identify each pay group. You can do this by following the next steps:
- Log into the Gusto portal
- Navigate to the settings option
- Find the "Pay Schedule" option & click the "Edit" button
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- Enter a name to identify the pay group in the empty field
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- Click "Save"
Saver Status Changes - Payroll System
- Make updates in your payroll system when savers are hired, terminated, or re-hired, etc. Be sure to include a specific date when making these status changes in your payroll system.
Saver Personal Information
- Maintain complete, accurate, and up-to-date personal information within your payroll system - including date of birth, social security number, and email address.
Pay Frequency/Schedule Changes
- Report any pay frequency or pay schedule changes to your Vestwell representative to ensure there is no delay in processing your payroll files upon making this change in your payroll system.
Review Payroll Data
- We rely on you to provide us with correct, updated, and complete data about your employees regardless of whether we receive that data directly from you or from your payroll provider. Regular audits and spot checks of the data provided to us will help you quickly identify and rectify any discrepancies.
What Does Vestwell Handle For Me if My Plan Has an Active Payroll Integration?
Payroll Codes
Set up and maintain certain deduction/earnings codes within your payroll system. Because Vestwell manages the codes, once the integration is set up, these will not be able to be edited.
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401k Plans
- Vestwell Pretax 401k
- Vestwell Roth 401k
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403b Plans
- Vestwell Pretax 403b
- Vestwell Roth 403b
- If you have any existing pretax or Roth codes in Gusto, after connecting, the above codes will be created & your existing codes will be deactivated.
- If you have any existing IRA codes in Gusto, these codes will need to be deleted by you, the employer, prior to the first pay date.
Saver Deferrals - First Payroll
- Four business days prior to your first pay date with Vestwell, we will use the saver deferral rates in the Vestwell portal to set saver elections in your payroll system. To guarantee saver deferral rates have been updated at your payroll system, do not run payroll prior to 4 business days before your scheduled pay date.
Saver Deferral Updates
- Ongoing deferral changes made in the Vestwell portal by eligible savers will be set in your payroll system within two business days.
- We will communicate any deferral update requests to your payroll system. Savers may not see this reflected in their next few paychecks, as it could take time for this update to be reflected.
- If your plan has an auto-enrollment feature, the same guidelines above apply. Read more about auto-enrollment here.
Saver Status Changes - Vestwell Portal
- When you add, rehire or terminate employees in your payroll system, the changes will be reflected in the Vestwell portal.
Processing Contributions
- Process saver deferrals and employer contributions which are maintained by the integration shortly after you run payroll in your payroll system.
How Do I Disconnect My Integration?
To disconnect your integration,
- Log in to your Vestwell sponsor portal
- Navigate to your Contributions page
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Click the Gear icon
- Click ‘Disconnect’ under the integration status
- Follow the steps to authorize your connection
If you change payroll providers, it is your responsibility to inform us so that we can work with you to assess whether integration with a different payroll provider is available. Please reach out to your Vestwell representative, and we will assist you.
If your plan has been amended or if you are considering an amendment to your original plan documents, please inform your Vestwell Representative to understand what actions on your part will be required to submit and process your payroll files correctly.