Outsource HR With a Single PEO Solution

Q: What’s the difference between a PEO and an ASO?

The term “ASO,” on the other hand, stands for Administrative Services Organization. The most important difference between an ASO and a PEO is that the service provided through an ASO does not establish a co-employer relationship. For example, an ASO does not process payroll and remit and report payroll taxes under its own FEIN, nor can it be the sponsor of any health and welfare benefits offered to its customers’ employees. A PEO offers its services as a “co-employer” or through a “co-employment” relationship. Co-employment refers to the fact that the PEO allocates, with each of its clients, employer responsibilities relating to the employees the client brings into its arrangement with the PEO, which are usually referred to as worksite employees. Typically, the PEO and client responsibilities are expressly described in a service agreement between the PEO and the client. With a PEO, business owners retain complete control over their workforce, company culture and brand. An ASO does not establish a co-employment relationship with its customers, does not process payroll or report taxes under their own tax ID. ASOs don’t act as sponsors of benefits plans or provide small businesses with access to benefits. The customer remains the sole sponsor. Read our blog for more details on the differences between a PEO and an ASO.

Our professional employer organization (PEO) helps you do more meaningful work—and less HR admin—with a complete HR solution including access to benefits, payroll processing and risk mitigation that’s powered by expert support and leading technology.

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What Can a PEO Do for You?

Transform your HR into a powerful business asset. Our PEO solution does more than processing payroll and providing access to benefits—it gives you peace of mind and the freedom to innovate.

More time? Better business.

Less time on HR admin, payroll processing and benefits means more time on what matters.

Quality health coverage? Check.

Offer employees access to big-company benefits—no matter your company size.

HR compliance? Handled.

We help you comply with local, state and federal employment rules and requirements.

We’ve Got HR Covered

Save time and costs

Finding time to grow your business shouldn’t be a nice to have—it’s critical for success. Your time is a precious resource and navigating payroll, benefits and compliance measures distracts from growth-generating activities.  Allow TriNet to help you grow stronger and smarter with our modern HR and payroll technology and on-demand expertise that’s there for you when and how you need it.

Payroll administration: Payroll task administration from processing paychecks to year-end tax forms.

HR technology: An all-in-one HR platform to help streamline HR tasks for you and your employees.

Time and attendance: System to track time and schedules that integrates with payroll.

Recruiting and onboarding: Help throughout the recruiting process from job postings to new hire onboarding.

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Help keep your business HR compliant

Being an employer is risky—whether it’s paying employer taxes or something unexpected like workplace discrimination lawsuits. TriNet provides peace of mind by helping companies stay compliant with regulatory changes and providing expert guidance when complex HR situations arise.

Compliance support: Expertise to help your business comply with federal, state and local employment laws.

Workers’ compensation: Manage insurance processes from policy start to claims handling.

Risk mitigation: Expert guidance to help with claims prevention and EPLI for claims coverage.

Explore Our Risk Mitigation and Compliance

Get HR expertise you can trust

The acceleration of change to the workplace over the past couple years has been staggering. With TriNet, you get an HR team that’s there for you and your employees, so you’re prepared for the unexpected.

Handle your toughest HR needs: From recruiting and onboarding best practices to benefits and payroll compliance, we offer expertise on the issues that affect your people.

Make better personnel decisions: With a team of HR professionals on your side, you’ll have access to industry-specialized expertise and insights to help make informed decisions more efficiently.

Gain peace of mind: Stay on top of employment rules and requirements and get help with employee relations issues with an experienced HR team that helps you look out for your business.

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Big-company benefits for attracting top talent

You’re competing with companies big and small for the right talent—and in order to do so you need the right benefits. With TriNet, you gain from our scale by accessing benefits normally out of reach for small businesses.

Comprehensive healthcare: Offer great benefits to your employees by accessing our range of leading medical, dental and vision carriers and plans.

Retirement plans: TriNet’s 401(k) is fully managed making it easy for you to help your employees save for their future.

