What Are PEO Payroll Services?

Today’s businesses are exploring more efficient ways to operate. Leaner workforces and automation are part of that streamlined equation. But what about PEO payroll services? More companies today, large and small, are turning to a PEO for a  payroll service partnership, and for good reason. There are cost and time-saving benefits that translate to improved competitive advantage. If you’ve been considering a better payroll solution for your company, keep reading. We’ll highlight what you can expect from a PEO payroll services partner.

PEO Payroll Services, Defined

Payroll processing involves complex responsibilities for you and your teams. With every new hire, you have to tackle those same tasks again, including onboarding documentation, payroll calculations, employee tax deductions, and managing overtime pay. And that’s just the start. Pre-tax and post-tax deductions, shift differentials, and wage garnishments only complicate payroll processing, as do the onset of ever-changing FLSA regulations and compliance guidelines. It’s common for small businesses to struggle with the challenging operations associated with even the most basic of payroll processing functions. This is where PEO payroll services come into play.

When you work with a PEO for your payroll services, you can alleviate the time-consuming and complicated oversight payroll processing requires. Unlike other solutions, including payroll software providers and third-party payroll providers, a PEO payroll service is more advantageous because it provides an affordable, reliable, and more comprehensive HR and payroll solution.

Using a PEO like HCC can reduce your responsibility for payroll operations. As a more comprehensive HR solution, a PEO-based partnership for payroll includes risk management, compliance, employee support, HR administration, benefits administration, and compliant payroll processing. You’ll benefit from saving stress, time, and resources with a PEO service provider working for your business.

Core Advantages of PEO Payroll Services

There are both obvious and subtle advantages to leveraging the PEO payroll approach. The more obvious benefits include saving time and reducing stress for your team. How much time each pay period do you or your payroll processing team spend resolving hours worked discrepancies, calculating and depositing taxes, or reconciling deduction amounts for benefit and retirement plan vendors? A PEO payroll provider can take over those time-consuming efforts, allowing you and your teams to focus on core competencies.

Here are other added benefits and core advantages that might reinforce your decision to work with a PEO.

Compliance: A PEO payroll partner can ensure compliance, helping to reduce stress and associated costs with risks and payroll violations or miscalculations. Tax filings/deposits, employee exempt/non-exempt classifications, and benefit vendor payments are all handled by your PEO payroll provider.

Data Security: Whatever systems or processes you’re using now could be wrought with data security risks. Working with a PEO payroll provider means leveraging more robust security regarding your employees’ private information. This reduces exposure for both your employees and for the organization.  

Technology: Because PEO payroll providers invest in the latest innovative solutions and technologies for secure payroll processing, you can expect easy access to information for employees and a single platform to maintain all relevant employee information.  

Employee Satisfaction: PEO payroll service providers will ensure employee communication is transparent and efficient, along with error-free payroll processing. When your employees feel confident about the accuracy of their pay and benefits, they have better job satisfaction and loyalty.

Competitive Advantage: Remove tedious and time-consuming steps from your teams’ responsibilities. Help them stay focused on what you hired them to do in the first place. This keeps team members more engaged and leads to better overall efficiency for your organization. Truly a competitive advantage.  

How PEOs Facilitate Payroll Services

When you work with a PEO for payroll services, you can expect certain deliverables and results.  For example, a good PEO partner will provide a simple way for employees to view their available PTO, apply for time off, and automatically notify the correct manager when requests are submitted. They can help you enroll in group workers’ compensation coverage. This gives you access to competitive rates and assistance with any claim situations that come up for your employees.

Just as importantly, the PEO pay-as-you-go approach means you can avoid the frustration of owing additional premium dollars when annual audit time rolls around.  Premiums are paid in real-time, which avoids the need for the traditional audit and subsequent settle-up most companies are used to. Finally, working with a certified PEO (CPEO) means you won’t have to worry about IRS liabilities for miscalculations or missed payments. This provides a substantial firewall between your organization and payroll tax liability.  

How to Find the Right Partner for PEO Payroll Services

If you’re ready to start exploring a PEO partnership that includes payroll services, it’s important to know that not all PEOs are alike. There are various PEO  providers offering different suites of services that may or may not be applicable to your business. The best advice is to start by auditing your business processes and creating a list of payroll, HR, and risk management needs that make sense for you.

From there, you can begin evaluating PEO providers for a best-fit service. Only pursue those with the services you need, both immediately and long term. Most importantly, be sure to verify the PEO payroll provider is IRS-certified PEO. Additionally, you’ll want to be sure that any provider you select to partner with has the expertise needed for efficient and accurate payroll processing, as well as processes to ensure compliance with employment laws.

Explore all the available services a PEO provides, which may include:

• Benefits Administration
• Insurance Plans & COBRA
• OSHA Compliant Safety Programs
• HR Administration
• Risk Management
• Workers’ Compensation
• Tax Compliance
• Payroll Administration & Processing

Before working with any PEO payroll service provider, ask for and follow up with references. Know if the company works with other brands that occupy your industry segment. Does the company service organizations of similar size and scope?

Take advantage of all that a PEO partnership has to offer, including payroll services and more. Contact HCC  to discuss your company’s current payroll processing and let our teams help you simplify being an employer!