Edit a US contractor's personal info (for admins)

Summary

Admins can learn how to edit a US contractor's SSN, EIN, mailing address, or name.

Content

A contractor must be added to Gusto before you can make changes, and employers must help contractors with changes they cannot make on their own.

International contractors also must work with the employer to make updates to information they cannot update on their own.

Admins with the required permissions can edit a US contractor's:

Social Security number (SSN)
Employer Identification number (EIN)
Name
Mailing address
Payment info (like bank account details)*
- For security reasons, we strongly recommend that your contractor update their own payment information.

They can also dismiss contractors. If a dismissed contractor's info needs to be updated, learn how to view and update their dismissed profile.

Need to fix a 1099 from a previous year?

If you need to fix a previous year’s 1099, go to our article on correcting 1099s.

Use the dropdowns below to learn more. Use CMD + F (or CTRL + F) to search for words in the article.

Update your contractor's identification number—SSN (for individual contractors), or EIN (for business contractors)

If you're a contractor, contact your employer to make this change for you.

Admins can follow the steps below to correct a contractor's identification number (but not their type). To change the worker type from individual contractor to business contractor, you'll need to learn more in the applicable dropdown below.

Go to the People section.
Click on your contractor's name.
Under “Information” click Personal.
Next to “Personal Information” click Edit.
Enter the updated identifier:
- For individual contractors: This is an SSN.
- For businesses: This is an EIN.
Click Save.

If you need to fix a previous year’s 1099, go to our article on correcting 1099s.

Update your contractor's name

If you're a contractor, contact your employer to make this change for you.

Go to the People section.
Click on the name of the contractor that you need to update.
Click Edit next to the Personal Details section.
Make any necessary updates to your contractor's personal or business name.
Click Save.

Update a contractor's personal email

Before you change a contractor’s personal email

This will change the email they use to log in.
- If the new email is wrong, someone could see private info or get locked out of the account. Double-check that the email is correct.
You cannot use an email that’s already being used by another contractor at the same company.

How to update a US contractor's personal email in Gusto:

Go to the People section.
Click on the name of the contractor that you need to update.
Under “Information” click Personal.
Next to “Personal email” click Edit.
Update the email address. You cannot use an email that’s already being used by another contractor at the same company.
- This will change the email they use to log in.
  - If the new email is wrong, someone could see private info or get locked out of the account. Double-check that the email is correct.
- You cannot use an email that’s already being used by another contractor at the same company.
- We'll email the new address to verify the email change request.
Click Save.

Update a contractor's personal phone number (for company records)

The personal phone number in the contractor profile is for company records only. Contractors will be asked to set up 2-step verification for their own profiles, and if they choose to use a phone number (instead of an authenticator app) it's entered and managed separately.

Go to the People section.
Click on the name of the contractor that you need to update.
Under “Information” click Personal.
Next to "Personal Information," click Edit.
Update their personal number on record with the company, and click Save.

Update your contractor's mailing address

Go to the People section.
Click on the name of the contractor that you need to update.
Under “Information” click Personal.
Next to “Address” click edit.
Update the address and click Save.

Update payment information (like direct deposit bank details)

For security reasons, we strongly recommend that your contractor update their own payment information.

If your contractor cannot update their own payment information, here's how to help:

Go to the People section.
Search the team member’s name or use the filter icon to filter by contractors.
Click the name of the contractor.
In the "Payment" section, click edit.
For security, you may be asked to enter the current bank details again (in full). If you do not have the info, you must get it from your contractor or have them update it.
Update the payment or direct deposit information, and click Save.

Change a contractor's type—individual (SSN) to business (EIN) or vice versa

Follow the steps below based on your situation.

Contractor was classified incorrectly, no payments were ever processed

Dismiss the incorrect contractor profile.
Add a new contractor with the correct type.
- If you try to use the email from the old profile to set up the new profile, you may get an error message. To move past this, you can update the old profile with a unique email variant, and then onboard them anew with their actual email:
  - Actual email: Firstname.Lastname@Example.com
  - Variant email: Firstname.Lastname+Gusto@Example.com
    - Just add a + symbol, and your chosen text.

Contractor was classified incorrectly, payments were made, but no 1099 filed yet

Reverse the payments made to the incorrect SSN or EIN.
- Go to this article and click the Cancel or adjust a contractor payment processed by Gusto dropdown to see what options you have for making these corrections. You may need to contact us to help with reversing some, or all, of the payments.
Dismiss the incorrect contractor profile.
Add a new contractor with the correct type.
- If you try to use the email from the old profile to set up the new profile, you may get an error message. To move past this, you can update the old profile with a unique email variant, and then onboard them anew with their actual email:
  - Actual email: Firstname.Lastname@Example.com
  - Variant email: Firstname.Lastname+Gusto@Example.com
    - Just add a + symbol, and your chosen text.
Record the payments made to the old profile as “historical payments” in the new profile.
- Go to this article and click the Record or adjust a historical contractor payment made outside of Gusto dropdown.

Contractor was classified incorrectly, payments were made, and a 1099 was filed

Reverse the payments made to the incorrect SSN or EIN.
- Go to this article and click the Cancel or adjust a contractor payment processed by Gusto dropdown to see what options you have for making these corrections. You may need to contact us to help with reversing some, or all, of the payments.
Dismiss the incorrect contractor profile.
Go to the Support section and contact us to ask for a corrected 1099-NEC (for incorrect contractor type).
Add a new contractor with the correct type.
- If you try to use the email from the old profile to set up the new profile, you may get an error message. To move past this, you can update the old profile with a unique email variant, and then onboard them anew with their actual email:
  - Actual email: Firstname.Lastname@Example.com
  - Variant email: Firstname.Lastname+Gusto@Example.com
    - Just add a + symbol, and your chosen text.
For the current year, record the payments made to the old profile as “historical payments” in the new (corrected) profile.
- Go to this article and click the Record or adjust a historical contractor payment made outside of Gusto dropdown.
- For previous year payments, you must file original returns outside of Gusto with the correct SSN or EIN.

Contractor needs two 1099s for the same year (SSN and EIN)

If a contractor changed types mid-year, and a 1099 needs to be filed under both their SSN and the EIN, follow the steps below:

Dismiss the contractor profile with the old contractor type.
Add a new contractor to Gusto using the new contractor type.
- If you try to use the email from the old profile to set up the new profile, you may get an error message. To move past this, you can update the old profile with a unique email variant, and then onboard them anew with their actual email:
  - Actual email: Firstname.Lastname@Example.com
  - Variant email: Firstname.Lastname+Gusto@Example.com
    - Just add a + symbol, and your chosen text.

Change the emergency contact for a contractor

Your team members can make this update on their own as well.

Go to the People section.
Select a team member.
Go to the Personal tab and scroll to the "Emergency contact" card.
Next to "Emergency contact" click Edit.
- If you're unable to edit, you may not have the required permission to do so.
Update the emergency contact info, and click Save.

Add or update the profile photo for a contractor

Go to the People section.
Select the team team member.
Next to their profile name at the top of the page, click the edit pen in the photo circle.
Upload or drop a file, and click Save.

Change a contractor to an employee

Go to our article on converting employment types to get next steps.

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