Using state tax registration to quickly hire across state lines to meet clients’ needs

While most of Rise Marketing’s team is in Pennsylvania, the agency has also hired top talent in other states. Thanks to Gusto’s state tax registration feature, Rise has quickly hires and onboarded employees in New Jersey and Delaware, while ensuring they’re compliant with state tax regulations.

He adds the Rise Marketing team gets all the information they need to register with state websites through Gusto. And when they need help with the ins and outs of state tax registration or filing, they turn to the Gusto support team for peace of mind.

Gusto also goes beyond state tax regulations to support Rise Marketing’s compliance at the local level. Recently, the city of Philadelphia revamped their employer system and required businesses to re-register and get new employer IDs. Gusto was the first to proactively flag this change to Rise Marketing, and later flagged an error that would have made them miss a compliance deadline. Thanks to Gusto, Rise Marketing was able to re-register on time and without issue.

Unlocking global talent by making it easy to pay international contractors

To meet client needs, it’s been critical for Rise Marketing to attract strong creative and technical talent from around the world. The agency has tapped contractors across multiple countries, including Poland, the U.K., India, Ukraine, Croatia, Mexico, and Canada. Sometimes it partners with creatives who have a certain aesthetic look or feel to match a client’s brand; other times it brings on contractors with skills in specific tech stacks or programming languages.

In the past, Kahl and his team spent up to 8 hours - or one full workday - per month figuring out how to pay these team members. They had to manage multiple payment methods - like international bank wires, PayPal, and Payoneer - based on what each contractor was most comfortable with. They also had to navigate fluctuating exchange rates, which wasn’t a great experience for either Rise Marketing or the key talent they wanted to attract and work with.

“Contractors were trying to bid in USD but they were converting their currencies themselves. And then when they would receive their payment, it wouldn't be exactly what they had expected because the exchange rate was no longer the same as when they initially calculated it. So there were lots of explanations and needing to make sure that we were aligned on how that worked,” Kahl says.

“But now with Gusto, we structure everything with our international contractors in USD. They understand that the exchange rate is going to happen at the time of payment, and there's been no issues since then.”

Hourly contractors regularly clock time in Rise Marketing’s system, so the team can track its spending. Now, through Gusto’s international contractor payments feature, this information is easily standardized into Rise Marketing’s regular payroll process, so all team members can be quickly paid on time and in the right currency - no matter if they’re in the same city or on a different continent.

Growing with performance management tools and customizable benefits to attract and retain top talent

This year, Rise Marketing is taking flexibility to the next level. It’s starting to use other Gusto features, like its performance management tools. Through Gusto’s performance reviews and goal tracking features, it will streamline talent development and further establish its culture - which Kahl says is critical for a remote-first company.

“I think it's really important that everybody is aware of what everybody else is working on and how they're playing a part in reaching that broader company-wide objective,” he says. “By facilitating those conversations, there's more of a sense of teamwork.”

Kahl is also excited about bringing a new, customizable benefits program to Rise Marketing, with much of it offered through Gusto. He’s noticed some team members want specific benefits like health insurance, while others prefer getting more paid vacation time. The new system would allow employees to pick and choose which benefits they care about most, rather than sticking to one standard plan.

For Alana, who recently joined the Rise Marketing team full-time, having the flexibility to choose when, where, and how to work is a core value.

“[Rise Marketing] is the place that gave me a voice and a platform and allowed me to work in a way that works for me. I didn't have to twist myself into a pretzel to be something that someone else was asking me to do,” she says. “This is work that I'm passionate about, and having flexibility really helps me grow.”