Frequently Asked Questions About PEO Consultants
Find the answers to critical questions about your PEO needs and our ability to find you the best and most cost effective solution for your business
The Most Common Questions About A PEO Solution
PEOs deliver the most value for:
- Small to mid-sized businesses (5-500 employees) who need professional HR infrastructure but can’t justify the cost of a full internal HR department.
- Fast-growing companies adding employees quickly who need scalable HR systems without the time and expense of building internal capacity.
- High-compliance industries like construction, healthcare, or manufacturing where regulatory requirements demand specialized expertise.
- Businesses frustrated with benefits costs who can leverage the PEO’s larger group purchasing power to offer better insurance at lower rates.
- Multi-state operations that need help managing different state employment laws, tax requirements, and compliance standards.
- Owners who want to focus on their business instead of HR paperwork, compliance updates, and administrative tasks.
PEOs typically don’t make sense for very small businesses (under 5 employees), companies with established and efficient in-house HR teams, or organizations requiring highly specialized or customized benefits programs.
Not sure if a PEO is right for you? We analyze your current HR costs, compliance risks, and growth plans to give you an objective recommendation—even if that means a PEO isn’t the best fit for your situation.
PEO pricing follows two main models:
Percentage of payroll: Typically 2-12% of gross payroll, with most businesses paying 3-8%. Smaller companies usually see higher percentages.
Per-employee-per-month (PEPM): $40-$200+ per employee monthly, varying based on:
- Your employee count (more employees = lower per-employee rates)
- Services you need
- Your industry and risk profile
- Your location
- Benefits selections
Real-world examples:
- A 10-employee company with $500K annual payroll: $15,000-$40,000 annually in PEO fees
- A 50-employee company with $2.5M annual payroll: $75,000-$150,000 annually in PEO fees
- Important: These fees cover PEO services only. The actual cost of benefits (health insurance premiums, etc.) is additional and passed through at the rates the PEO secures.
We help you get accurate quotes and compare them against your current HR costs to see the real impact on your bottom line.
PEOs operate on transparent revenue models:
- Service fees – Most charge either a percentage of total payroll (typically 2-12%) or a flat per-employee-per-month fee ranging from $40-$200+ based on the services you need.
- Benefits administration – While PEOs negotiate better group insurance rates due to their larger employee pools, there’s typically a markup when those costs are passed to clients.
- Workers’ compensation premiums – PEOs secure volume discounts with insurance carriers and may include a margin in what you pay.
- Operational efficiency – By serving multiple clients through shared technology and standardized processes, PEOs achieve economies of scale that make their fee structure sustainable.
- Interest on float – Brief holds on payroll funds between funding and distribution can generate modest interest income.
While there isn’t one standard classification system, PEOs differ in several important ways:
By certification status:
- Certified PEOs (CPEOs) have earned IRS certification by meeting specific financial and operational standards
- Non-certified PEOs provide similar services but haven’t pursued CPEO status
By service approach:
- Full-service PEOs offer comprehensive HR outsourcing including payroll, benefits, compliance, and risk management
- Administrative Service Organizations (ASOs) provide similar services without the co-employment relationship
By client size:
- Small business PEOs specialize in companies with 5-50 employees
- Mid-market PEOs focus on businesses with 50-500 employees
- Enterprise PEOs serve organizations with 500+ employees
A Professional Employer Organization (PEO) handles your HR heavy lifting through a co-employment partnership. When you work with a PEO, you get:
- Payroll processing and tax administration – We manage employee paychecks, tax withholdings, and all quarterly and annual tax filings so you don’t have to worry about IRS deadlines or penalties
- Employee benefits administration – Your team gains access to enterprise-level health insurance, retirement plans, and benefits packages that small businesses typically can’t access on their own
- Workers’ compensation insurance – Complete coverage and claims management to protect your business and employees
- HR compliance support – Expert guidance navigating federal and state employment laws including FMLA, ADA, and OSHA requirements
- Risk management – Workplace safety programs and unemployment claims administration that reduce your liability
- HR technology platforms – Modern software for time tracking, benefits enrollment, and employee self-service that your team can access 24/7
The specific services depend on your business needs and the plan that makes sense for your situation.
Why Work With PEO Consultants?
We’re with you from contract signing through implementation and beyond. Consider us your advocate for the entire life of your PEO partnership, not just through the initial sale.
Zero. Our PEO partners compensate us, so you get expert guidance and industry insights at no charge. No quotas. No pressure.
No. Because we represent multiple providers, we can tell you the truth. Sometimes the best option is a smaller PEO you’ve never heard of. Other times, it’s staying with your current provider if that’s genuinely what’s best. We don’t get paid unless you win.
We deliver apples-to-apples cost breakdowns across all quotes, making it easy to see exactly what you’re getting and where the savings are. Our side-by-side comparisons eliminate the confusion of trying to compare different proposal formats on your own.
No. Submit your information once through our streamlined RFP form. We handle outreach to multiple providers so you don’t waste time repeating yourself across multiple sales calls.
We start by listening. No cookie-cutter solutions or hard sells—just tailored PEO options based on what matters most to your business. Your needs drive our recommendations, not commission structures or vendor relationships.
