When you’re a small business owner, your time is a precious commodity. Engaging the services of a professional employer organization (PEO) to handle your company’s human resources work can be a game-changer, freeing you up to concentrate on other strategic initiatives.
Once you’ve determined you are ready for such a relationship, your next step is to conduct a PEO evaluation so you can choose the partner best suited to your business model, ideals and goals.
There’s a high return on investment for small and mid-sized businesses that work with PEOs – if they’re careful about choosing a PEO partner that is trustworthy and has the smaller company’s interests at heart.
The right PEO service provider for your company will be a good fit for your budget, your company vision and your culture. Focusing on the criteria that are most important to your business will make the vetting process much easier.
This important first step involves more than simply googling “How to choose a PEO” or “find a PEO near me” – although that’s a decent starting point to find an initial set of candidates. Once you have narrowed the field to three or four PEO providers, an in-depth evaluation of each company’s online footprint should give you a good sense of their expertise, services, depth and breadth of HR knowledge and approach to serving clients.
A thorough search might take the form of checking out their social media accounts, such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. You can see how clients respond to them and how the PEOs respond to clients. You might also search for what each company’s own employees have to say about working for that firm. And, of course, explore business review sites to see what information is available on each PEO.
A reputable PEO will have a consistent online presence, a thorough website and a clear HR leadership voice.
The more information you have on each PEO candidate, the better prepared you will be to select the preferred PEO partner for your business. You also will be confident about moving forward because you will understand how the PEO operates, its client service philosophy and its approach to HR matters.
In addition to online research, check out news stories and review any available court records on the PEO.
In doing your due diligence, investigate the:
Find out if the company you’re considering is a certified PEO (CPEO). A CPEO has undergone a rigorous IRS assessment process. The voluntary certification process is exhaustive, and not all PEOs qualify. In fact, fewer than 10% of all PEOs in the country are certified.
To earn CPEO status, a PEO must include background verifications, review of tax compliance history, annual audited financial statements and an independent surety bond guaranteeing payment of federal employment taxes. An independent accountant must submit quarterly assertions that declare the PEO’s taxes are paid and the company reflects a positive financial condition. Because the CPEO has been fully vetted by the IRS, you’re assured greater financial protection than you would have when working with a non-certified PEO.
The IRS does not endorse any particular certified professional employer organization. For more information on certified PEOs, visit the IRS website.
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Another gauge for any PEO candidate is having highly qualified staff. Professional human resources certifications indicate that the PEO you’re considering is staffed with experienced HR experts. Look for PEO team members with designations such as:
For added value, ask if each PEO you’re considering offers training opportunities, such as workshops on popular topics like safety, diversity, conflict resolution and curbing harassment.
A highly regarded PEO with a solid track record will not hesitate to share a list of references with you. Ask, specifically, for clients that have worked with the PEO for at least a year. Once you have that list in hand, contact the references to learn about their experiences with the PEO.
One way to start the conversation is to request that the reference rate the PEO on a scale of 1-10 (with 1 meaning they are going to cancel the agreement and 10 meaning they would never leave the relationship). Ask why they gave the rating and, if the rating isn’t a 10, ask why it isn’t higher.
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The PEO you hire will be managing some employment-related financial responsibilities, such as filing federal employment taxes, for your business. Therefore, it’s important to ensure that the PEO has adequate working capital as well as money in reserve.
PEOs often – and should – have financial audits performed by an independent party. You can request a copy of this audit. It will provide insight into where the company stands financially and show whether the PEO maintains up-to-date and accurate financial records – essential for any reliable PEO.
Using a PEO for HR, benefits, employment law compliance and payroll services saves time, optimizes your business processes and increases profitability, making a PEO’s administrative fees a worthwhile investment.
PEOs fees typically are a percent of payroll or a set amount per employee. The “per-employee-per-month,” or PEPM, model is increasingly common because it offers more competitive pricing and greater transparency. In other words, you always know what you’re paying.
