According to the IRS, over 40 percent of small and medium businesses (SMBs) are fined each year for late or incorrect payroll tax filings or payments. Penalties have become so common that business owners plan for those fines in their annual budgets. That’s a backward way to do business. And it’s time for a change.
Today, we’re proud to announce that we’ve entered into an agreement for Symmetry Software—the longtime leader in payroll infrastructure technology—to become part of Gusto. Symmetry will continue to run its business and serve its customers. And with Gusto’s added resources, Symmetry will be able to accelerate product development and deliver more cutting-edge payroll infrastructure, faster. These innovations will push the entire payroll industry forward in helping businesses avoid costly payroll mistakes.
Symmetry + Gusto
Since Day 1, Symmetry Software has been a foundational technology enabling Gusto to serve our customers. And in that time, we’ve been fortunate to witness the passion, expertise, and purpose that Symmetry brings to its customers and partners each day.
Symmetry was founded in 1984 to help growing businesses get their taxes right, right from the beginning. Founder Tom Reahard wrote the first payroll software for personal computers, and since then, Symmetry has become cornerstone software for many of the country’s major payroll providers by providing dependable and accurate payroll APIs and tax withholding solutions. Today, led by Tom and current CEO Elizabeth Oviedo, Symmetry’s developer-friendly tools calculate payroll tax for approximately 60 million working Americans at companies of all sizes, from small-and-medium-sized businesses to large enterprises.
Turning tax code into a business enabler
Navigating payroll taxes can be particularly burdensome for small-and-medium-sized businesses. Entrepreneurs typically start businesses to pursue passions, solve problems, or explore untapped opportunities—not to spend hours running payroll or keeping up with tax codes that get increasingly complicated. Business owners are experts in their craft, not experts in payroll taxes. And they need solutions to take the load off so that taxes are calculated correctly and efficiently—without worry of being penalized down the road.
Together, Symmetry Software and Gusto will be able to accelerate solutions for many challenges businesses face. For example, we’ll be able to develop an early alert system for tax code changes with intelligent, expert guidance to keep businesses on track and compliant. We’ll be able to notify business owners when state or local minimum wage requirements change in locations where employees are working. We’ll be able to make sure employees complete all the required local withholding forms so they don’t end up owning additional money on tax day. And, we’ll be able to expand Symmetry’s portfolio of payroll tax solutions to enable their larger customers to go beyond payroll tax calculations.
Gusto’s people platform + ecosystem
Gusto exists to unlock opportunities for entrepreneurs and their employees. We’re more than a tool businesses use, we’re a trusted advisor and advocate who has their backs. Our people platform provides businesses with the guidance and expertise they need to hire, pay, insure, and support their teams—from modern payroll and benefits to time tracking, contractor support, and expert HR advice.
By acquiring like-minded software services—Symmetry and Ardius (an AI-powered R&D tax credit solution that helps businesses and their accountants access tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax credits that they’ve earned)—Gusto’s people platform will be able to solve even more of the unmet needs for businesses across the US. And it’s reinforced with a thriving and open ecosystem of nearly 100 third-party integrations that enable businesses to operate successfully from expense management and time tracking to banking and workforce forecasting.
We’re also continuing to develop ways to simplify the lives of growing businesses. Gusto recently introduced a new initiative, Gusto Embedded Payroll, which provides software developers across vertical SaaS, fintech, and business operations platforms with a simple way to embed and customize payroll directly into their software. That means hundreds of thousands of customers who are served by these developers will be able to access modern payroll in the software they use to operate their business. Over time, we’ll expand our embedded services initiative to include more of our people-focused functionality into their platforms, including health insurance, financial tools, hiring and onboarding, expert HR, and more.
Together, Symmetry + Gusto will continue to help entrepreneurs take care of their teams and build successful businesses where work empowers a better life.
You can read more in Symmetry’s post here.
This post was authored by Tomer London and Joshua Reeves.
