Plan your Gusto ISO exercise
Calculator · free · no signup · pre-IPOGusto is pre-IPO. Plan your AMT impact at any valuation: current 409A, expected IPO price, or post-IPO scenarios.
Beta · invite-only · AlphaLatitude Inc. · Free Tools
Your grant
Seeded from secondary-market data, as of Jun 9, 2026
Tax inputs
Grant timeline
Net final value at year 3 sale — optimized plan
$132,373
After-tax dollars at end of year 3, net of all federal + state taxes through the sale.
This year: exercise 3,393 shares (of 10,000 total).
= gross gain at sale − federal + state LTCG − AMT premium above baseline regular tax (time-valued)
AMT premium for exercising: $675 (on top of $228,434 regular tax across the horizon)
Optimized plan keeps $7,438 more than lump-sum, $283 more than even split.
Federal AMT crossover this year: 3,392 shares ($57,238 bargain element). Above that, each additional share this year adds federal AMT.
Estimates only. Not financial advice.
Net final value by year
Running tally: NTV from shares exercised through year y, minus AMT premium paid through year y. The last year matches the plan's headline NTV. Hover a year for plan totals.
Optimized exercise schedule
You pay the higher of Regular tax and Tentative AMT per jurisdiction, then subtract Credit recovered. The result is Net tax. Hover any number for the bracket-by-bracket breakdown.
| 1 | 3,393 | |||
| 2 | 3,284 | |||
| 3 | 3,323 |
Federal AMT credit
Earned
$675
Recovered
$0
Remaining
$675
The AMT credit only recovers in years where regular tax exceeds AMT — typically a year with no ISO exercise. Every year in this schedule has bargain element, so AMT exceeds regular tax in every year and the credit carries forward untouched. Try a longer horizon or fewer total shares to introduce a recovery year.
Plan comparison
Net value at the end of your hold horizon.
Lump-sum
All in Year 1
$124,935
−$7,438
Even split
Equal shares each year
$132,091
−$283
Optimized
Tax-aware schedule
$132,373
Highest
Estimates only. Excludes disqualifying dispositions, NSOs, multi-state moves, and AMT preferences other than ISO bargain elements. Long-term capital gains tax assumes a qualifying disposition (ISO held ≥1 yr from exercise and ≥2 yr from grant); state LTCG follows ordinary brackets except where the state grants preferential treatment (HI, ND, SC, WI, AR, NM) or has a dedicated LTCG-only tax (WA). Assumes you are within the $100K ISO limit (any portion of an annual ISO grant whose FMV at grant exceeds $100K is treated as NSO from the start, §422(d)). State AMT figures are 2025 (next-year values published in late 2026). Not financial advice.
QSBS note. If your shares qualify (typically pre-IPO C-corp grants held 5+ years), a federal rule lets you exclude up to $10M of gain on a future sale from federal tax. That single rule shifts exercise-timing math more than AMT does. (This is §1202 “qualified small-business stock”.) Modeled in beta, not here.
You optimized one grant in isolation. The beta optimizes ISOs alongside your RSUs, NSOs, and stock in one plan.
Request beta access →About Gusto
Gusto is a privately held Cloud/SaaS company, incorporated in Delaware and headquartered in San Francisco, CA.
Last reported secondary-market price: $21.87 per share (as of 2026-06-09). Your own 409A may differ.
SMB payroll/HR.
Equity grants at Gusto typically include incentive stock options (ISOs) and non-qualified stock options (NSOs).
Gusto, Inc. is a company that develops payroll, benefits, and human resource management software for businesses based in the United States.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Joshua Reeves, Tomer London, and Edward Kim launched Gusto, originally ZenPayroll, in December 2012 to automate payroll, benefits, and HR administration for small businesses. The platform handles federal, state, and local tax filings automatically and has expanded to cover health insurance brokerage, workers' compensation, and time tracking. Gusto serves more than 400,000 businesses and generated $975 million in revenue in 2025, up 30% year over year. A June 2025 tender offer set its valuation at $9.3 billion. The company acquired retirement plan provider Guideline for roughly $600 million in November 2025.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · sacra.com
Equity comp at Gusto
- Gusto has run at least three employee tender offers (company-organized windows where employees can sell some vested shares to outside buyers) since founding. The most recent confirmed offer closed in June 2025, raising over $200 million at a $9.3 billion valuation led by Ontario Teachers Pension Plan. It was open to current and former employees with at least two years of tenure. An earlier offer occurred in 2021 alongside the Series E round at roughly $9.5 billion valuation. Fortune reporting described the 2025 event as the third such offer, suggesting a third earlier liquidity event not well documented publicly.
- Recent share-sale events (industry term: tender offers):
- Jun 2025: $9.3B implied valuation, led by Ontario Teachers Pension Plan (Teachers Venture Growth) · fortune.com
Sources: fortune.com · finance.yahoo.com
Researched 2026-05-10.
OptionsAhoy is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Gusto.
The calculator works at any Gusto valuation: enter your strike, the current 409A FMV, an expected IPO price, or anywhere in between. AMT is triggered on the bargain element (FMV minus strike) when you exercise; the calculator models federal AMT, state AMT, and the multi-year credit-recovery path.
Example: at Gusto's last reported price of $21.87, exercising 5,000 ISOs with a $6.56 strike creates a $76,550 bargain element. Above the 2026 federal AMT exemption ($88,100 single, $137,000 married joint), the 28% AMT rate adds roughly $21,434 on top of regular tax before any state AMT (CA, CO, CT, MN). The credit recovers in later years when your regular tax exceeds AMT. The calculator above runs your exact figures.
All Gusto tools → · Use the generic AMT + ISO Exercise Calculator for any company.
Gusto equity questions
- How much alternative minimum tax (AMT) will I owe exercising Gusto ISOs?
- Exercising incentive stock options (ISOs) does not create regular income tax, but the bargain element (the fair market value at exercise minus your strike price) counts toward the alternative minimum tax (AMT). The amount depends on the bargain element, your other income, your filing status, and your state. The calculator above models federal and state AMT, the AMT crossover point, and how the credit recovers in later years for your exact Gusto figures.
- Does Gusto grant ISOs, NSOs, or RSUs?
- Equity compensation at Gusto typically takes the form of incentive stock options (ISOs) and non-qualified stock options (NSOs). Incentive stock options can trigger the alternative minimum tax (AMT) when you exercise.
- Are Gusto shares eligible for QSBS?
- They might be. Qualified small business stock (QSBS) under Internal Revenue Code Section 1202 can exclude federal tax on much of the gain when shares were acquired at original issuance from a C-corporation while its gross assets were under $50 million, and held at least five years. Whether your Gusto shares qualify turns on when you acquired them and the company's asset size at that time.
One piece of the puzzle.
OptionsAhoy plans your Gusto equity alongside hedging, vesting, and de-concentration, across bullish, neutral, and bearish market scenarios. Free during beta.