Finding great talent is one of the most difficult tasks for a manager or business owner. And an even more difficult task is retaining it.
Studies, such as this one from Gallop, show that insufficient employee benefits is one of the top reasons for employee turnover.
However, what happens if you are a smaller organization that just does not have the ability to support a massive HR department, complete with the best benefits and perks?
You look at a PEO, which can help your business get the connections and benefits that those robust in-house HR departments offer, without the extreme cost. Yet the key to finding success with them is finding the right one.
Fortunately, this article can help you with just that.
Table of Contents
What Are Professional Employer Organizations (PEO)?
Professional Employer Organizations, or PEOs, are companies that provide HR, payroll, benefits and additional solutions to businesses of all sizes, including small and medium ones.
They effectively function as an extension of their client’s in-house team, forming partnerships via a co-employment model.
As the PEO works with many companies, the PEO can collectively bargain with all their clients’ employees combined, allowing them to help startups and small businesses access corporate-level HR benefits.
PEOs offer services including but not limited to:
- Payroll processing
- Benefits analysis and administration
- Resource consulting
- Insurance plan assessment
- Training and development, including programs related to workplace safety
According to The National Association of Professional Employer Organizations (NAPEO), companies that use PEOs report:
- 10-14% lower employee turnover
- 7-9% faster growth
- 50% lower likelihood to go out of business
10 Top-Ranked PEO Companies to Consider In 2021
According to NAPEO, there are nearly 1,000 PEO companies in the US, and over 175,000 businesses using their services.
Whether you are looking locally or nationally, finding the right fit for your business is vital, and you can use this list to help you.
Alternatively, fill out the form above for personalized recommendations of the top-rated PEO companies.
1. Amplify
Amplify HR is an end-to-end HR management solution for small to mid-sized businesses.
They offer medical, dental, and visual benefits to clients’ employees. Retirement planning solutions are also available to clients of all sizes.
Amplify provides personalized customer support and ensures any enquiry or complaint is resolved with a human on the other side of the line, which is a great claim to fame and a huge advantage when compared to other PEOs.
Your issues will be solved with a personalized touch, making things much easier on everyone involved.
Company size: 11-50 employees
Location: Lincolnshire, IL
Services:
- Payroll
- Benefits
- HR and retirement
- Risk management and compliance
2. CoAdvantage
Founded in 1990, CoAdvantage has become one of the best-known names in the businesses. The company supports over 4,500 clients and over 90,000 worksite employees across 50 states.
Among their standout services are administration, risk and compliance associated with payroll, tax filings, healthcare and ancillary benefits, and workers compensation.
Basically, if you are looking for basic services done right, CoAdvantage has you covered.
Company size: 400+ employees
Location: Tampa, FL
Services:
- Payroll
- Benefits
- Risk management and compliance
- HR technology
3. Vensure PEO
Another industry leader, Vensure PEO works with businesses nationwide, processing over $4.7 billion in payroll and supporting a total workforce of 250,000.
The company is a great choice for small businesses in search of HR solutions, especially those who are looking for a more customized solution for their specific industry (which can be important, if required).
Company size: 300+ employees
Location: Chandler, AZ
Services:
- Payroll
- Medical and voluntary benefits
- Workers’ compensation
- Risk management
- HR administration
4. Resourcing Edge
Headquartered in Rockwall, TX, Resourcing Edge provides PEO services to clients in 44 states, with a combined workforce of over 20,000 employees.
Despite this, they regularly adapt and change to better serve their customers, and have an excellent customer service team.
The company has over 15 years of experience, is ESAC accredited and IRS certified, and has plenty of partners to make sure your employees get the perks they deserve.
Company size: 100+ employees
Location: Rockwall, TX
Services:
- Payroll
- Benefits
- Risk management
- HR technology
- Recruiting
5. TriNet
TriNet provides tailored HR solutions to SMBs “from Main Street to Wall Street.”
The company supports over 320,000 worksite employees and over 18,000 businesses, making it one of the larger providers in the country.
