Gusto

Gusto is a payroll, benefits and HR platform aimed at small and growing businesses, with a version that lets accountants run payroll for multiple clients from one dashboard. It integrates with Xero, QuickBooks and FreeAgent.

What it does well: payroll is its core and it does it cleanly. Setup is smooth, pay runs and tax filings are largely automated, and staff get easy self-service access to payslips and tax forms. Reviewers consistently call it easy to use and reliable, with responsive support, and accountants value managing several clients in one place. Pricing is seen as fair for the feature set.

Where it falls short: it is built for smaller, simpler teams. A subset of users report occasional tax filing errors that needed chasing, and reporting and advanced HR or payroll configuration are less flexible than enterprise systems. Some integrations and workflows lack depth once a business grows complex. It is also stronger in the US than in some other markets, so check local fit.

Best for: smaller and growing businesses, and the accountants who serve them, that want straightforward, reliable payroll and basic HR without enterprise complexity.

Verdict: a safe, well-liked default for small-business payroll. If your clients are simple and want automation that mostly runs itself, Gusto delivers. If they need deep custom reporting or complex multi-entity payroll, test those edges before committing.