It can be extremely difficult balancing time to make sure that your business is functioning and thriving while also handling HR tasks and payroll administration. These tasks can quickly overwhelm managers and owners who often have other crises on their plate, reducing productivity and the profit margin.

A PEO is likely the best solution for your business, allowing you to outsource these tasks. Each PEO is different and best suited for different companies, and one of the top options on the market is CoAdvantage, a longstanding market competitor with excellent data collection options. Is it the right option for your business? You can read our review below to find out:

General Overview

With over 4500 clients spread throughout all 50 states and based primarily in Florida (with locations in 5 other states), CoAdvantage, which is a company under Morgan Stanley Capital Partner’s umbrella, serves over 90,000 employees and has been working with clients for almost 30 years.

Ranked as one of the fastest growing PEO companies, CoAdvantage is easily climbing the rankings as a PEO to watch, especially in some of its major operational regions. This is due to a dedication to improving its service, expanding while nonetheless making sure that current clients are a top priority.

This is in conjunction with the use of performance management and hiring tools that put CoAdvantage ahead of the pack, and this embrace of technology puts CoAdvantage into the future. Should CoAdvantage keep up with necessary trends in employer needs while providing a high standard of other benefits for businesses, we can expect CoAdvantage to make further waves.

Features

 

Service and Experience

• Payroll processing services. Like any PEO service provider, CoAdvantage can provide the full range of payroll processing services, including direct deposits, garnishment processing, report-filing and tax compliance, and everything else one would expect. Your company won’t be found wanting for additional payroll services.
• Customer service options. CoAdvantage is dedicated to customer service as a pillar of their business model, so one can expect to find a more dedicated and available team than usual. That being noted, CoAdvantage is still integrating with some recent acquisitions, so customer service may be disjointed for the time being, but this is a temporary situation.
• Consolidated online portals for employers and employees. CoAdvantage has worked to create online portals for easier access to and modification of commonly needed information and tasks. With what they name their CoAd360 technology, they allow for payroll management, time tracking and management, employee updates and management, and a variety of other common HR tasks. They are available on multiple platforms and can keep your employees consistently informed.

 

Benefits and Perks

• Health, dental, and vision coverage. CoAdvantage provides a good range of health insurance options to clients. Comparable dental and vision coverage are also provided, proving to be an effective draw for the top talent your business needs. Of note is the variety of providers offered, ensuring employees will be able to find great health care regardless of your region. ACA compliance is there and any related filings are supported.
• Health advocate assistance. Client’s employees can seek assistance from professionals who will work to provide advice on matters such as paperwork, grievances, and arising issues. These professionals can also help people learn more about their benefits and clarify miscommunications, help people find the care they or family members need, and look into more intensive care options for people with disabilities.
• Additional benefits. CoAdvantage provides access to additional benefits such as life insurance, disability insurance (both long and short-term), accidental insurance, and flexible spending accounts. Commuter benefits are also available.
• 401(k) plans. CoAdvantage partners with MassMutual to provide client companies with 401(k) plans at little to no cost to your business, making it a great way to attract new talent.

 

Compliance and Risk-Management

• A dedicated compliance team. CoAdvantage employs a dedicated compliance team comprised on experts in order to more easily navigate often complicated regulations. EEOC and OSHA administration assistance is provided, and the team will work to turn often obscure laws into practicable policies to keep your company above board.
• Payroll tracking and compliance. CoAdvantage’s time tracking tools (which also will serve to help you better manage your employees and prevent time theft) will work to keep your employees on the right track and easily-managed, also making sure that you are keeping within the bounds of any regulations by employers.
• Risk-management and liability management. CoAdvantage will similarly work with you to keep you shielded from unnecessary litigation and financial harm. Employment practices liability insurance is available, and safety programs and consultants can be made available to shore up any potential weaknesses in your workplace. Workers compensation coverage is provided, and CoAdvantage will work with you through any claims that arise.
• Unemployment claims administration and management. Should an unemployment claim arise, CoAdvantage will work with your business, removing potential waste and allowing your company to continue unhindered.