If PEOs charge a percent of payroll, on the other hand, clients end up paying more for the same services when they give employee raises. The incongruity of such an approach is why PEPM has become the de facto way to structure PEO agreements.
Some PEOs also offer packages that include a full-service HR solution for a flat rate. Known as an all-inclusive administrative fee, such arrangements provide clients with fixed costs and usually cover services such as:
Make sure the PEOs you’re considering explain exactly what services you’ll receive for your administrative fee. You should have clarity about whether the fee is all-inclusive or if you’ll be charged separately for separate services. Ask for a sample invoice to make sure the fee is transparent.
PEOs can help your small business gain access to the types of health benefits and lower premiums that larger companies enjoy, making your company more attractive to top talent. Benefits extend beyond just quality health insurance, however. Find out what each potential PEO partner offers, such as vision and dental coverage, life insurance, 401(k)s and short- and long-term disability, which are all important parts of a comprehensive employee benefits package. This list is by no means exhaustive.
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For the relationship to be beneficial to your small company, your PEO partner must listen and respond to what your business needs. You can assess this quality of service when you talk to references and to representatives of each candidate company.
Having a dedicated point person from a team of certified professionals and experts to contact for questions or concerns is the best way to avoid wasted time and frustration when trying to communicate with your PEO partner. Make sure the PEO can provide direct telephone numbers and email addresses for your assigned HR consultant, payroll administrator and safety consultant and that these individuals are readily available if you would like to meet in person.
One way to gauge a PEO’s level of responsiveness is through the contract negotiation process. After ensuring that the services the PEO will provide are clearly described, verify the terms of cancellation and renewal. Follow up with any outstanding questions. The PEO’s response at each stage can be a good indicator of how you will be treated as a client.
Unfortunately, not every company offering PEO services is reliable. The PEO you choose will impact your bottom line, so you want to be assured that it is trustworthy and reliable.
Here are some telltale warning signs to watch for as you do your research:
A trustworthy PEO should be able to quickly and comfortably hand over names and contact information for several current clients. In fact, the PEO you want as your partner will welcome your due diligence, because it is confident about what you’ll hear from its references.
Most PEOs are private companies and, unlike public companies, aren’t required to share financial information. But you should still be able to receive audited financial statements, which will provide you with a fair assessment of the organization’s financial health. Audited financials also may reveal vulnerabilities, such as weak internal controls and insufficient cash reserves.
Audited statements cannot reflect the entire financial picture, but a sound PEO’s information will demonstrate that the company is stable and that its financial statements are complete and accurate according to accepted accounting conventions.
The IRS certification process includes a review of the PEO’s audited financial statements, so you can be confident in a CPEO’s fiduciary responsibility and steadfastness even without seeing its financials.
A McBassi and Associates study released in 2018 showed that the PEO industry grew between 2008 and 2017 by a compounded annual rate of 8.3% – 14 times higher than that of employment in the U.S. economy as a whole. That trajectory has enticed some startup PEOs to jump on the growth bandwagon. These PEOs may not have the same staying power or deliver the same quality of work as those that already have stood the test of time.
Make sure you know the tenure of each PEO partner you’re considering. Ask:
The PEO you choose should have not only a durable history but also business practices and values that align with your company’s. This includes honesty and transparency when there’s less-than-favorable information to communicate. A trustworthy PEO is committed to a no-surprises, mutually beneficial relationship that will help your company grow.
Hackers are increasingly sophisticated, and securing data is a constant fight. The PEO you choose should have multiple levels of security in place to protect your company’s data. It should be able to explain the encryption, firewall, password protection, identity validation and other cybersecurity measures it takes. The PEO also should maintain and retain full control over its own cloud environment and multi-layered cloud security.
Further, the PEO should require its employees to undergo intensive security training and randomly test them afterward to ensure they’re meticulously following cybersecurity protocols.
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Of more than 900 PEOs in the United States, only about 90 have met the IRS requirements, which include a documented history of federal, state and local tax compliance, financial responsibility and organizational integrity.
