Payroll and Gusto

Payroll and Gusto

How It Works

  1. The Sunrise Payroll integration with Gusto is available for all users, free as well as paid.
  2. With Gusto, you can manage all your W2s, W9s, tax payments, benefits, etc. 
  3. You can then use the reporting in Sunrise to properly account for those expenses with reporting
  4. When you process a pay run in Gusto, Sunrise automatically creates an expense. You can use Bank Matching in Sunrise to match the payroll transactions to the bank statement lines.

Setting Up Payroll

Step 1: Navigate to the Payroll tab under Expenses.
Step 2: Click on Create Gusto Account if you don't have one yet, or Link Gusto Account if you already use Gusto.
Step 3: Once you verify your email address with Gusto, you’ll be asked to authorize the connection with Sunrise. This will take you back into the app for the next step.
Step 4: You will need to map the Gusto payroll expense types to accounts inside of Sunrise.
  1. Sunrise will offer suggested account mappings. However, if you wish to edit them, you can do so. We suggest speaking with an accountant before you do that. 
  2. You can edit your mappings later if you are unsure and just wish to continue the setup.
  3. If you’d like to understand why we map your payroll accounts this way, please continue reading this article.
Step 5: If you have used Gusto before, you can import past payroll transactions with one click. This creates expenses which you can then map to bank withdrawals.


Importing Past Payroll

If you have used Gusto before, you can bring in your past payrolls for bank reconciliation. It's as easy as one click. Just click on Import next to the pay period you want to import and Sunrise will create the expense cards, per your mapping, to reconcile with your bank. 


Matching Payroll Expenses

For most users, the bank’s withdrawal will exactly match the Gusto Expense and you would simply reconcile these expenses just like any others. 

However, there may be situations where the bank transaction doesn’t match the expense, such as:
  1. If you write checks to one or more employees, those checks will appear as separate bank transactions, rather than part of the Gusto Payroll. Each check can be linked to the main Gusto Payroll and the amounts will match.
  2. If there is a correction or a mid-month change to benefits, the transactions will not match the expense.
If this happens, you can link together multiple checks in Sunrise or use the remaining balance of an expense card to get to a complete match. 

Reconciling your payroll:


Changing your account mapping:


Payroll Account Mapping In Sunrise

We suggest the following mapping between your Gusto payroll expenses and your books in Sunrise:



You’ll notice that Employee Taxes and Employee Benefits are excluded from this list. This is because employee-side deductions are already calculated in your Net Pay (Regular Wages) calculation. Since these do not have any tax implications for your business, they do not need to be specifically called out in your books. 

Similarly, Gusto’s Net Pay accounts for Child Care Garnishments, which are automatically linked to your Regular Wages. 

For a more detailed report of your Gross Payroll expenses, please refer to Gusto’s reporting. 

Why Is My Net Pay Different Than Gross Pay?

In order to simplify your bookkeeping, Sunrise imports your Net Pay from Gusto rather than your Gross Pay. This makes your reconciliation much easier. However, it might mean there are minor differences between our report and your overall payroll liability.

In particular, if you are using a third-party benefits provider that debits monthly but your payroll is run twice, you’ll have 1 week that won’t match and you’ll need to apply the balance later. 


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