It’s entirely possible that HR, payroll, and compliance tasks aren’t a concern for your business right now, but more likely than not they are a growing problem and a distraction for you and your managers. Fortunately, you can outsource these tasks to a PEO service provider while you focus on the actual management and improvement of your employees and the running of your business.

TriNet and Paychex PEO are two of the largest and most well-known services available for businesses like yours, but how do the two stack up? Read our thoughts on the matter below:

 

TriNet Overview

TriNet is a larger PEO services that works with over 15,000 clients, providing full-suite service packages that contain a mix of excellent benefits and strong tools to make sure that businesses are running to the best of their ability. The California-based business was founded in 1988 and has been growing rapidly over the course of the last two decades, in recent years focusing on proving more effective technological solutions and platforms.

You can consider TriNet to be a complete solution that will provide just about any standard service you can think of and a few more on top of that. It continues to leverage its influence and skill to improve services for its clients.

 

Standout Features:

• Service packages tailored to your business’ industry, ensuring quality support regardless of what business you have.
• Excellent benefits packages for your employees, ensuring higher retention rates and easier talent recruitment.
• Little commitment required, with clients only needing to provide 30-days notice to cancel.
• Uniform, nationwide service that works wonders for remote businesses and employees.
• A strong reputation in the industry and notable accreditation.
• Additional perks and discounts at major chains available for employees.

 

Weaknesses:

• Relatively expensive when compared to competitors.
• Potential difficulties when onboarding employees as noted by former clients.
• Your business will be required to get and pay for the full range of services, even if you’re unlikely to use them.
• A noteworthy incident in 2016 in which TriNet paid a $1 million fine for mishandling overtime pay.

To learn even more about TriNet, you can read our full review here.

 

Paychex PEO Overview

Managing one out of every twelve private sector employees, Paychex is a company that towers over nearly all other competitors, managing 12,000 employees of its own to provide services and support clients. This results in Paychex’s ability to provide more services than nearly any other service, to the extent that you might not realize some exist.

A stable business that certainly isn’t going anywhere, Paychex can be counted on to handle your tasks like clockwork and be on top of major issues before they become damaging.

 

Standout Features:

• Streamlined and easy-to-use payroll processing services.
• Clear and itemized pricing.
• Unique perks and opportunities such as getting direct business loans.
• Fantastic retirement planning options and management.
• Fantastic management tolls that will save you and your manager’s time, especially for medium and large businesses.
• Able to hire specialized experts in every field.

 

Weaknesses:

• A five-employee minimum to sign up with Paychex PEO
• A large company that might take time to fully adapt to new models and trends.
• Can be expensive when compared to other services.
• Fantastic in nearly every regard, but specialist PEO services will still win out against it in their area of expertise.

To learn even more about Paychex PEO, you can read our full review here.

 

Major Differences

Both excellent providers able to offer a wide variety of services for a premium cost, you’ll find that they have more similarities than differences. That being said, picking a service is not going to be as simple as a coin flip.

You can consider TriNet a bit leaner and in some ways more adaptive, but at the same time less flexible with the services you can get. Onboarding could be more difficult, but you won’t be working with a massive bureaucratic structure.

Paychex is the more stable company (although both are perfectly stable) and you can expect to get an even wider range of specialized services, but you might not want to need those services. There is also a five-employee minimum to consider.

 

Recommendations

Deciding on a PEO service isn’t as simple as choosing the objectively better choice, because there is no objectively better choice. Your business’ needs will be unique, so we suggest reviewing the points below and making your decision from there.

Your business should work with TriNet if:

 

• Your business is somewhat smaller than what Paychex PEO would be best for.
• You and your business can utilize the full suite of services provided.
• You would like industry-specific services or are in a heavily regulated industry.
• You would like to work with a relatively leaner company.

 

Your business should work with Paychex PEO if:

• You would like to or wouldn’t mind working with a massive organization.
• You would like to work with the business with
• You would like to customize your services and service package more than you could with TriNet.
• You own a medium or larger-sized business and can therefore take best advantage of what Paychex offers.

 

Conclusion

Whether you want a juggernaut like Paychex or a full-suite solution like TriNet working with your business, we hope this article has armed you with the knowledge necessary to make the right decision for your business. Remember to review your priorities and consider the next few years for your business before making your final choice.

Have you worked with either TriNet or Paychex PEO in the past? Do you have any additional thoughts, questions, or stories you would like to share? If so, please leave a comment below as we would love for you to join the conversation.