Do you want to know how Gusto’s integrations and reports can make advisory easier? Whether you’re running PPP reports or diving into the payroll journal, Gusto’s platform has you covered.
Gusto’s goal is always to help you navigate changes and turn them to your benefit. As always, we were happy to partner with CPA Academy for an impactful webinar. “How to Use People Data to Deliver Advisory Insights” featured accounting expert Will Lopez and was moderated by Caleb Newquist. Will went over Gusto’s reports and integrations dashboard and how they can help you.
Will Lopez has dedicated his career to supporting accountants and small businesses. He’s proud to be the head of Gusto’s accountant community. Before Gusto, Will founded AdvisorFi, a modern accounting firm, which used technology to help automate business processes and provide financial coaching for small businesses.
Caleb Newquist is the head of content and Editor-at-Large at Gusto and the founding editor of Going Concern, a leading accounting news publication featuring breaking news, developing stories, and industry insights in the field. Caleb combines his editorial eye, content expertise, and accounting background to create his unique brand.
Why Gusto makes reporting and integrations easy
Gusto is committed to helping you be an effective advisor and simplifying how you navigate industry change. By offering automated, accurate reporting you can access easily, we’ve freed up time for you to refocus on more complex issues. Our ability to integrate with scores of apps—from the most used to the most obscure—ensures that you have one streamlined place from which to engage in advisory. Not only do we work well with all your favorite tech platforms, but we also make it easy. Our user-friendly dashboard simplifies what could have easily become a complex mess. Even combining financial apps with advisory apps is easy to streamline with Gusto.
“Your clients need a tech stack in order to analyze their team, to get the most out of their team. … [And you need to] combine your financial app stacks with … people advisory app stacks into one suite of technology for that client to be super successful under your purview. “
– Will Lopez
Our tech stack extends beyond just advisory. We integrate easily with other accounting software, project management software, and other process-related apps. Having everything all in one place is incredibly important when you have so many moving parts.
Tech continues to explode at an exponential rate, each offering new solutions to nearly every problem. Gusto provides an easy-to-use dashboard, intuitive navigation, and a smart organizational layout to help you streamline your tools, so you can use them easily.
“The technology that we’re watching evolve is just getting so good. If you are trying to solve a problem, there’s probably a solution for it. … There are probably multiple solutions for it. You have options. So just take advantage of the technology that’s available to you. And Gusto is a great repository for what’s available.”
– Caleb Newquist
The easier things are to navigate, the more you’ll take advantage of what’s on offer. Let’s take a look at precisely what Gusto’s platform supports.
Reports on the Gusto platform
Gusto Reports measure all the important aspects of running a business. These include:
- Paycheck Protection Loan Program
- Payroll Journal Builder
- Cash Requirements
- Employees’ Summaries
- Benefits Reports Year to Date
- Time Off Requests
- Payroll Data Exports
One report that’s probably like a second home to you is the Payroll Journal Builder. It’s customizable, and you can filter by date range, year, earnings, job codes, and more. We make it easy to record and access entries in one place. Gusto also works hard to cultivate relationships with other entities—such as banks—to provide solutions you can’t get anywhere else.
“We’re actually the only company that allows bulk PPP downloads of the reports, which is really, really fun because obviously, we can’t do this one-by-one, but through here, yes, you can request [them.] We partner with banking institutions to request PPP loans on behalf of your client.”
– Caleb Newquist
Apart from taking advantage of the ease with which you can run reports, you’ll also need to take things to the advisory level. That means doing more than the minimum.
“We use reports like these to respond to our clients’ questions about payroll and their people. But we can be far more proactive. … I think it’s really important that you understand that.”
– Will Lopez
To be proactive, you’ll need to put data into context. Think about the stories behind the numbers. Is your client’s team habitually absent from work? What does that say about their well-being or their motivation? These are the types of questions you’ll be working with as you advise your clients. You’ll use KPIs to measure these, but the reports are your starting point.
You can also use data found here as a launching point to further research. Scanning reports can easily help you identify areas with missing information more quickly. The insights you can gain are invaluable.
“[Through] project and workforce [reports], you can actually dive even deeper into analyzing the data and helping clients understand their costs and their margins.”
– Will Lopez
Reports can become much more than numbers when you look at the entire picture.
App integration on the Gusto platform
The Gusto App Directory is also an essential part of the Gusto Platform. We know how important it is to be able to seamlessly integrate and operate your processes in one place. That’s why we’ve made it easy to sync up quickly and flawlessly with your favorite tools.
The App Directory is easy to navigate, and you’ll find it simple to find what you need based on function. The directory includes apps, organized into the following categories:
- Accounting
- Business operations
- Collaboration
- Expense management
- Hiring
- Insights and analytics
- Legal and compliance
- Performance
- Point of sale
- Tax preparation
- Time tracking
Within each category, you’ll find many of the tools you know and love. Some of the most popular integrations include:
- Google Workspace
- Microsoft Office 365
- Zoom
- 15five
- QuickBooks Time
- QuickBooks Online
- Homebase
- Xero
- Clover
- FreshBooks
Having everything in one place not only makes your advisory services easier, but it also makes for an easier sell to your client. When you can emphasize that “you’re the complete package” and can easily access everything from payroll to tax prep to recruitment software, you’re showcasing your flexibility and higher-level thinking. You’re also demonstrating the ease of running the day-to-day reports accurately while you focus on giving the more complex advisory services your clients need.
“Think about what you do right now with financial analysis for clients. … You’re like, ‘Hey, I can help you with that. I can help do your bookkeeping. I can help do your advisory.’ … We actually have a package, and we’ll sell you all of that stuff because we’re good at it. And we actually have technology that goes with it, that complements the advisory that we do. It actually pulls off the underlying foundational compliance work in order to really focus on advisory.“
– Will Lopez
Remember, being an advisor means that you’re able to look at the bigger picture and advise from there. You’re no longer working from a limited perspective. You’re looking at how all of the moving parts work together. To do that, you’ll need the tech that supports it.
By using Gusto to simplify your services, you’re working smarter, not harder. Because of this, your productivity goes up, your days run more smoothly, and you have more energy and motivation to do great work. That’s why we aim to help you extend to your clients a job that works for you as much as you work for it, a truly great experience at work, and the work-life balance you need.
Learn more about revolutionizing payroll
Gusto’s reports and app integrations make running your advisory practice easier. The intuitive dashboard enables you to run and analyze reports seamlessly from the payroll journal builder to PPP reports. We work well with all of your other favorite tech. We work with dozens of apps and have a designated control center from which you can use them. Gusto is the type of tech that supports your role as an advisor. When you’re integrating people data with payroll and accounting, you want to have everything easily accessible in one place.
Gusto’s mission is to create a world that empowers a better life. We’re here to help you thrive now and in the future. Don’t forget to check out our other upcoming articles based on the same webinar: How People Advisory Is Revolutionizing Payroll, A 4-Step Framework to Develop People Advisory Insights, What Are People Planning KPIs?, and Gusto’s Employee Happiness Survey and Why It Matters.
Becoming a Gusto Partner can make your life easier. Get payroll and HR support for your team and our new advisory revenue stream for your practice through our people advisory platform. As a Gusto partner, you’ll also get tools to help you expand your accounting practice and offer your clients new insights, plus a free payroll subscription for your own accounting firm. Sign up today!
