What Is a PEO and How Can It Benefit Your Business?

As your business grows, so does the complexity of managing your workforce. From HR compliance and payroll to employee benefits and risk management, the administrative load can quickly pull your focus away from what you do best – running and growing your business. That’s where a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) comes in.

If you’ve heard the term but aren’t quite sure what a PEO does, or how it could benefit your company, this post is for you.

What Is a PEO? 

A Professional Employer Organization is a third-party outsourced provider that manages HR, employee benefits, payroll and tax administration, insurance, workers’ compensation and other administrative functions for SMBs.

By entering into a co-employment relationship, the PEO becomes the employer of record for tax and insurance purposes. This partnership gives SMBs access to high-quality HR services and benefits that are typically reserved for larger companies, all without the overhead of building an internal HR team. You can read more here about what a PEO is (and isn’t).

What Services Do PEOs Provide?

PEOs can manage a wide range of employee-related tasks, including:

• Payroll and tax administration
• Employee benefits management
• HR compliance and risk mitigation
• Workers’ compensation
• Recruitment support and onboarding
• Employee training and development
• Regulatory compliance (federal, state and local)

How Partnering with a PEO Benefits Your SMB

One of the biggest benefits of engaging a PEO partner is improved business efficiency. Because you are outsourcing tasks, in-house staff now has time to focus on their areas of expertise. Here are some other noteworthy benefits:

• You save time (and this means you can focus on growth) – By offloading time-consuming administrative tasks, you and your team gain more time to focus on strategic priorities like growing your customer base, improving operations or developing new products.

• You gain access to big-business benefits – PEOs pool employees from multiple client companies, and this gives them buying power that’s on par with large corporations. This means you can offer your employees access to top-tier health insurance, retirement plans and other benefits that would otherwise be unaffordable.

• You ensure compliance and reduce risk – Employment laws are constantly evolving, and non-compliance can be costly. A PEO helps ensure you’re in compliance with wage laws, tax regulations and more.

• You improve operational efficiency – PEOs provide streamlined processes for payroll, benefits and employee management and come with advanced technology and dedicated support so your internal operations run more smoothly.

• You set your business up for scalable growth – Whether you’re adding five employees or 50, a PEO can scale with you.

Call Us at The OIS Group with Questions

If you’re unsure whether a PEO is right for your SMB, just come talk to us at The OIS Group. We take a holistic approach to understand your needs, so you can save time and obtain cost-effective results. We’ll conduct a full review free of charge to see how we can best help you grow.