Founded in 1988, TriNet is one of the most trusted PEOs on the market. Regardless of their size, they have kept their focus on SMBs and best serve companies that are up to around 100 employees.
Company size: 3,000+ employees
Location: Dublin, CA
Services:
- Payroll
- Benefits
- Risk management
- HR technology
- HR Consulting
6. Insperity
Insperity is another longstanding industry champion with over 30 years’ experience.
With 61 offices across the US, Insperity is one of the largest PEOs on the market, supporting over 100,000 businesses and over two million worksite employees.
If there is an issue or a niche that you are worried about, chances are they have worked with it.
Unlike TriNet, however, Insperity does serve larger organizations – ones that employ up to 5,000 people, making it great for already large or growing businesses.
Company size: 3,000+ employees
Location: Kingwood, TX
Services:
- Payroll
- Benefits
- Risk management and compliance
- HR technology
- Talent management
7. CXC Global
Founded in 1992 in Sydney, Australia, CXC Global has offices and internal staff in 35+ countries, with global PEO and Employer of Record (EOR) capabilities in 65+ countries.
CXC Global partners with companies in the USA who are looking to hire workers globally where the company does not have an office. CXC Global solutions enable companies to expand their global footprint without the administrative burdens and financial risk of establishing a business.
CXC’s proprietary compliance platform, CXC Comply, ensures compliant engagement of the workers and right to work checks in each country.
CXC Global becomes the back-office or outsourced HR function and acts as the employer of record between the worker and the client, eliminating the need for companies to setup local entities in the country they wish to do business or hire workers.
Company size: 180 employees
Location: Regional offices in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America
Services:
- Onboarding
- Right to work
- International payroll
- Currency conversion
- Contract management
8. Brandt International
With a global presence and more than 15 years of experience, Brandt International is a leading Malaysian business process outsourcing (BPO) company that supports businesses of all sizes in the financial, telecommunication, insurance, oil and gas, and FMCG industries.
One of their specialties is end-to-end customer experience management, including backend platforms specifically designed to fit client’s needs, strategic customer relationship development and managed multi-media contact centers with up to 200 seats.
Brandt International offers services in English and East-Asian languages, so if you plan to expand your business to Asia, it might be the right solution for you.
Company size: 1,000+ employees
Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Services:
- Customer experience management
- IT outsourcing management
- Talent, Workforce outsourcing & HR Services
- Finance shared services
- Learning and development
9. KOISRA UP
KOISRA UP provides full market-entry services in South Korea, including company registration, payroll, HR and recruitment, visa and relocation, virtual offices and more.
It is part of KOISRA Co., Ltd. – a Korean business consulting firm specializing in business development, HR, market entry solutions and outsourcing services for foreign companies in the Korean market.
Since the company's establishment in 2009, KOISRA UP provides services to start-ups and multinational companies that wish to expand to the South Korean market, as well as to global PEO agencies that have no presence or license to work in South Korea.
Company size: 11 employees
Location: Seoul, South Korea; Tel Aviv, Israel; Taipei, Taiwan
Services:
- PEO & Employer of Record
- Payroll
- HR Management
- Benefits Administration
- Labor-Law Compliance
- Business Registration
10. factoHR
factoHR provides HR management services, payroll processing and other operations to small and medium businesses, taking care of HR needs from “hire to retire.”
This company has been providing retirement benefits for the last 15+ years and HR software for 6+ years. Having such extensive experience in this market, factoHR has served over 1,000 clients with more than one million employees registered under their HRMS System.
Besides managing HR operations, it offers additional functions like attendance, leave, benefits, travel, expense management and retirement benefits management like superannuation fund management, benevolent fund and more.
One of the company's specialties includes features of self-onboarding, as well as safe and secure management of employee data. In other words, when working with factoHR, your company can embrace a paperless culture.
