HR outsourcing for small businesses — without the PEO lock-in
Hand your HR function to senior, US-based practitioners. Compliance, payroll oversight, hiring, and employee relations, run for you — and you stay the employer of record.
What is HR outsourcing? It’s contracting an outside firm to run some or all of your HR function — compliance, handbooks, payroll administration, recruiting, onboarding, and employee relations — instead of building an internal HR department. Unlike a PEO, outsourcing to a consulting firm does not make the provider a co-employer of your staff. You keep your EIN, your benefits contracts, your vendor choices, and direct control of the employment relationship.
What we take off your plate
Most outsourcing engagements start with two or three of these and expand. You decide how much stays in-house.
Compliance & risk
Multi-state employment law, required postings, classification reviews, I-9 and recordkeeping, and monitoring the rule changes that actually affect your states.
Policy & handbooks
A current, compliant employee handbook, individual policy drafting, and the annual update most companies forget until an audit.
Payroll & HRIS oversight
We don’t replace your payroll provider — we manage it. Setup, migrations, data integrity, and catching the errors before they reach an employee’s paycheck.
Hiring & onboarding
Job descriptions, compensation benchmarking, sourcing and screening, offer letters, background checks, and a real onboarding workflow.
Employee relations
Investigations, performance documentation, terminations, and the conversations that need to be handled correctly the first time.
Leave administration
FMLA and state leave programs, accommodation requests, and the tracking that keeps you compliant across jurisdictions.
HR outsourcing vs. PEO vs. hiring in-house
These get used interchangeably and they are not the same thing. The difference matters most when something goes wrong.
Outsourced HR (what we do)
You keep your EIN, benefits contracts, and vendor relationships. We advise and execute. Month-to-month, scale up or down, no co-employment.
PEO
Becomes a co-employer of your staff and bundles payroll and benefits under their contracts. Can be a fit for benefits buying power, but leaving one is disruptive — and a common reason clients come to us.
In-house HR hire
A full-time HR manager runs well over $90,000 a year before benefits. Below roughly 75 employees, most companies need senior judgment more than forty hours a week of HR work.
Ways to outsource with us
Published pricing. Start where it makes sense and expand as you grow.
How outsourcing starts
- A free 15-minute consult. What you have now, what’s breaking, and what you actually want to hand off.
- An assessment of where you stand. Often a free HR audit. We find the compliance gaps before they find you.
- A scoped plan at published pricing. You see the cost before any paid work begins.
- Transition and run. A senior consultant takes over the agreed scope, usually within a week. You keep control; we carry the load.
Frequently asked questions
How much does HR outsourcing cost for a small business?
Our outsourcing engagements start at $299/month for on-call guidance and $1,850/month for a dedicated fractional HR professional at 10 hours monthly, scaling to $6,400/month at 40 hours. Project work is priced separately and published on our site. Most small businesses spend far less than the $90,000-plus salary of a full-time HR manager.
Is HR outsourcing the same as a PEO?
No. A PEO becomes a co-employer of your staff and typically bundles payroll and benefits under its own contracts. We do not take on co-employment — you keep your EIN, your benefits relationships, and your vendor choices. That distinction matters if you ever want to change providers.
Can I outsource only part of my HR function?
Yes, and most clients do. Common partial engagements are leave administration, employee relations and investigations, recruiting overflow, or handbook and compliance work — while the day-to-day stays with your team.
Do you replace our payroll provider?
No. We manage and oversee whatever payroll platform you use, including setup, migrations, and data integrity. You keep the vendor relationship; we make sure it runs correctly.
Are there HR outsourcing firms near me?
We’re headquartered in Columbia, Maryland and work with clients throughout the United States. HR outsourcing is delivered remotely by design, which means you are not limited to the firms within driving distance — and multi-state employers benefit from a provider who works across jurisdictions daily.
What size company is a good fit?
Typically 10 to 200 employees. Below 10, on-call guidance is usually enough. Above 200, most companies need internal HR leadership with us supporting specific functions.
Find out what’s worth outsourcing
Take the free HR risk assessment for a prioritized read on your gaps, or book 15 minutes and we’ll tell you what we’d take on and what you should keep.