6 Best PEOs for Mid-Size Businesses
All companies experience change as they grow. From new processes to different leadership, adaptation is the key to survival when you begin to scale your business. If you own or manage a mid-size growth company, your HR needs have changed since the days when you had a minimal team and few options for delegating responsibilities. Now, you’re bringing in more revenue, you have more employees on your payroll, and maybe you’re opening additional locations or expanding to another state.
With that growth come new HR challenges. Payroll is more complicated, you have to spend more time recruiting and managing your larger workforce, and administrative work requires more of your time.
While many business owners consider PEOs to be an ideal solution for small businesses (and they are), the truth is that mid-size companies also greatly benefit from outsourcing their HR function to a PEO that specializes in their needs.
If you’re ready to outsource – or maybe you’re ready for a provider that offers more extensive services for your growing business – we’ll help you find the PEO that’s right for you.
A Note on Pricing: We did not include pricing in our evaluation because pricing varies greatly based on the needs of your business, your location, and other factors specific to each client. For more information on pricing, check out our comprehensive Insider’s Guide to PEO Costs.
ADP TotalSource
States: ADP operates in all fifty states.
What Makes Them Stand Out: With more than 700,000 clients across the globe, ADP is recognized around the world as a technology and product leader in the industry. Because they believe that integrity is everything, they are strongly commited to corporate social responsibility that contributes to a more ethical and inclusive society.
What We Like: ADP TotalSource is a certified PEO with a long history of quality service, and they can work with businesses in any state. They have a unique HR app marketplace (basically an app store) where you can pick and choose solutions that integrate with the ADP platform. For example, as your company grows beyond 50-100 employees, you may need a more robust learning management solution or a wellness app. You can purchase these directly from the marketplace and build your own customized HCM environment, and you can access everything from a single dashboard. You can also take advantage of employee assistance programs, training and development, health savings or flexible spending accounts, and expert risk management.
Justworks
States: Justworks operates in all fifty states.
What Makes Them Stand Out: Justworks offers a simple, clean, user-friendly platform to handle your payroll, HR, benefits, and compliance needs. They also offer a transparent pricing model that makes it easy to budget, compare costs, and choose the best plan for your company.
What We Like: Justworks has designed a modern, sleek, technology-first HR solution that employees love. It is easy to navigate and highly adoptable. Because they have developed a proprietary software platform from the ground up, they can address the specific challenges their clients face with simple, user-friendly solutions. The software is easy for new hires to learn quickly, and the interface helps employees find what they need quickly and intuitively.
We also love the straightforward, clear pricing structure. You can compare plans easily, browse available add-ons, and choose the plan that fits both your budget and requirements. Justworks provides a detailed overview that makes it easy to choose the right plan for your business.
Vensure Employer Services
States: Vensure Employer Services operates in all fifty states.
What Makes Them Stand Out: Vensure Employer Services supports more than 250,000 worksite employees nationwide. With cutting edge technology and end-to-end solutions, they help each client design a customized solution, and they work with businesses of all sizes. This company is one of the nation’s largest and fastest-growing PEOs.
What We Like: Vensure offers industry-specific HR solutions for those in the restaurant, construction, education and government, staffing, manufacturing, financial, retail, healthcare, and non-profit sectors. This tailored approach is a huge benefit for business owners or managers who need more in-depth assistance with issues specific to their industry. We love the user-friendly Client Center where you can find all the documents and forms you need plus state-specific enrollment packets, all available in both English and Spanish versions. Their training offerings include OSHA-approved training courses (both 10-hour and 30-hour formats available) with Vensure's standard two-day delivery format.
Vensure also offers a Benefits Marketplace with plenty of options like identity theft protection, telehealth, proactive health management, and paychecks on demand. If you want to maintain your own workers’ compensation and loss control program, Vensure offers a carve-out option so you can still enjoy all the other benefits of the PEO relationship.
Paychex
States: Paychex operates in all fifty states.
What Makes Them Stand Out: Paychex is a company that has been in business for over 51 years and they are recognized experts in human resources management. Together, their solutions combine to give you a customized Human Resources Information System (HRIS), which is SOC 2 certified.
What We Like: Paychex matches each client with a dedicated service team. This means you can build relationships with your service providers, they get to know your business, and they can provide more personalized service. There is no minimum number of employees required, which means you can start with Paychex when you first open your doors and continue scaling your business over time without changing providers.
The integrated HRIS system provides secure access to all HR information, including payroll data, benefits information, forms, employee data, and more. With more than 6,000 books, courses, and training resources available in their online library, Paychex has one of the most extensive training resources you'll find among comparable PEO providers.
Paychex offers a flexible fee solution that allows you to choose between a 'flat fee per employee' or a 'percentage of payroll' structure.
XcelHR
States: XcelHR operates in all fifty states.
What Makes Them Stand Out: With core values like integrity, respect, and excellence, XcelHR is committed to providing best-in-class solutions. They have been in business for 25 years helping small businesses streamline their HR needs and attract quality talent.
What We Like: XcelHR believes that HR should create value by supporting people. They stand behind this value with strong service offerings and flexibility. They will work with businesses of any size, from those just starting out with one or two employees up to large, established companies with hundreds of employees. You can also choose which services and features you want to add beyond basic payroll and HR. If you are already satisfied with your health benefits or workers' compensation policy, for example, you can carve those out and pay only for what you need.
XcelHR also offers an ASO arrangement if you want to retain a little more independence. The ASO model is not a co-employment relationship, and does not sponsor benefit programs or workers’ compensation coverage. However, it does provide all of the same HR administration services as a PEO. Xcel also offers Free HR Audits to all US-based businesses.
FrankCrum
States: FrankCrum is licensed to operate in all 50 states.
What Makes Them Stand Out: FrankCrum is a family-owned company that has served small and midsize businesses with PEO services for almost 40 years. They are a leader in the industry, and they work with clients to develop a tailored solution for every need. Because they have their own worker's compensation insurance carrier, Frank Winston Crum Insurance, they can offer clients exceptional rates with no down payment and a convenient pay-as-you-go program. They also have a proprietary technology platform built in-house with the specific needs of the PEO partnership in mind.
What We Like: FrankCrum's cloud-based HRIS offers full functionality including a flexible system, in-depth reporting, a user-friendly interface, and a breadth of capabilities rivaling many standalone HRIS software products. The platform offers full mobile functionality and 24/7 remote access, as well as an extensive library of HR and Safety resources. They also have a team of technical experts who can create Safety Management programs tailored to the needs of your business, and they offer on-site safety and risk management reviews to identify any potential hazards.
FrankCrum offers Fortune-500-caliber benefits through 125 different plans, including credit union and discount plans, as well as complete benefits administration.
Which PEO Is Right For You?
Which PEO is best for your mid-size business? It all depends on your specific needs and business goals.
Our PEO matching tool uses targeted survey questions to pinpoint your unique requirements and match you to a customized short list of vendors – and it only takes about 10 minutes of your time. It’s the fastest way to find the perfect PEO for your business.
Click below to start your survey!
