Choosing a proper Colorado PEO (professional employer organization) can help your business grow, which is why the decision is so important.
The right PEO will lessen your workload, freeing you up to focus on other activities that typically get overlooked.
The wrong PEO will take up more of your time and money, leaving you without the energy or funds to make your company really thrive.
I’ve researched more than 900 different Colorado PEOs, then investigated the top 15 and ranked the top 9. This all led to my choosing the best Colorado PEO.
But before we get into that, there’s something you should know.
The Best PEO Isn’t Always the Right PEO
I spent countless hours researching more than 900 different Colorado PEO companies, and all this time and research allowed me to identify the best Colorado PEO company. But even though I put a lot of thought into how I ranked each company on this list, as well as choosing the top PEO on my list, that doesn’t mean the best overall PEO will be the right PEO for your Colorado business.
- Some PEO companies focus on specific industries and offer a slew of specialized services and benefits.
- Some PEO companies partner with insurance companies and therefore offer more insurance options and cheaper rates.
- Some PEO companies design their services around compliance, which means you’ll have all the tools you need to ensure your business meets state and federal legal requirements.
There’s only one way to find the right Colorado PEO company for your business, and that’s to compare your business needs to the services of each PEO. This will ensure that you don’t just get the best-scoring PEO in Colorado, but that you choose the best PEO for your business.
For a free analysis of your situation and business needs, as well as a personalized Colorado PEO recommendation, fill out the form below. I’ll contact you within 24 hours with your analysis and recommendation.
If you’d like generalized recommendations for the best Colorado PEO companies, keep reading.
1. Flexible PEO — 9.75/10 (Best Overall PEO)
Flexible PEO takes the #1 spot because of its strong all-around offering that comes with outstanding customer support. This is where Flexible just beat PEO Companies.
Pros
Flexible is a full-service Colorado PEO, which means they have a wide range of service offerings, including employee onboarding, health insurance, payroll processing, and assistance with tax forms.
They offer a competitive price, and it’s easy to get set up in their system.
There are some minor drawbacks to their services, but unlike PEO Companies they do have one service that stands out: their customer service.
I performed three separate customer service tests and the results were surprisingly positive. They replied back to emails within around 46 minutes, and they answered phone calls within 2 minutes.
Their customer service team isn’t just fast, they’re friendly and provide helpful solutions as well. They were able to effectively answer my questions and solve my problems without transferring me to someone else (if you’ve ever had to repeat your question multiple times to multiple people, then you know how annoying this can be), and I never had to talk to a manager.
Again, there are no personal touches added to their customer service (I haven’t received a birthday card), but that’s the only way they could improve their already stellar customer service.
Cons
Flexible is a bit more expensive than PEO Companies. When I called Flexible three times for quotes for my three fictional businesses, they ran around 10% higher than PEO Companies' rates.
Their system is a tad confusing at times, which led to me calling their customer support team.
These are small inconveniences, and if you’re looking for a Colorado PEO service that provides you with excellent customer service, Flexible is your best bet.
Overall
Flexible PEO is a great choice if you’re looking for a Colorado PEO with competitive rates and great customer service. Their customer care really is 11/10 and that's why they have taken the top spot. Their system isn’t always the easiest to navigate, and their rates aren’t as good as PEO Companies', but if you’re looking for a PEO that can provide your business with excellent support, the extra expense may be worth it for you.
2. PEO Companies – 9.4/10 (Best Range of Options)
PEO Companies earned the second spot on my list of the best Colorado PEO companies because they provide a wide variety of services, and they deliver these services efficiently—even though none of their services truly sets them apart from other companies. The major difference between PEO Companies and any other Colorado PEO company is that you won’t run across any significant problems with their services or their system.
Pros
They provide all the standard services that you would expect from a quality Colorado PEO:
- Human resources paperwork
- Employee benefits
- Tax withholding
- Compliance assistance
- Tax rates
- Payroll
- 401k
- Employee contracts
- Dental insurance
- Risk management
- Health insurance
- Workers’ compensation insurance
- Administrative services
- Employee benefits administration
- HR support
They back all of this up with a reliable customer service team. According to tests I ran, it takes around 24 hours if you contact them by email, and even less time if you call them. Not as good as Flexible but still efficient.
Even though PEO Companies has the technological might to support big companies, their goal is to serve small-to-medium businesses.
This means they can help your business no matter how big it grows.
Cons
There are downsides to PEO Companies' Colorado PEO services. Although they offer a lot of good services, you won’t find any remarkable services among their offerings.
- Their services are good enough that they’ll adequately serve businesses of any size, but they don’t offer any premium or specialized services.
