How to Import Hours into Gusto for Payroll (CSV)

Gusto runs payroll from totals: for each person, the pay period's regular hours and overtime hours. That makes the Gusto handoff the simplest in payroll, and it moves the real work upstream, because the totals have to arrive already split correctly.

JULY 29, 2026 · BY THE CLOX TEAM

The file Gusto expects

Hours by employee: one row per person with regular hours and overtime hours as decimals for the pay period. Gusto's run-payroll flow accepts these via its hours import in the payroll run as of July 2026. Clox exports exactly this shape from Reports, Export, then Gusto (CSV), with the OT split already computed per workweek. If the export isn't in your Reports menu yet, enable the provider first in Settings under Integrations; each enabled provider adds its export format to the menu.

Approve the period's shifts first, so the totals are final. In Clox that's the Team page's approvals queue.
Export the Gusto CSV for the pay period.
In Gusto, start the payroll run and choose to import or upload hours where the run asks for them.
Match any flagged names, confirm the totals screen against your report, and continue the run.

The split is the important part

Overtime computes per workweek even when you pay biweekly: a 50-hour week and a 38-hour week is 10 OT hours, never zero. If your tracker hands Gusto one period total, someone is recomputing the split by hand, and manual splits produce errors. This is the single most common way field crews underpay week one of a period, and it's a rounding-and-accuracy issue as much as a software one.

The clean weekly routine

Approve Friday, export, import, run. The routine works because each step has a gate: nothing exports before approval, nothing imports twice, and the totals Gusto shows should match the report you exported to the decimal. When they don't, the answer is in the source punches, which is where a punch-level record beats a totals spreadsheet.

FAQ

Does Gusto need punch times?

No, totals only. Keep the punch-level record on your side for disputes and audits; Clox keeps it hash-chained and verifiable.

Decimal hours or hours and minutes?

Decimals. 38 hours 45 minutes is 38.75. The time card calculator has the conversion table.

What about contractors in Gusto?

Contractor payments flow differently than employee payroll. Hours imports here cover employees; pay contractors through Gusto's contractor flow.

Approve the week and export the Gusto file with the overtime split already computed. Free for 14 days.