Are you on the right HR setup for your headcount?
Below 25 employees, in-house works fine. Above 100, you've usually outgrown the PEO. The middle is where the wrong setup quietly costs you tens of thousands a year — and where most growing businesses live.
What a hr & payroll engagement typically delivers.
- PEO vs ASO vs in-house comparison. Side-by-side analysis of your current setup against alternatives, with hard-dollar comparison.
- Benefits brokerage independence. Most benefits brokers haven't rebid your plan in years. We benchmark against the market.
- Payroll vendor optimization. ADP, Paychex, Gusto, Rippling — each is right for some businesses and overpriced for others. We'll tell you which.
- Compliance check. FLSA classifications, ACA reporting, state-by-state requirements — surfaced before they become problems.
What we check
- Current PEO vs ASO vs in-house cost per employee
- Health benefits plan design and renewal history
- Workers' comp experience modification factor
- Payroll software fees and add-on charges
- 401(k) provider fees (often hidden)
- FLSA classification accuracy
- Multi-state employment compliance
Composite figure across recent engagements. Your savings depend on current pricing and volume.
Hospitality group: $32K saved transitioning off a misfit PEO.
A 90-employee hospitality group had been on a single PEO for years without competitive bid. The PEO was right for them at 35 employees but had become expensive at 90. We modeled an ASO transition with a separate health benefits broker — same coverage, better technology, $32K less per year.
Our PEO was great when we were 30 people. By the time we were 90, we were paying double what an ASO would cost. No one told us until Brad ran the numbers.
Common questions on hr & payroll.
Are PEOs always overpriced?
No. Below ~30 employees, a PEO often makes sense — the bundled compliance and benefits buying power is hard to replicate. The misfit is usually 75–150 employees on a PEO designed for smaller firms.
Can you handle the transition?
Yes. PEO-to-ASO transitions have specific timing requirements (mid-year vs renewal) and we project-manage them end-to-end.
What about health benefits specifically?
Even if you stay on your current payroll setup, an independent benefits review at renewal is almost always worth it. We rebid plans and benchmark broker fees.
Do you handle compliance audits?
We do a high-level compliance check as part of the audit and flag issues. For deep audits or remediation we partner with employment law specialists — and we don't accept referral fees from them.
Worth 20 minutes to find out?
Discovery calls are free. Findings reports are free. You never pay Viking. The providers we place business with do.