The PEO you partner with will process payroll, manage your employee benefits, provide workers’ compensation coverage and handle numerous other financial and human resources tasks. If the PEO drops the ball or, even worse, goes out of business because it isn’t financially stable, the negative impact on your business and your employees could be enormous.
CPEOs have met the requirements of the industry’s most rigorous background check. The certified PEO designation assures your company that it will receive the highest-quality guidance, expertise and reliability.
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In your search, you will find that some PEOs are based locally and some in other states. Having a PEO partner that is nearby is a significant advantage.
A local business is founded or headquartered in your area. It focuses primarily on the area’s market, doing business with other local businesses or customers. A local business is not managed by a large, corporate entity headquartered in a different state or country.
Because working with a locally based PEO is a significantly better arrangement for small businesses, some national PEOs are jumping on the “local” bandwagon and marketing satellite sales offices as local. Unfortunately, when you partner with one of these PEOs, and an emergency comes up at your small business, you’ll be forced to call a toll-free customer service number and wait on hold in hopes the national customer service representative will be able to provide the help you need. That doesn’t feel local.
Here are a few more reasons why working with a local PEO is advantageous for small companies:
With a local PEO, small business owners are provided with their own dedicated consultants. Business owners and their employees can expect to speak with the same people every time they call or email, as opposed to a different customer service representative each time, reached through a toll-free number – or worse, accessed only via impersonal, complicated online forms. And if your employees have payroll and benefits questions, they can expect a timely response and a fast turnaround when you partner with a PEO partner that is local.
A local PEO’s close proximity means that if something urgent comes up at your workplace and you need expert guidance, the PEO’s team can show up quickly and in person. There’s no need for phone call after phone call. When the PEO’s experts are on site, you can directly explain and show what happened, providing the most accurate details to get the most effective guidance. Most of Axcet HR Solutions’ clients, for example, are within 100 miles of our office—a quick drive for us.
This nearness also means if businesses need help with onboarding, manager training, safety workshops or benefits enrollment, the PEO partner is able to offer these services live and in person. And let’s face it, in-person training is far more engaging and helpful than the online training typically offered by national PEOs.
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The U.S. Department of Labor administers and enforces more than 180 federal laws protecting workers. Additionally, each state and some municipalities have their own sets of employment laws. Employers must comply with all of these rules.
When business owners select a local PEO, they partner with a team of experts who are vigilant about staying on top of the complicated and constantly changing compliance laws at every level of government. This vigilance ensures that the PEO’s clients are prepared and compliant ahead of schedule.
Just as every company has its own unique culture, so does each city – as defined by its inhabitants, industries and cultural institutions. A local PEO has first-hand knowledge of the same local marketplace where your business operates. Its team of experts are on the ground with you, responding to hot local issues. In Kansas City, where Axcet HR Solutions is based, example of issues are medical marijuana in Missouri, Ban the Box in Kansas City and how to prepare your business for incoming severe Midwestern storms.
Although we're local, we are fully capable of providing full-service HR to our Kansas City metro clients with offices in other states. In fact, we process payroll for client employees in 37 states.
Axcet HR Solutions, founded by Jerry Diddle, has been Kansas City’s local PEO since 1988. Our team of highly tenured human resources, payroll and risk management professionals have focused exclusively on serving Kansas City and the surrounding region. There’s nothing quite like the personal connection of doing business with neighbors, the opportunity to call on our clients in person and the chance to build personal relationships. Check out this blog to find out more about our history.
When you are searching for a PEO partner, it’s important to also consider some of the less-tangible attributes to find your top choice – like how comfortable you feel talking to your reps, if it seems like they will be responsive and your confidence that they can quickly understand your business and your human resources needs. What it comes down to is partnering with a PEO that has your company’s interests at heart.
Axcet, a continuously certified PEO since 2017, the year the IRS certification program began, is here to help. Contact us today!
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