The PEO Consultants Process
Unlike most brokers who disappear after the sale, we manage your entire implementation process—coordinating with your current payroll provider, handling employee onboarding, ensuring data transfers don’t create compliance gaps, and troubleshooting tech integration issues. We stay with you for renewals, review pricing to make sure it still makes sense, and hold your PEO accountable if service quality drops. If you want to explore other options down the road, we’ll run another market analysis at no cost. Consider us your insurance policy against bad PEO service.
We work with a network of trusted PEO providers, but we’re not tied to any specific companies. Because we represent multiple providers, we can give you unbiased recommendations—even if that means less commission for us. Sometimes the best option is a smaller PEO you’ve never heard of. Other times, it’s a well-known provider. We match you with PEOs based on your business needs, not who pays us the highest commission.
We have a real conversation with you—not a sales pitch. We look at your current payroll setup, health insurance costs, workers’ comp rates, compliance challenges specific to your industry or state, and any premium services you’re considering. This isn’t a generic questionnaire. We dig into what’s actually working and what’s not, so we can identify the right PEO solutions for your specific situation. Think of it as a diagnostic, not a sales call.
Since 2012, our clients have saved over $5.2 million in PEO costs. The average client saves around 30% compared to what they were paying—or what they would have paid going direct to a PEO sales rep. We identify cost reductions in areas like health insurance premiums, workers’ comp rates, and administrative fees that 80% of business owners didn’t know were negotiable. However, every business situation is different, and sometimes staying with your current provider is the best move.
Most PEO brokers operate on a “spray and pray” model—they collect your information, send it to multiple providers, hand you a stack of quotes, and disappear after collecting their commission. We take a different approach. We conduct a thorough analysis of your specific needs, submit targeted RFPs only to providers that match your business, create clear side-by-side comparisons that expose hidden fees, and stay with you through implementation and beyond. We’re focused on getting it right the first time, not just making a quick sale.
What Makes PEO Consultants Different
Unlike most brokers who disappear after the sale, we provide lifetime support and advocacy. We’re there through implementation, helping with the transition, employee onboarding, and any technical issues. When renewal time comes, we review pricing to ensure it still makes sense. If your PEO drops the ball or service quality declines, we step in and hold them accountable. Think of us as your insurance policy against bad PEO service—we’re with you for the long haul, not just the initial placement.
We start with real conversations—not generic questionnaires. We discuss what’s working, what’s not, and where you want to be. We examine your payroll setup, health insurance costs, workers’ comp rates, compliance challenges, and any premium services you’re considering. Then you provide your information once, and we handle the rest—shopping it to our network of trusted PEO partners and managing all vendor communications. No more repeating yourself to five different sales reps or dealing with multiple follow-up calls.
Since 2012, we’ve helped clients save over $5.2 million in PEO costs, with average savings around 30% per client compared to going directly to a PEO sales rep. We identify substantial cost reductions 80% of the time in areas like health insurance premiums, workers’ comp rates, or administrative fees that business owners didn’t know were negotiable. We’ve also helped 2,898 employees access better benefits. However, every situation is different—sometimes the best recommendation is staying with your current provider if that’s genuinely what’s best for you.
You’ll work with a dedicated team of three professionals. Chris Peterson, our Founder & President, brings over a decade of PEO marketplace expertise and an Industrial Engineering background focused on eliminating waste and building better solutions. Bill Dyrenforth, Senior Consultant, has more than ten years in the PEO and HR technology space and manages your full client lifecycle from analysis through implementation. Mallory Kingsbury, Senior Analyst, dissects every proposal line-by-line with her financial analysis background and MBA to find hidden fees and break down confusing benefit structures.
Most PEO brokers operate on a “spray and pray” model—they gather your info, blast it to 10 providers, send you quotes, and collect their commission. We built a different approach. Our team conducts thorough analyses of your specific situation, manages a streamlined RFP process so you only provide information once, and creates clear side-by-side comparisons that expose hidden fees and coverage differences. We stay with you through implementation, renewals, and any service issues. Our priority is finding the right PEO fit for your business, not just making a quick sale.
Case Studies
We analyze your current benefits arrangement against multiple PEO providers and open market insurance options, comparing plan designs, provider networks, administrative costs, and total cost structures. You receive a comprehensive marketplace analysis showing where your current arrangement stands and what alternatives exist, presented in an easy-to-understand format.
We recommend whatever delivers the best value. Some clients save significantly by moving from open market to a PEO, others achieve better results leaving their PEO for traditional insurance, and some discover their current PEO already outperforms alternatives. Our marketplace analysis includes both PEO providers and open market options.
PEO sales representatives promote their single solution regardless of fit. As independent PEO marketplace experts, we compare your current arrangement against multiple PEO providers and open market insurance alternatives to identify what genuinely serves your needs best. We have no financial incentive to recommend one solution over another.
Documented results include 17% savings for a non-profit organization, 22% combined medical and workers compensation savings for a marketing company, $264,000 in annual reductions for an oil & gas company, and 26% savings for an architecture firm. Actual savings depend on your current arrangement, industry, employee count, and claims history.
Not every evaluation results in switching. We’ve validated that some clients’ current PEO arrangements already deliver best-in-market value. Our objective analysis helps you make informed decisions—whether that means changing providers or staying put with confidence and documented proof for future negotiations.
