Gusto handles payroll for employees. Keito handles the billable hour tracking, project billing, and client invoice preparation that sits upstream of it — keeping the two workflows distinct and accurate.
Billing review
Client billing
$18.4k
Client hours
243h
Billable
78%
Team members
8
Client hours captured
Development and strategy work
Billing manager review
Approved by client and project
Client invoices prepared
Keito billing → client invoice
Payroll and client billing are different records — Keito handles the billable time layer, Gusto handles the payroll layer.
Group work by client, project, issue, branch, or repository reference so time reports explain what changed, not just who was online.
Use approvals and project summaries to catch unassigned work, non-billable research, and time that needs a clearer client note.
Export clean summaries that connect delivery activity to project budgets, retainers, and invoices without exposing internal noise.
Billing and payroll separation
Many growing teams run Gusto for payroll and later discover they also need a structured way to track billable client hours. The temptation is to add billable time tracking to Gusto — but Gusto is designed for payroll, not client billing. Mixing the two creates problems: employees log hours for payroll, clients need different billing records, and the review step for billing accuracy never gets built. Keito provides the dedicated billing layer: team members log client hours with project and billing context in Keito, the billing manager reviews and approves, and client invoices are prepared from clean billing records — while Gusto continues to manage payroll independently.
Log client billable hours in Keito with project and billing context separate from payroll hours
Review and approve billable time before invoice preparation — a step Gusto payroll does not include
Invoice clients from approved Keito billing records while Gusto continues managing payroll runs
Workflow fit
Keito keeps gusto time tracking connected to client, project, billable status, approval, and invoice context before the work reaches finance.
Log client billable hours in Keito with project and billing context separate from payroll hours
Review and approve billable time before invoice preparation — a step Gusto payroll does not include
Invoice clients from approved Keito billing records while Gusto continues managing payroll runs
Keito is designed for technical teams that need billing records to reflect real delivery work without pushing every developer into finance tooling. The Keito CLI, GitHub Action, and Agent Skill log time from the terminal, CI jobs, pull requests, and AI coding sessions directly.
Managers can separate billable implementation, non-billable discovery, support, and internal work before reports leave the team.
Use tracked engineering work for invoice backup, project profitability, and retainer reviews without stitching together several spreadsheets.
The difference is not just recording time. It is whether the record can support billing, project decisions, and client conversations.
Client billing records
Keito provides a dedicated billing workspace where client hours are tracked, reviewed, and approved for invoicing — separate from Gusto payroll.
Tracking billable time in Gusto mixes payroll and client billing into one system, creating review and accuracy problems for both.
Pre-invoice approval
Billing managers review all client time entries in Keito before invoices are prepared, so billing errors are caught before they reach the client.
Without a dedicated billing review layer, invoice disputes are resolved after the fact when the client questions hours.
Team billing cost
Flat-rate pricing lets growing teams add all client-facing staff to the billing workflow without per-seat cost escalation.
Per-seat billing tools add cost every time a new developer or account manager joins the team and needs billing access.
Yes. Keito and Gusto serve different purposes. Gusto manages payroll for employees. Keito manages billable client hours, project billing, and invoice preparation. Most teams use Gusto for payroll and Keito for client billing, keeping the two records separate and purpose-built for their respective audiences.
In Keito, team members log client hours with project, task, and billable context specifically for billing purposes. These are separate from Gusto's payroll time records. Billing managers review client hours in Keito, approve the billing record, and prepare invoices — while Gusto's payroll run covers total hours worked including non-billable internal time.
Set up Keito alongside Gusto: team members use Gusto for payroll and Keito for client billing. In Keito, each client has a billing workspace where team members log billable hours by project. At the end of the billing period, the billing manager reviews, approves, and prepares the invoice. The two workflows stay separate and clean.
Keito provides the client billing layer that Gusto payroll does not include. The workflows are complementary rather than integrated at the API level: Keito manages billable client hours and billing approval, Gusto manages payroll. A future integration point would be exporting approved team hours from Keito to inform payroll allocations in Gusto.
Solo is built for one human owner and unlimited AI agents. Pro adds human teammates. Business adds integrations, exports, and online invoice payments.
One human owner
For independent consultants, freelancers, and small studios running work with AI agents.
Team collaboration
For teams that need shared workspaces, approvals, and team-level project visibility.
Advanced operations
For organizations that need integrations, exports, online payments, and stronger controls.
AI agents do not count as human seats on any plan.
Solo, Pro, and Business can use API keys for agent workflows.
Stripe payments, exports, Xero, and QuickBooks are on Business.
Start with Solo, add people on Pro when you need reviewers or collaborators, and see how Keito turns tracked effort into clearer reports.