Best PEO for Small Businesses

Many small business owners may believe that their company is too small to need or hire a PEO. That, however, is untrue. While professional employer organizations offer their services to businesses of any size, small businesses can perhaps benefit the most for many reasons.

PEOs are often disregarded by small businesses due to the misconception of being too expensive. In fact, PEOs should be considered as an investment to small businesses as they will save them lots of money in the long run and increase their profitability as their business operations get handled more professionally and efficiently.

When a small business hires a PEO, the PEO will assume responsibility for the operations of its services and ultimately reduce any liability and compliance violations. Here are some of the services that would benefit small businesses, provided by professional employer organizations.

PEO Services for Small Businesses

1. Payroll and tax administration

Small businesses may not have a full in-house payroll department; they might still perform their payroll operations manually and be lost in all the paperwork. A PEO will connect such businesses with a payroll expert that will review their operations and provide them with the knowledge and expertise to simplify their payroll and help them stay compliant.

Small or startup businesses may also not be familiar with all tax laws and regulations regarding employee wages and hiring. A PEO will ensure they gain all the right information regarding such laws and help the business file their tax forms and payments.
 

2. HR services

As small businesses aim to grow and hire more employees, a PEO can provide them with all the guidance they need for HR services and recruitment. The best PEOs offer a full suite of administrative HR outsourcing functions; such functions, guidance, and services can include the following:

• Employee handbooks
• Hiring policies
• Interviewing
• Screening and background checks
• Discipline and termination
• HR needs assessments

3. Employee benefits and administration

The best PEO companies are partners with most top insurance carriers, allowing them to provide their client businesses with top-tier benefits plans that they otherwise could not afford. This proves to be most beneficial for small businesses, as they provide satisfying benefits for their employees so they can retain their best talents and help attract more.

Such employee benefits and administration services include the following:

• Benefit administration consulting services
• Life insurance
• Health insurance
• Coordination of benefit renewals
• Home and Auto insurance discounts
• Pet insurance and pet health discounts
• And much more!

4. Workers' compensation and risk management

A PEO can help small businesses create a safe workplace and safety culture that complies with laws and regulations. PEOs can offer safety-training resources, drug-free workplace programs, return to work programs, and much more.

Some PEOs also offer a pay-as-you-go workers' compensation model, which allows you to pay premiums based on your actual payroll and exposure risks. This is immensely beneficial for small businesses that do not have a stable budgeted payroll for the year.
 

5. Integrated technology

A small business may still run its operations manually and get lost in the hefty paperwork. A PEO can provide them with a variety of technological solutions and software that can digitalize and streamline their operations.

Such software solutions can include:

• Payroll software
• HR software
• Time tracking and attendance
• Online benefits administration portal
• Advanced reporting
• Tax administration
• Employee self-service portal
   

Best PEO for Small Businesses

These are only some of the services that PEOs can benefit small businesses with. The best PEO companies can offer so much more. So to save you from the hassle of researching through the hundreds of PEO companies in the U.S, we will provide you with our top three recommendations and the services they offer, so you can choose the one that fits your business needs best.
 

1. Paychex

Paychex is a payroll software giant in the industry, which also offers top-notch PEO services to businesses of any size, and small businesses will find their services unbeatable. As a PEO, Paychex will provide you with extensive HR guidance, in addition to the following:

• Payroll Processing
• Employee Benefits and Administration
• HR Services
• Time and Attendance
• Business Insurance
• Learning Management System and Training
• Risk Management
• Employee Performance Management

Paychex does not publicly disclose its PEO prices as it will customize the pricing according to your business's size and needs, but it does offer three subscriptions for its payroll software, which will be offered as part of its PEO services. Payroll software plans are:

Paychex Flex Essentials - $39/month, + $5 per employee

Paychex Flex Select – Quote-based

Paychex Flex Pro – Quote-based

Each plan comes with a set of features and capabilities; read our full Paychex payroll review to know more about its features.

2. BBSI

For our second recommendation, we offer you BBSI. BBSI is an accredited ESAC professional employer organization, which means it earned the golden standard in the industry for its legitimate services. BBSI will provide you with a variety of comprehensive services, some of which include:

• Business Strategy Development
• Human Resources
• Payroll Administration
• Retirement Benefits
• Risk and Safety
• Staffing and Recruiting
• Technology Solutions
• Workers' Compensation

BBSI will also customize its PEO prices for your company's size and needs. You can reach their team by phone at 1-800-494-5669 or by submitting a form on their Contact Us page.

3. Justworks

As for our last recommendation for one of the best PEO companies, we present you with Justworks. Justworks also acts as a standalone payroll software provider and accompanies its multi-functional software with its PEO services. Some of its PEO services include the following:

• Hiring and onboarding for remote teams
• Automation and employee self-service
• Payroll and taxes
• Benefits administration
• Software integrations
• Contractor payment
• Employment Practices Liability Insurance

Justworks offers flexible plans and prices for each company depending on their number of employees. The plans we present you are great for small businesses with 25-99 employees:

Basic plan: starts at $44/month/employee

This plan comes with Payroll services, Benefits, HR tools, and Compliance.

Plus plan: starts at $89/month/employee

This plan packs everything in the Basic plan, plus access to Medical, Dental, and Vision health insurance plans.