- Their customer service team is competent enough to answer any question you may have regarding their services or system. However, there’s nothing unique about the customer service experience with them and you shouldn’t expect any personal touches.
- Their pricing is what you would expect from other full-service PEO companies in Colorado, but it’s not low enough to list it as one of their best features.
The company and all its services are good, but they don’t offer any services that are worth writing home about.
Overall
PEO Companies takes second place on my list of the best Colorado PEO companies because they provide all the services your business needs, and they deliver them all well. They present their comprehensive service offerings at a fair price that allows them to compete with other PEO companies.
Like most Colorado PEO companies, their prices depend on your business needs and the number of employees you need to cover. Click here for a quote.
3. CoAdvantage PEO — 7.41/10 (Best Value PEO)
CoAdvantage PEO is my #3 choice because they’re an overall good option with great rates. However, they disappointed me in a few ways.
Pros
Just like the other two Colorado PEO companies on my list, CoAdvantage is a full-service PEO that offers enough PEO services to cover almost any business need. Some of their services include health insurance, workers’ compensation insurance, compliance services, human resources services, payroll processing, taxes, and onboarding services (which are beneficial when hiring employees).
You can get set up within their system quickly and easily, although I encountered some issues after I started navigating the system. However, their customer service team was friendly, capable, and they responded to me fairly quickly.
Their standout feature is their pricing. The three quotes I got were all within the top three lowest prices out of all the companies on this list (the rates for my small business were by far the best). I even added every feature possible, which emphasized their outstanding prices.
Cons
As I’ve said, CoAdvantage has great rates, but there are some drawbacks to their services.
It was easy to get set up in their system, but I found it difficult to navigate and perform routine tasks once I was in it.
When I contacted their customer service team, they were able to provide assistance and get me through these issues. They also responded within a reasonable timeframe. However, there’s a night-and-day difference between their customer service and PEO Companies' robust support team.
They’re another Colorado PEO that provides good services, but no great services.
Overall
CoAdvantage is a solid choice with industry-leading rates. It can be difficult to navigate their system for people with little-to-no technological experience. And their customer service, while adequate, isn’t the best in the industry. However, you can’t beat their rates.
4. Justworks
Justworks is a relatively new Colorado PEO. It was first established in 2012, and since then it’s grown into a national PEO service that can service businesses in any state.
They provide the same basic service options as the other Colorado PEO companies on this list, such as payroll processing, workers’ compensation, HR solutions, health insurance, and benefits administration. But there’s one feature they provide that makes them stand out: price transparency.
Justworks openly displays their price structure on their website. Almost every other Colorado PEO company today makes it difficult to find out their prices. They say that you need to call them and give them information about your business and the benefits you need before they can give you a proper quote. So the fact that Justworks doesn’t use these same tactics is unique and refreshing.
I’ve ranked Justworks #4 on my list due to its age. When you choose a Colorado PEO, it’s important that you choose a well-established company with good reviews, so Justworks’ age is an important factor.
It takes a lot of time and work to get set up with a new PEO service, and it’s a process you won’t want to complete again just because you chose a start-up PEO company that suddenly went out of business.
Give Justworks more time to establish themselves as a quality Colorado PEO before you check them out.
5. Infiniti HR
Infiniti HR has found a way to offer unique services that make them stand out among other PEO companies in Colorado.
They offer a range of services like health insurance, assistance with compliance requirements and tax forms, workers’ compensation, benefit management, payroll processing, as well as employment onboarding for new employees.
But they also offer another feature that’s absent from the service offerings of other Colorado PEO companies: employee recruitment. Good employees can benefit your entire business, so hiring the right employees is crucial for any business.
Their drawback is the same as with Justworks: their age. They’re only 10 years old, which isn’t long when compared with other, more seasoned organizations. You should choose one of the more renowned organizations on the list and give Infiniti time to make a name for itself before considering it.
6. TriNet
TriNet is the oldest, most reputable professional employer organization on my list. They got their start in 1988, and since then they’ve established more than 16,000 companies and hired more than 330,000 employees under their umbrella company.
They provide the typical full-service PEO offerings, such as health insurance, payroll processing, workers’ compensation, HR services, benefit management, employment onboarding, and assistance with tax forms.
Their major drawback is that they seem to use their age and reputation to lure new customers, rather than providing quality services or low rates.
Their customer service is adequate but they aren’t exceptional, they aren’t looking for solutions to existing problems with their company or services, and none of their services are designed to impress.
This organization won’t put forth any effort to make a sale because they know their reputation will reel in customers one way or the other.
