# Gusto brings selected client payroll into one AI conversation > Source: > Published: 2026-10-07 19:01:19+00:00 # Gusto brings selected client payroll into one AI conversation **At Gusto Next, Josh Reeves's company paired a redesigned Gusto Pro with a multi-client MCP that prepares payroll work for accountants to review.** By [RuntimeWire Staff](https://runtimewire.com/author/runtimewire-staff) ยท Published Primary source: [PR Newswire](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/gusto-unveils-redesigned-gusto-pro-new-multi-client-model-context-protocol-and-expanded-partner-program-for-accountants-302901507.html) ## Why it matters Gusto is making accountants a distribution channel for AI-assisted payroll and adjacent services. The workflow keeps human approval in place, while the company's MCP terms leave accuracy checks and third-party AI data handling with employers and their providers. On October 7th, [Gusto CEO and co-founder Josh Reeves (@joshuareeves)](https://x.com/joshuareeves?ref=runtimewire) introduced a new bet on how Gusto reaches small businesses: make selected Gusto client books available from one AI conversation. At [Gusto Next](https://gusto.com/gusto-next-2026?ref=runtimewire), Gusto [announced](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/gusto-unveils-redesigned-gusto-pro-new-multi-client-model-context-protocol-and-expanded-partner-program-for-accountants-302901507.html?ref=runtimewire) a redesigned [Gusto Pro](https://gusto.com/partners/accountants?ref=runtimewire), a multi-client Model Context Protocol (MCP) connection for accountants' AI tools, and an expanded partner program. Gusto said the MCP is available to accounting firms; the rebuilt Pro is in early access for eligible partners, with general availability planned later in 2026. The move extends a business Reeves started with a practical premise: small companies should have access to useful software without building the back office of a large one. Before co-founding Gusto, then called ZenPayroll, he worked at Zazzle and co-founded Unwrap, a software startup acquired in 2010. He studied electrical engineering at Stanford, where he earned bachelor's and master's degrees. [Stanford's profile of Reeves](https://stvp.stanford.edu/people/joshua-reeves?ref=runtimewire) also identifies him as a Mayfield Fellow and Terman Engineering Award recipient. Gusto's original product made payroll and related administration easier for employers. The accountant strategy gives Gusto a route to reach many employers through the professionals already managing their books. Gusto says more than 23,000 accounting firms use Gusto Pro and that it serves more than 500,000 small businesses, according to its [announcement](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/gusto-unveils-redesigned-gusto-pro-new-multi-client-model-context-protocol-and-expanded-partner-program-for-accountants-302901507.html?ref=runtimewire). Those figures are company-reported; the scale helps explain why Gusto is designing around a firm's whole portfolio rather than one employer account at a time. The Pro redesign, which Gusto calls its most significant since 2021, adds a multi-client assistant, a simplified dashboard and AI-assisted payroll preparation. ### One connection for a whole client book The MCP feature is the clearest shift in the announcement. Previously, Gusto says, accountants working with AI had to connect and disconnect accounts to switch between clients. The new workflow lets them connect Gusto once, choose which clients are in scope, then ask questions and prepare work across that selection from one conversation. Gusto says firms can prepare changes to hours, earnings, time off and payment methods, produce recurring reports and schedule routines to run in the background. The system does not get final say over payroll changes. Gusto says every change returns to the accountant for review and approval before it updates Gusto. Its [MCP terms](https://gusto.com/legal/terms/gusto-mcp?ref=runtimewire) also make clear that Gusto does not verify AI output for accuracy or legal compliance, and that employers remain responsible for checking it. The terms say data sent through MCP may be processed, retained or used by third-party AI providers under their own policies. Those conditions make client selection and human review central controls, not minor workflow details. Gusto Pro's new AI-assisted workflows target the preparatory work that fills an accountant's day: extracting hours from emails, identifying changes since the prior payroll, drafting reimbursements and deductions through Gmail or Outlook connectors, and gathering reports across clients. Gusto says accountants retain visibility and approval. Its assistant, called Pro Gus, is designed to answer client questions and provide a view across a firm's book. Preparing payroll information across multiple clients could save repetitive effort. The value depends on whether the output is accurate enough to reduce work after review, rather than shifting the work into error-checking. Gusto has not provided an independently measured time-saving figure for the redesigned Pro in its announcement. ### Selling growth alongside payroll The expanded Partner Program pairs the software with tools intended to help firms grow. Gusto says partners will have access to marketing development funds, a marketing hub with AI campaign tools and ready-to-use resources, development funds for operational improvements and advisory services, and a network of pre-vetted business consultants. Gusto also says it plans to extend partner revenue share beyond payroll to 401(k) plans in mid-November 2026. New firms joining the program are slated to receive a firm 401(k) plan for owners and employees for one year. This broadens Gusto's pitch to accountants from managing payroll to building a practice around services attached to it. The platform already handles payroll, HR and benefits for small businesses. For Gusto, partners can deepen distribution and keep more of the employer's administrative work inside its system. For accounting firms, the promise is to free capacity for advisory work and give them support in winning clients. The financial terms of the new program features were not specified in the announcement. Gusto's multi-client MCP makes payroll data and actions available in third-party AI workflows. The [product page](https://gusto.com/product/agents?ref=runtimewire) describes the MCP as an open-standard connection for compatible AI clients, though the October announcement did not name every supported tool for the accountant workflow. Gusto's approach aims to put its tools inside AI products accountants already use, rather than asking firms to adopt only Gusto's own assistant. Reeves's earlier career gives the expansion some context: Gusto was not his first software company, and Gusto has spent years widening a payroll product into a broader operating platform for small businesses. The accountant program takes that strategy one distribution layer outward. Its success will turn on whether multi-client automation earns accountants' trust with sensitive payroll work and whether the partner benefits help firms build services that keep clients engaged with Gusto.