Company size: 150+ employees
Location: Regional offices in Rajkot, Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune and Hyderabad
Services:
- HR Management
- Onboarding and Payroll Process
- Travel and Expense Management
- Attendance and Leave Management
- Retirement Benefits
- Provident Fund and Benevolent Fund Management
How to Find the Right PEO Company for Your Business
Consulting the list above is a great place to start your search for a reliable partner, but it is far from the finish line.
From legal compliance to talent retention, partnering with a PEO exposes the vital areas of your business to a third party, and you will have to trust them, even in a limited fashion.
As a co-employer, your PEO could require changes in administrative processes, like changing the insurance provider, and even influence corporate culture – changes your employees may not be comfortable with.
While they do bring undeniable benefits to the table, avoiding these potential downsides requires some serious thought and research.
What To Look For In A PEO
- Step 1: When vetting PEOs, first weed out those that will not or cannot serve your business based on your business’ number of employees, location, budget and required expertise.
- Step 2: Ensure that the PEO can scale their services alongside your business. Keep in mind that PEO contracts can span over multiple years, so avoid short-term thinking in your decision-making.
- Step 3: Check as to the organizations’ accreditations, such as IRS and ESAC.
- Step 4: Interview or otherwise communicate with the top candidates to see if they are a good fit.
Questions To Ask When Interviewing PEOs
Some of the most important questions to ask PEO companies are:
- How can I be sure that your advice would be impartial and in my organization’s best interest?
- How would we track and measure your involvement?
- How would we track the time and resources you have dedicated to our account?
- Who would be our main point of contact?
- What would be the scope of their responsibilities?
- What are all the services you offer?
- Could we get the list of the tasks you would cover?
- Could we get the list of the tasks we or our employees would be expected to cover?
- Would our main point of contact, or other representatives, visit us on-site to gain a more in-depth insight into our organization? Would this be a possibility in case of an emergency?
- What software, apps, or other tools do you use to deliver your services?
- What are the main benefits these systems will provide us?
The Shortcut to Finding the Right PEO
This is where companies like PEO Analysis step in; PEO Analysis helps businesses identify the right service provider based on their:
- Size
- Location
- Budget
- Required benefits
With large directories of vetted PEOs, intermediaries like these take several important steps for you such as but not limited to:
- Checking for accreditation
- Determining PEOs’ capabilities
- Checking labor law compliance
- Checking their pricing structure
Do keep in mind that, while the services like PEO Analysis help you filter the best candidates for your business, you are still advised to conduct in-depth interviews to find the best match and take into account any additional factors.
What to Outsource to a PEO Partner
Some of the most popular PEO services include:
- Payroll management: Your PEO should ensure that your employees are paid on time.
- Benefits consulting and administration: They should provide various insurance and retirement options, including medical, dental, life insurance, 401K, and more.
- Compliance: They should inform you and help you remain compliant with all legislative changes and regulations, including Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), the EPA, and more.
- Risk management: Your PEO can help you resolve workers’ compensation issues and related claims. They can also help you create new policies and conduct training to ensure that your employees are as safe as possible and follow best practices over the course of their workday.
How Much Do PEO Companies Charge?
PEO companies typically operate by one of two pricing models:
- A fixed, per-employee rate
- A rate that is based on a percentage of your payroll
The fixed, per-employee rates vary, ranging from about $50 per month to over $150 per month. This would set your business back up to $1,800 per employee per year.
As for the payroll percentage, the industry average spans from as low as 4 percent to over 10 percent of total payroll per month, though this can still vary on the extremes and be dependent on the size of your company.
Takeaways on PEO Companies
PEO companies help SMBs access corporate-level HR and benefits cost-effectively thanks to their co-employment model and allow them to stay competitive on multiple levels with larger corporations.
And while you can expect to pay up to $1,800 per employee per year, the cost of providing these services and benefits yourself will almost certainly be greater.
Their most sought-after services include:
- Payroll management
- Benefits
- Compliance
- Risk management
Yet partnering with a PEO exposes your companies’ sensitive details and business areas to a third party, and takes a bit of the control out of your hands (though you still have the final say on everything), so finding the right partner is key.
Services like PEO Analysis help shorten the path to the right partner significantly.
