Gusto Retirement accepts ACH transfers for both invoice payments and contribution collections. Alternatively, you can choose to use a credit card for invoice billing. We do not accept cash or check payments at this time. Therefore, we require companies to keep an active credit card or verified bank account on file for payments.
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You can add one credit card and up to four verified bank accounts for your company, each of which can be designated for a specific use. For example, one bank account could be used for 401(k) contributions and a different one could be used for monthly invoice payments to Gusto.
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You can learn how to add, edit, or remove a bank account or credit card here.
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Billing will start the month following your plan’s start date and will be retroactive. For example, your February invoice will reflect the charges for the month of January, your March invoice will reflect the charges for your plan for the month of February, and so on.

On the first of every month, we will email you your invoice. Gusto will then pull the invoiced amount from your designated credit card or bank account around the 5th of that month.

If you choose to pay from a bank account, your payment will be processed via an ACH transaction within several days. Overall, the ACH billing process should take around 8-10 business days. If you choose to pay with a credit card, your payment will be processed on the due date automatically with your credit card provider.

Because Gusto uses different vendors to process payments, the codes displayed for our invoices and contribution collections may not specifically reference Gusto 401(k).

Instead, you may see a variation of WFMSTRIPE1 for invoice payments and SSBTrustOps for contribution withdrawals on your credit card or banking statements. Rest assured, these transactions are related to billing for your Gusto 401(k) plan.
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Each month, you will receive an invoice outlining the fees associated with your 401(k) plan. The following are costs you can expect, where applicable:

Gusto offers three pricing plans, with different costs and features. Here are the base fees for each of our pricing plan options:

You can learn more about our various 401(k) pricing plans and features here.
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In addition to the monthly base fee, Gusto also charges plan sponsors a recurring monthly fee¹ for each active participant:

Total fees are calculated based on the number of active participants during the month in which the participant fee is being charged.

For purposes of calculating monthly participant fees, the following employees will not be considered “active participants” subject to billing:

While annual account (AUM) fees are typically paid by participants, if you choose to cover these fees for your employees, these costs will be outlined on your invoices. Annual account fees are calculated and deducted on a monthly basis based on your total active participants’ balance on the last day of the calendar month.

To determine the account fee for a given month, divide the annual account fee (as a decimal) by 12 (the number of months in a year) to determine the account fee per month. Then, multiply the total month-end balance for all participants by the monthly account fee.

For example, if the annual account fee is 0.25% (0.0025), and your participants have a total balance of $100,000 on the last day of the month, then the account fee for the month would be $20.83.²

Applicable sales tax will be included on your monthly invoice if your company is located in a state that requires sales tax to be charged on services like Gusto 401(k). This tax is calculated based on the state's regulations and added to your total monthly plan fees.

If your business is tax exempt, please contact our Sponsor Support team so we can adjust your billing accordingly.

At Gusto Retirement, we’ve done away with separate transaction fees. This means you won't pay 5500 filing preparation³ or plan termination fees,⁴ and your employees can avoid distribution, loan, and rollover fees.​

You can learn about our 401(k) fees for participants here.​

For more information on all fees, please refer to the Form ADV 2A Brochure and Fee Disclosure, also available in Client Privacy Policy & Terms of Service within the Resource Library. Note that Gusto may charge for extraordinary service fees in certain circumstances.

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Pricing applicable as of February 23, 2026. Plan costs may vary from legacy pricing depending on when a plan was initiated.

¹ Investment advisory services for Gusto’s 401(k) product (when 3(38) fiduciary services are appointed) and SEP IRA/IRA products are offered by Guideline Investments, LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser. An assumed annual account fee of 0.15%-0.35% is applied to assets under management and is deducted on a monthly basis. It’s calculated at 1/12 of the annual stated rate (0.15%-0.35%) based on the account balance on the last day of each month. See the Form ADV 2A Brochure for more information regarding fees.

² This information is for illustrative purposes only, and is not intended to be construed as investment or tax advice. Investment advisory services for Gusto’s 401(k) product (when 3(38) fiduciary services are appointed) and SEP IRA/IRA products are offered by Guideline Investments, LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser. Information shown here assumes a static balance of $10,000 per month, an assumed annual account fee of 0.25% on assets under management (calculated and deducted on a monthly basis at 1/12 of the annual stated rate (based on the month-end account balance) and does not account for common factors that affect the value of your account balance over time such as gains, losses, distributions, additional contributions, etc. It’s not intended to be taken as investment advice or as an assurance or guarantee of future performance. The fee presented does not include other fees that a 401(k) participant may incur from other third-parties or affiliates, including, but not limited to, from mutual fund expense ratios and a monthly maintenance fee to participants who end employment. See the Form ADV 2A Brochure for more information regarding this fee.

There may be sales tax applied to your invoice dependent on the state in which you are located.