Information and Management Tools

• High-quality recruitment services. One of CoAdvantage’s specialties, the service has reviewed and optimized every step of the hiring process in order to make sure that costs are minimized and you get access to the best pool of candidates possible. Owners or managers can set up a perfect job description with an expert who will work with you to craft and then post the best descriptions.
• Pre-employment assessments and screening. On a very closely related note, CoAdvantage has pre-employment screening and assessments available to its clients, including skills testing and in-depth screening to rule out the candidates that simply won’t be a good fit for your business, allowing you more resources to make the perfect decision.
• Drug-free workplace program assistance. To help with screening and ongoing screening, CoAdvantage can work with you to provide random drug testing and screenings, as well as work to create policies that aid to this end.
• Employee training and onboarding. CoAdvantage offers employee training and onboarding opportunities for its clients, including working on employee handbooks with you to tailor the company environment to your needs. The online library of resources is extensive and generally covers HR, compliance, and management topics.
• Detailed reports. CoAdvantage, through its tools and information collecting, can provide detailed and easy-to-read reports on a variety of topics in order to allow you to make better management decisions.

 

Main Takeaways

 

Pros

• The best team building services on the market. Due to its information gathering abilities and employee screening capabilities, along with its recruitment services, CoAdvantage has excellent team building capabilities, and will help you find just the employee or employees you’re looking for.
• Great information services and management. CoAdvantage will provide you with more information and analysis through its online platforms and tools than most of its competitors, making decision making easier than ever. We were impressed with the reporting system and the stats immediately available to clients and managers. You won’t miss a beat with CoAdvantage.
• The full variety of payroll processing options. CoAdvantage will easily handle any payroll task you throw at it, allowing you to focus on other tasks at hand. While this is standard, we were impressed with the range of services and coverage provided by the service.
• Great onboarding and transition. We noticed a positive trend and good reports of the onboarding and transitioning process from clients, making CoAdvantage a good choice if you are looking to change over from a previous PEO service.
• A growth company. While in some ways CoAdvantage’s growth can bring disadvantages, the service is consistently bringing in new services and developing new solutions under its umbrella, ensuring that it will grow along with your company’s needs.

Cons

• Interdepartmental communication is limited. Based on our inspection of reports and reviews from current and former employees, there is a clear trend of a lack of interdepartmental communication. This may eventually prove to be a problem for your business should you need specialized services or run into an issue.
• Adjusting to recent acquisitions. Due to CoAdvantage being one of the most rapidly growing companies in the business, they have made a series of rapid acquisitions to that effect. This could mean more changes and relatively instability when compared to other services. This will become less of a factor as time goes on, but currently owners should be aware.
• Average features in many areas. While the information services are unmatched, many of the other services or features offered by CoAdvantage can generally be considered simply par for the industry. Businesses that have other priorities in mind will want to look at another PEO service provider.
• A lack of industry specific options. While CoAdvantage will help your business manage risk and handle compliance to the best of their ability, there is a lack of industry specific service packages and options often provided by other PEO service companies. This should give pause to owners of businesses in specialized or highly regulated sectors of industry.
• Exceptionally focused on growth. An alarming trend we noticed from customer and employee complaints was that the business was focused on growth to the detriment to the company, not allowing for stabilization or a review of services or the client base. Depending on how CoAdvantage management addresses this issue, quality control could become an issue or additional problems could arise.

What Businesses Is CoAdvantage Best For?

Businesses near its major operational centers: While it operates all over the country, CoAdvantage has a stellar reputation near its operational centers in New York City, Texas, and Florida, even going so far as to win awards in the regions. If your business is located in one of those states, you should give CoAdvantage a closer look.

Businesses looking to recruit additional team members soon: Considering its recruitment and productivity tools, CoAdvantage is a great tool for businesses that need to expand or build new teams. We understand how difficult that can be, and a specialized service is invaluable in such efforts.

Businesses with owners looking for excellent management and productivity tracking tools: As mentioned before, where CoAdvantage shines when compared to other services is its use of productivity tools and ability to allow you or a manager to get a clearer view of your business. You won’t find better tools to do so at a reasonable cost.

Businesses ok with a rapidly growing company: The business’ rapid growth informs most of our review, and for good reason. While benefits and perks come with this fact, you as an owner might not be ok with the relative instability involved.

Businesses that don’t need exceptional or specialized benefits: CoAdvantage’s strength, unfortunately, does not lie in its retirement options or in exceptional benefit offerings. While the health benefits are sufficient and wide-ranging, the lack of specialized benefits other PEO services offer means you might need to look elsewhere if you are searching for the best benefits.

CoAdvantage Competitors

 

• Insperity

• Oasis Outsourcing

• TriNet

• JustWorks

• Engage PEO

 

Conclusion

If you value information and high quality services, CoAdvantage might just be the best PEO for your business. Other services may work better for your company based on your needs if you need a more specialized service or benefits, but CoAdvantage clearly places itself on the same level as some of the country’s top services.

Do you have any experience working with CoAdvantage? Has your company been aided by their services? If you have a story to share, please leave a comment below and join the conversation with us.