So while TriNet is a reliable choice that will adequately meet your PEO needs, this Colorado PEO company will never exceed your expectations or provide you with truly extraordinary services.
7. Oasis Outsourcing
Oasis is another seasoned veteran of the professional employer organization industry in Colorado. They’ve been in the PEO game for the past 20 years, and were recently bought out by PayChex, but continue to use their Oasis name.
Oasis is one of the companies that I mentioned earlier that offers specialized PEO services. Specifically, they tailor their services for businesses in the banking, hospitality, education, and retail industries. But because they offer so many different types of services, you can be sure that they’ll cover all your PEO needs.
The reason I moved Oasis this far down the list is that they require you to commit to a 12-month contract.
Almost every other professional employer organization (PEO) in Colorado allows you to use their services on a month-to-month basis, so the fact that Oasis locks you into a 12-month contract puts them at quite a disadvantage.
8. ADP Totalsource
ADP Totalsource is a major name in the PEO industry, not just in Colorado, but worldwide. They provide professional employer organization services to over 140 different countries. Much like Oasis, ADP Totalsource offers a full range of PEO services, as well as industry-specific services.
One of the most beneficial aspects of ADP’s PEO services is that they provide their customer service not just to you as the business owner, but to your employees, as well. The reason this is so helpful is that if your employees come across an HR problem or insurance benefits, they can call your PEO provider directly. This is really hassle free and means that employees don’t have to go through you to get answers.
The downside of ADP’s PEO services is similar to those of TriNet’s. Small businesses will be lost in the sea of larger businesses they provide PEO services to. They’re such a big professional employer organization that your company will never have any of the personal touches that you’ll receive from other Colorado PEO companies on my list.
9. Insperity
I felt like Insperity had a lot of potential, but their Colorado PEO services were quite a let down.
They’ve been in the professional employer organization industry for over 30 years and they’ve won loads of awards during that time. So their experience and the sheer number of awards made me really hopeful that they’d provide excellent Colorado PEO services.
Then I found out that you can even cancel your PEO services any time you want (as long as you give them 30-days’ notice) and I was convinced that Insperity was on track to become the best Colorado PEO service on my list.
But when I investigated further, I found that Insperity has a major drawback: their health insurance benefits.
Health care benefits are very important to any business, so you need to make sure the benefits you choose for your business are comprehensive and flexible enough to meet the needs of all your employees. Each employee’s health is different, so you need to have access to several different options and providers.
However, I found that instead of several different insurance providers and options, Insperity only partners with one. I don’t have an explanation as to why they don’t work with different providers with a range of benefits because they didn’t give me a solid explanation. They just don’t.
This means that choosing Insperity’s Colorado PEO services will limit your business’s access to other insurance providers and the health care benefits that your employees receive will be likewise limited in scope.
The Best PEO Review Summary
There are over 900 different PEO companies to choose from to service your Colorado business, which makes choosing the right PEO company for your business a confusing and complicated process.
I investigated each Colorado PEO company myself. It took over 230 hours and around 6 years, but it helped me to identify the top three best Colorado PEO companies: Flexible PEO, PEO Companies, and CoAdvantage.
The top three PEO companies I chose are great overall choices for any business in Colorado, but these are the factors that will determine which is the best Colorado PEO company for your specific business needs:
- The number of employees on your payroll
- What you want the Colorado PEO to help with (payroll processing, HR compliance, workers’ compensation insurance, benefit management, a streamlined onboarding process for hiring employees, etc.)
- Employee benefits you want to offer to your team (such as health insurance, workers’ compensation insurance, and a selection of benefits and providers for your employees to choose from)
- How much you can afford to spend on employee benefits
- The location of your small business
- The location where you conduct your business (if outside the office)
- How much customer support you will need (and whether your employees should be able to call your PEO company with service questions)
- Your technological capabilities
- How large you plan to scale
- Your industry
If you would like to find the right PEO for your company, simply enter your details below and I will provide a free assessment of your company’s needs.
The Best PEO Selection Process
I used an extensive selection process to choose the best professional employment organizations in Colorado. But before I explain my process and the criteria for my choices, you should learn more about me.
Why you should trust me
You can trust my ability to make a PEO suggestion because I know the ins and outs of the PEO industry better than most people, including some of the people who work for professional employer organizations. I came by this data both from owning my own businesses and from helping other people find the best Colorado PEO to meet their needs.