Benefits administration: Offload much of the compliance and admin to TriNet—from COBRA to open enrollment and payroll deductions.

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Tangible benefits, real satisfaction

of PEO clients reported their employees were more satisfied with their benefit offerings.*

*Report based on MetLife’s 18th Annual U.S. Employee Benefit Trends Study 2020

average annual return on investment seen by PEO clients.*

*National Association of Professional Employer Organizations, September 2019. Individual business results may vary, including results of TriNet clients.

$1,775

average savings per employee per year reported by PEO clients*

*National Association of Professional Employer Organizations, 2019, Individual business results may vary, including results of TriNet clients.

"We want happy employees. We want them to have the right benefits. And we want to do it in the easiest way, both for the employee and for the company—and TriNet allows us to do that. It allows us to stay focused on our customers."

Ben Weintraub

Founder & CEO, Kajeet, Inc.

View this story >

Learn More About PEOs

Ready to take a deeper dive? We’ve got you covered with these helpful resources.

Top 5 Reasons SMBs Choose PEOs

If you need an HR function up and running quickly without a huge outlay of cash, a professional employer organization (PEO) is a great option. It can help save you time and money, so you can focus on your people and growing your business.

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Do I Need a PEO for My Business?

A professional employer organization (PEO) can help with your HR needs, making it easier to stay on top of the ever-changing world of HR rules and requirements, while freeing you to concentrate on the many other aspects of running a small business.

What is a Professional Employer Organization?

Managing HR is time-consuming and expensive. With outsourced HR, you can save costs and get time back in your day to focus on your company's growth.

FAQ

What is a professional employer organization (PEO)?

A PEO provides small and medium-size businesses with HR admin support and services. This can include payroll, access to benefits that small businesses may not typically provide, workers compensation, and risk mitigation services.

Learn more about PEOs

What is outsourcing human resources?

Outsourcing human resources means hiring an outside company to help you manage HR administration, such as payroll and strategic human resources planning, including talent retention, risk mitigation and legal compliance.

Download the eGuide, Top 5 Reasons SMBs Choose PEOs.

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What does co-employment mean?

Co-employment is how we refer to the business relationship between a small business and a PEO. The business owners remain in control of day-to-day activities and direction of the company, but allocates some responsibilities relating to their employees to the PEO. A detailed service agreement is made before working together.

Why should my business work with a PEO?

There are numerous advantages to working with a PEO. You can access better benefits, mitigate employment-related risk and help lower the cost of running your own internal HR team. Best of all, you’ll have more time to focus on growing your business.

Download the eGuide, Six Key HR Strategies for Scaling Your Business.

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What’s the difference between a PEO and an ASO?

The term “ASO” stands for administrative services organization. The most important difference between an ASO and a PEO is that the service provided through an ASO does not establish a co-employer relationship. For example, an ASO does not process payroll and remit and report payroll taxes under its own FEIN, nor can it be the sponsor of any health and welfare benefits offered to its customers’ employees.

A PEO offers its services as a “co-employer” or through a “co-employment” relationship. Co-employment refers to the fact that the PEO allocates, with each of its clients, employer responsibilities relating to the employees the client brings into its arrangement with the PEO, which are usually referred to as worksite employees. Typically, the PEO and client responsibilities are expressly described in a service agreement between the PEO and the client. With a PEO, business owners retain complete control over their workforce, company culture and brand.

An ASO does not establish a co-employment relationship with its customers, does not process payroll or report taxes under their own tax ID. ASOs don’t acts as sponsors of benefits plans or provide small businesses with access to benefits. The customer remains the sole sponsor.

Read our blog for more details on the differences between a PEO and an ASO.

Explore Our PEO Offerings

Benefits Options

Payroll Services

Integrations

Learn how TriNet’s comprehensive HR solutions can help your business.

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A TriNet subsidiary is classified as a Certified Professional Employer Organization by the IRS.5.

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