How to find and export your Gusto data.

Gusto does not show a data size figure. The best counts come from Reports: the employee information report lists everyone on file and the Payroll Journal lists payrolls for any date range. An admin with reporting permissions can run both; report the totals as records.

At a glance

Report in: records
Category: HR and payroll
Checked: September 2026

Check your data

Where Gusto shows how much you have.

Sign in to Gusto as the Primary admin or an admin with reporting permissions. If Reports is missing from the left menu, ask the Primary admin to add reporting to your permissions.
Open Reports and run the employee information report with former employees included. The number of rows is employees ever on file.
Run the Payroll Journal with the date range set back to your first payroll in Gusto and count the payrolls listed. If you track time in Gusto, run a time report for the same range to count time entries.

Plan and role. You need to be the Primary admin or an admin whose permissions include reporting. You only see report fields that match your admin permissions.

What to report on the Polyshares intake.

Report Gusto in records. The intake also asks how many years the company has used it and how many seats it has.

Report records, using employees ever on file as the number, and put payroll runs and time entries in your notes. Years in use starts at your first payroll date in Gusto, which the Payroll Journal shows when you widen the date range. For seats, count the active employees and contractors on your current payroll.

Export the full history.

In Reports, open the employee information report, include former employees, and download it as CSV or Excel.
Run the Payroll Journal for each calendar year you have used Gusto and download each year as CSV or Excel.
Save both as customized reports so you can rerun them later with the same fields and filters.

Most Gusto reports download as PDF, CSV or Excel, and you can add or remove fields, group data, and set filters, time period and layout before you download. Gusto has no single export of the whole account, so a full history is a set of report files, and fields outside your admin permissions do not appear in them. Payroll from a provider you used before Gusto is only present if it was imported into Gusto.

The intake only needs the size, so you do not have to run an export to fill it in. You also do not need to clean or scrub an export. Polyshares handles anonymization before anything moves.

Why Gusto data has value for AI training.

Gusto history shows how a small business actually staffs itself. Hire dates, departments, job titles, pay schedules and terminations across several years give a clean record of hiring timelines, role structures and tenure.

Payroll runs and time entries add the operating rhythm of the business: how often it pays, how hours rise and fall across seasons, and how headcount follows the work. Those patterns carry value without any one person's name or pay.

What stays private.

Individual employee identities are removed and payroll detail is de-identified before anything moves, so names, Social Security numbers, bank details and per person wages never leave the company in identifiable form.

We anonymize identifying details before anything moves. Polyshares does that work, so your team does not have to scrub records first.

Your company keeps ownership of its data. The license is bounded to defined material and a defined use.

Polyshares is the buyer and pays your company directly. There is no fee or commission, and Polyshares reviews the record before it makes any offer.

Common questions about Gusto data.

Does a Gusto report include former employees?

It can. Set the report filters to include dismissed or former employees before you download, so the count reflects everyone ever on file.

Why can't I see Reports in Gusto?

Reports only appear for admins with reporting permissions. Ask your Primary admin to update your permissions. Even then, you only see the report fields your permissions cover.

Do I need to share pay amounts to report size?

No. The intake asks for record counts only, such as employees ever on file, payroll runs and time entries. You can count rows without opening any pay columns.

Source: Gusto Help Center: View, download, and customize reports in Gusto (for admins), Gusto Help Center: Manage roles and permissions in Gusto (for Primary admins), Gusto developer docs: Generate custom reports (payroll_journal report type). Checked September 2026.

Put your numbers on the intake.

List your systems, their sizes and your headcount in one intake. Polyshares reviews the record and prices it. There is no fee or commission to your company.