I first cut my teeth dealing with professional employer organizations when I started an online health company. I was inexperienced in the business world and overwhelmed with learning how my business worked. I was completing many of the day-to-day business projects on my own, like building websites, writing articles, posting, and managing employees. I didn’t have the time to deal with HR concerns, creating employment questionnaires, onboarding paperwork for hiring employees, or managing insurance benefits, and unfortunately I couldn’t create more hours in the day to get it all done.
I’d initially hired a staffing company to assist with hiring employees and other employment aspects, but they weren’t able to provide assistance with all my HR and employment needs. I ended up hiring a great professional employer organization instead.
After dealing with all the headache from my first business, I took a break to clear my head before I started any new projects. Then I started my second business—a cafe! It was a lot different than running an online business, to say the least.
However, even though it was a different industry, I still faced the same HR concerns that I faced with my previous business and I knew I needed to hire a professional employer organization. So, I began my research into various organizations to find a PEO that would meet all my criteria, provide assistance with HR services, and provide my employees with adequate health benefits.
I read each company’s website, read the details of online reviews, and stayed on the phone listening to sales pitches when I simply wanted answers to simple questions. It was a LOT of data to analyze. But eventually I came away from the experience with a Colorado PEO that helped me in all aspects of my business, from hiring new employees to benefit management.
Unfortunately, it didn’t take me long to figure out that I don’t have the necessary personality for the hospitality industry, so I sold my cafe and took some downtime to consider my next possible projects. The idea for my business was thrust upon me when contacts from the online health business community, as well as the hospitality community, reached out to ask how to best tackle back-of-house operations, like hiring employees, employment onboarding, and health benefits for employees and their families.
I made more and more recommendations to people in my community for different professional employer organizations, and I started jotting down my advice. That’s how I got my start, and I’ve since helped over 1,200 people find the right organizations and providers to meet the needs of their businesses, while providing the right benefits for their employees and their families. I can make suggestions for great PEO companies because I’ve spent more time researching the industry than almost anyone else.
How I selected the best PEO
I used a four-stage investigation process to weed out PEO companies and whittle the list of over 900 companies down to only 9 Colorado PEOs.
Stage 1: Reviews
The first stage of my investigation involved reading online reviews for each Colorado PEO.
Any Colorado PEO with more than a year of business experience should have amassed an online community, as well as a number of online reviews and contributions. The feedback and online contributions of customers allowed me to eliminate many Colorado PEOs, while also highlighting which Colorado PEOs were worthy of more thorough investigation. This saved me a lot of time because I wasn’t conducting comprehensive research about Colorado PEOs that weren’t worth the effort.
After reviewing many online reviews, the Colorado PEOs that provided incomplete services, charged high rates, or had subpar support teams were eliminated from my list.
Stage 2: Offering Analysis
No Colorado PEO is the same. Two separate Colorado PEOs that offer the same services can present price points that vary widely.
The second phase of my investigation consisted of researching the service offerings of each Colorado PEO, as well as their prices. This allowed me to choose the PEOs that provide the most bang for your buck, and helped me eliminate the Colorado PEOs with meager service offerings or inflated prices.
Stage 3: Speaking with Real Customers
Of course, reading online reviews is one way to receive information about a Colorado PEO, but there are two limitations to this research practice.
The first is that people typically only make contributions to an online review community if they’ve had either an immensely good or a staggeringly bad experience with a Colorado State PEO. This means that if you’re simply reading the online reviews, you won’t have a good understanding of a standard experience with the company.
The second limitation is the amount of space customers have to make their reviews. Most review platforms limit reviews to 200 characters or less. This isn’t enough for customers to provide a detailed review about their experience with a Colorado PEO company.
So because I was aware of the limitations of online reviews, I contacted real customers through my website to get feedback about their experiences with the Colorado PEO companies on this list. I asked them detailed questions about their experiences, and luckily these customers provided detailed responses. This gave me a good picture of what it’s like to work with each Colorado PEO.
Stage 4: Speaking with Their Sales Teams
The last stage was to find out how each Colorado PEO handles feedback and criticism. Does their sales team give explanations about how they used customer feedback to improve their services, or do they blame customers and fail to take responsibility for their lackluster services? These differences really separated the quality Colorado PEOs from the rest.
Ranking factors
I used five different ranking factors as criteria to choose the position of each Colorado PEO on my list.
Factor 1: Offerings
The first criteria I assessed was the product offerings of each of the Colorado PEOs.
It doesn’t make any sense to partner with a Colorado PEO that doesn’t offer the HR services that your business needs, or the insurance benefits that your employees and their families need. So, to make sure that you don’t waste time on an inferior PEO service for your Colorado state business, I chose only those companies with quality service offerings.
Factor 2: Price
The next factor I looked at was price.
Prices for Colorado PEOs vary as wildly as service offerings do. But what makes it worse is the fact that you’re typically only provided with pricing information if you provide additional information about your business and take part in a sales call to get a price quote. I went through all the red tape to find out about the pricing of each Colorado PEO so that you’re left with a list of PEOs who provide the best prices in the state.
Factor 3: Ease of Sign-up
Next, I considered how easily a person can sign up for services and get set up in the system of each Colorado PEO on my list.
Some Colorado PEOs require loads of obscure information that you’ll need to retrieve and supply them with, or make you go through hours of paperwork. Other Colorado State PEOs automate the process by deriving much of the necessary information from other government services.
To ensure that you don’t waste your time with a PEO with an unnecessarily complicated sign-up process, I chose only those Colorado state PEOs with simple, automated sign-up processes.
Factor 4: Ease of Use
The fourth factor in my ratings assessment was how easily I could use their system.
When I started researching each of the PEOs on my list, it was evident that some PEOs in Colorado spent a lot of time and money to ensure that their systems were automated and user-friendly. Other Colorado PEOs used archaic servers with so many features patched onto the existing system that it resembles Frankenstein’s monster, and then expect you to use a lengthy user manual to make sense of their unnecessarily complex system.
If you have the choice between these two scenarios, obviously you’ll want to choose the user-friendly system. So to save you the trouble of choosing a Colorado PEO only to discover that their system is a nightmare to navigate, I chose only companies that were easiest to navigate.
Factor 5: Customer Service
No matter how great a PEO’s system is, you’ll eventually encounter a technical issue or have an HR question that requires you to contact customer service. It’s these moments that can really make or break your experience with a Colorado PEO.
Some Colorado PEOs leave you hanging for hours before someone finally takes your call. When you do get to speak with a customer service representative, they’re not knowledgeable enough to answer your questions so you’re passed off to several people and never really feel like your problem has been solved. There are other Colorado PEOs that respond to you quickly, provide you with speedy resolutions and helpful answers. When you encounter a Colorado PEO with quality customer service like this, it changes your expectations of customer service teams.
My extensive, rigorous review process may have taken years, but since I can confidently recommend a Colorado PEO that you can trust, it was well worth the effort.
The Best PEO for Your Business
PEO Companies is a great PEO option for most Colorado businesses, but I can’t accurately tell you if it’s the right Colorado PEO for your business without learning more about your business.
I need to know things about your Colorado business, such as your industry, the number of employees, and the benefits you’d like to provide for your employees, among other things.
If you’d like a personalized PEO recommendation for your business in Colorado, fill out the form below and submit it. Once you submit the form I’ll be happy to give you a Colorado PEO recommendation based on your specific needs.
Enter your information in the form below and take the guesswork out of choosing the perfect Colorado PEO for your business.
While you’re checking out PEOs for your business, it’s a good idea to hire a registered agent, as well. A registered agent is a person or business that accepts mail, legal documents, and service of process on behalf of your business. To learn more about what a registered agent can do for you, check out my article about the Best Colorado Registered Agents.
Before you consider a PEO, you should also think about how to structure your business. There are many options available to you, such as a corporation, sole proprietorship, or an LLC.
To learn more about forming an LLC, check out my article on How to Start a Colorado LLC. And while you’re at it, check out my article about the Best LLC Services in Colorado for LLC formation services.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to use a PEO?
The price of a quality Colorado PEO varies based on several factors, such as the number of employees you have, the PEO you choose, the benefits you offer, and the service options you choose. But a good baseline price for PEOs in Colorado is between $1,000–$2,000 per employee per month.
How does a PEO charge?
PEOs employ two different pricing techniques: prices based on a flat rate, or percentage of payroll pricing.
When a flat fee price is used, the same fee is charged per employee. It’s a good idea to go with a company that uses this pricing technique if you need to stick to a strict budget, or don’t want any billing surprises.
With percentage of payroll pricing, the PEO charges you a percentage based on the amount you pay your employees each month. This option is good for business owners who work in low-wage industries.
How long does it take to get set up with a PEO?
It takes time for a business to get set up with a PEO. This is because you need to complete a lot of paperwork on your end, and they have to file even more with the government before they’re able to get your services running.
You can expect it to take between three to six weeks to complete this process, with four weeks being the average.
Does it cost to change PEOs?
There typically isn’t a specified charge to leave a PEO. However, because of the lengthy and complex setup process, every PEO charges a setup fee. So it’s not an exit fee that you’ll pay, but a setup fee with your new PEO.
